A living anthology
Every table
holds a story.
Meet the women, rooms, memories, and communities that make Mah Jongg more than the tiles in front of us.
Meet the womenWe read Mah Jongg through lives rather than legends: with warmth, sources, and room for stories to be more complicated than a caption.
Our approach →Stories worth bringing back to the table.
Profiles, cultural context, and prompts for preserving the voices already around you.
How to Write the Women Who Shaped Mahjong Back Into the Record
A documentary framework for contribution, context, evidence, omission, and the limits of heroic storytelling.
Takeaway A profile plan centered on specific work and checkable evidence.
Read the feature →Dorothy Meyerson: Rules, Teaching, and Early American Mah Jongg Organization
What can responsibly be said about Meyerson’s role—and what still requires archival verification.
Takeaway A sourced biographical outline with research gaps visible.
Read the feature →Viola Cecil and the Work of Building an Institution
A source-conscious profile of a foundational NMJL leader and the organizing labor that broad summaries often hide.
Takeaway An institutional biography brief with claims prioritized for verification.
Read the feature →Jewish American Women and the Persistence of American Mah Jongg
A precise account of social networks, teaching, institutions, charity, and family life without claiming ownership of mahjong’s origin.
Takeaway Language that credits Jewish American history without erasing Chinese continuity.
Read the feature →THE ORAL-HISTORY TABLE
Ask someone how the game entered her life.
A gentle set of prompts for a grandmother, a friend, or the person who always remembers the rules.
When a story is incomplete.
It is all right to say “I don’t know yet.” Learn how to distinguish memory from fact, ask before sharing, and leave room for a person’s own words.
Read with care →