Emile Bocian (1912-1990) was a photographer who worked steadily in the 1960s-1980s in New York City. Although there is not a lot of information about Bocian, he worked for Waldo Mayo Associates Public Relations in the 1950s; this firm provided publicity for the film, radio, and television industries. In the early 1970s, Bocian began working for "The China Post" as the Director of Advertising and Public Relations and most likely became an editor at some point. According to his own account, he was given this position at the newspaper after running a successful advertising campaign for the Pagoda Theater for the Bruce Lee film "Fist of Fury." The theater owner, Lucas Liang, also owned "The China Post." He seems to have stopped working there around 1986. "The China Post" was a daily Chinese-language newspaper published in Chinatown, New York.

In addition, Bocian headed his own public relations firm, Emile Bocian Associates, where he provided photographs and press releases for various individuals and organizations in the Chinese and Chinese-American communities. Bocian was also a writer of screenplays, plays, and television scripts. He published articles in "The New Yorker," in 1947 and 1951, and in "Comedy World," in the late 1940s-1950s. Around 1986, he was a reporter for the "United States-China Economic Journal," based on a quote from a February 21, 1986, article in "The New York Times."

These documents and photographs were collected by Emile Bocian throughout his career. At some point before his death in 1990 Betty Lee Sung witnessed Mr. Bocian disposing of these materials and asked if she could have them, He subsequently gave the boxes to her, which she ended up donating to the museum.