After being rescued in childhood from her role as a mui tsai (a child servant), she worked for decades to free Chinese immigrant women and girls from sexual slavery and indentured servitude.

[2] Her parents had survived the upheaval of the Taiping Rebellion with enough wealth to practice the tradition of foot binding on their young daughters.

[1]: 86  By January 1894, her plight was reported by a neighbor, and workers at the mission home planned a rescue, searching the building along with two police officers.

[1]: 148  The girls had bedtime prayers, chores, and time to play, although scarce funds meant they did not have store-bought toys or enough nourishing food.

[2] After Cameron's favorite aide, Leung Yuen Qui, died from tuberculosis, Wu offered to take on the job, making $5 month.

[1]: 236  After her formal education ended, she decided to continue working at the mission home, returning to San Francisco in June 1911.

[2] While rumors about the "white devils" caused Chinese immigrants to fear going with rescuers, Wu could point to her own scars as proof that the girls and women should trust her.

[3] The rescue mission workers received violent threats from brothel owners, but Wu was especially targeted, because she was perceived as a traitor.

[1]: 236  Wu took on more responsibility at the home in the 1930s, making public appearances to raise funds and guarding women who had testified against human traffickers.