She Persisted: Maya Lin

Maya Lin was born on October 5, 1959, in Athens Ohio. But her parents hadn’t always lived there. They had both escaped from China after a civil war in which the Chinese Communist Party won. Maya’s father, Henry Lin, had to leave China because his family had supported the other side in the civil war. It was dangerous for him to stay in China once the war was over, so he left. Maya’s mother, Julia, had the opportunity to attend Smith College in the United States. Even though she had to be smuggled out of Shanghai on a boat and face monsoons and pirates, she was determined to go. And she did!
Henry and Julia met and married in the U.S. They were far away from their native land, but they were determined to build a life together. After their son, Tan, was born, they moved to Athens, Ohio, to teach at Ohio University. Henry, an artist, became a ceramics professor, and Julia would become an English professor. And then Maya was born.
“All the female Lins are very strong, very independent,” Henry once said. “All very talented and very determined.”
Maya was destined to be no different. Her middle name, Ying, meant “precious stone”, and though her parents did not realize it when they named her, it was a hint at her future.
As a child, Maya didn’t think about strength, independence, talent, or determination. She did think about a precious stone, however. Her brother owned a beautiful geode that she admired greatly. Maya would often borrow the geode. Tan, after finding it on her desk, would bring it back to his. The geode went back and forth between the two desks constantly.
But even more than passing the stone back and forth, young Maya spent most of her time watching the world around her.
The Lins’ home was set in the hilly woods, far away from other houses. So, Maya watched the nature that surrounded her. She would sit in silence, watching the animals and noticing how the streams formed ridges in the land.
Maya watched her father too. She spent hours watching him pull and cut clay. She saw the shades of brown and gray on his potter’s wheel. She saw the earthen colors in the plates she used for meals. She saw the simple shapes of the furniture he made that she used every day.
She also saw her mother’s love of learning. Julia earned her PhD and Maya watched her study. Books were everywhere.
But there were some things Maya did not see.
Maya didn’t see her grandparents, her aunts or her uncles, since they all still lived in China. And even though they tried to send letters, they knew that China’s strict government was reading and changing their messages.
Maya also didn’t see many other Chinese Americans. Her family was the only Chinese American one in their town. Her parents wanted Tan and Maya to fit in, so they did not teach them Chinese. Because of this, “I thought I was white,” Maya said.
When she wasn’t watching the world around her, Maya was making things.