著名歷史學家令狐萍教授，受密蘇里州政府自然資源部邀請，於2009 年1月25日下午2點在 Scott Joplin House State Historic Site （2658A Delmar，314-340-5790）做題為「世紀之交的聖路易華人社區」 的專題演講。
密蘇里州著名古跡 Scott Joplin House State Historic Site 除夕夜坐滿聖市居民與來自柬埔寨，老撾，馬來西亞，蒙古，緬甸，菲律賓，泰國，越南等八個國家的國際交流學生，全神貫注聆聽令狐萍教授演講。令狐萍教授 將華人先輩在聖市胼手抵足的血淚史，運用豐富史料與珍貴歷史圖片，深入淺出，諉諉道來。
一八五七年﹐寧波籍華人阿拉李 (Alla Lee)定居聖路易﹐成為史載的聖路易第一華人。阿拉李在愛爾蘭移民居住區經營小本茶葉､咖啡生意﹐並與愛爾蘭青年女子薩拉•格蘭姆相愛結婚。十二年後﹐數批華人相繼從舊金山與紐約輾轉至聖路易。 至十九世紀末﹐約三百多華人聚居聖路易市區南面的 哈普巷 (Hop Alley)一帶的寄宿房﹐形成俗稱「哈普巷」的聖路易唐人街。唐人街生意百行﹐但最主要的行業則為洗衣業､雜貨業､與餐館業。華人行業不僅為排斥於主流社會勞工市場之外的華人提供就業機會﹐更為美國內戰後聖路易城市經濟的發展助一臂之力。根據令狐萍教授的研究﹐ 僅佔聖路易人口千分之一的華人﹐竟滿足該市百分之六十的漿洗需求。
哈普巷 (Hop Alley) 北鄰非裔美國人社區Chestnut Valley，華人與黑人因此發展互助互利的睦鄰關係。據統計，十九世紀末期Chestnut Valley半數的黑人生意，由華商貸款而得以經營。演講從聖路易唐人街的興起､興盛､凋零直至煙飛灰滅﹐ 突出聖路易早期華人對主流社會的貢獻。
令狐萍博士，美國福特基金獎作家。現任美國杜魯門州立大學歷史系教授 (前任系主任),兼任暨南大學客座教授，並任美國亞裔美國研究協會期刊《美國亞裔研究》主編， 以及廣東華僑華人研究會海外顧問。令狐萍教授曾被美國多家電臺采訪，她的研究亦被國際國內多家報章與電臺報導。她經常受邀到國際國內研究機構與高等院校做學術報告或演講。《世界日報周刊》2006 年1 月15 日版 曾刊登有關她的人物專訪， 她也被收錄入國際國內十多種名人錄。
Dr. Huping Ling Lectures at Scott Joplin House
Dr. Huping Ling, a renowned historian, award-winning writer, and Professor of History at Truman States University, was invited to give a lecture on "The Chinese Community in St. Louis at the Turn-of-the-Century" by the Missouri Department of Natural Resource in its "Joplin's St. Louis" series on Jan. 25, 2009. The lecture starts at 2pm at 2658A Delmar, Scott Joplin House State Historic Site. The famous Ragtime composer Scott Joplin's former residence was filled with local residents and international exchange students from eight countries including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Professor Ling recalled the bitter-sweet history of the Chinese in St. Louis from the first Chinese Alla Lee in 1857 to the end of the Hop Alley, known as the St. Louis Chinatown, in 1966, complete with vivid historical photographs. Local records indicate that Chinese businesses, especially hand laundries, drew a wide clientele and thus the businesses run by Chinese immigrants contributed disproportionally to the city's economy. They provided 60 percent of the services for the city during the late nineteenth-and early-twentieth-centuries, although Chinese comprised less than 0.1 percent of the total population.Since Hop Alley was just south of the African American neighborhood, Chestnut Valley, Chinese and African Americans also developed interracial business collaborations. As running opium dens in Chinatown would risk arrest and even deportation, some Chinese opium den owners began to choose Chestnut Valley to operate the business. The 1896 Annual Police Report indicates fourteen opium dens in Chestnut Valley owned by Chinese. Chinese also did banking with African Americans. It was believed that, in the late-nineteenth-and early-twentieth-centuries, 50 percent of the businesses owned by African Americans in Chestnut Valley borrowed money from Chinese money lenders, as banks owned by whites generally refused to lend money to African Americans.
Professor Ling also serves as Executive Editor of The Journal of Asian American Studies, consultant to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Guangdong Provincial Government, and Visiting Professor of the Institute of Overseas Chinese Studies at Jinan University, China. She has also been included in numerous books/encyclopedias on famous Chinese Americans and authors.
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