1911 – Lue Gim Gong Receives a Silver Ward Medal from the American Pological Society

Visualize a Florida’s Natural commercial with an old Asian man holding up an orange in the shining light of the evening sun, following with a shot of a nice cold glass of orange juice. Weird right? We always thank the “white man” for making that great tasting OJ whether we need it to have it with some dranks or drink it with our McDee’s breakfast McMuffins. So why would we even bother to think about an Asian having anything to do with the production of oranges and its juices in America? Because such an Asian old man did influence that great Florida orange we all know and love.
Lue Gim Gong was known as “The Citrus Wizard” as he revolutionized horticulture and the orange industry from his innovative breeding techniques. His work in breeding oranges and other fruits has made a difference in pomology (the science of growing fruit) and anyone and everyone who buys oranges today can thank Lue Gim Gong for his contribution. Lue Gim Gong immigrated to San Francisco from China in the 1800s when he was twelve years old. He soon met a Sunday school teacher who saw his skill with plants and she helped him become a naturalized citizen as well as convert him into Christianity. He could not move back to China due to his naturalization. Lue eventually moved to Florida following the teacher and her family where he helped her tend oranges. She suggested him to follow her to a warm climate location because Lue had previous diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Lue learned his horiculture and pollinating techniques from China. He developed an apple that ripens a month earlier and tomatoes to grow in clusters. Out of all his successes, Lue is recognized most for his oranges he developed Florida. The “Lue Gim Gong” orange is an orange that resulted from a cross-pollination of the Valencia orange (originally created in Santa Ana) and the Mediterranean Sweet orange. This was such a revolutionized way of cultivating oranges because this cross-pollination of the oranges enabled them to be frost-resistant and preserve its great sweet taste at the same time. He personally felt obligated to find a solution to preserve fruit from the freeze due to his sicknesses from extremely cold climates. Lue received a Silver Ward Medal from the American Pological Society in 1911 due to his innovative breeding technique of the oranges. The orange industry has adopted this breeding technique and still sells these oranges today. The oranges aren’t called “Lue Gim Gong oranges” but are called Valencia oranges due to the original orange that was cross-pollinated. This can be one of the earlier successes of an Asian- American recognized in the United States. This wasn’t just a success in the Asian community but actually affected the whole nation in the agriculture society and industry. Asians are mostly associated with rice, wine, bok choy, weird vegetable roots, and ginseng not Florida oranges. To know that an Asian man effected the production of the good ol' Florida orange is just a shock to me personally. This success shouldn’t be hidden but presented for awareness that Asians really did affect the most random things in America.


-Madelyn Kim