Sam Song Bo, Ministry Student, McMinnville College - 1877

Sam Song Bo, who was Chinese, was sponsored by the Baptist Home Mission in Portland to attend McMinnville College to study for the ministry. In 1877, more than a thousand Chinese immigrants and their children lived in Portland. Most had come to the Northwest with the goal of earning money and then returning home, though few were ever able to make the return trip. Sam Song Bo likely attended the Portland Chinese Mission School, which operated in Portland from 1875 to about 1886. -- This photo is restored and printed by Old Oregon.