An early sociological view in the United States, traceable to Edward Alsworth Ross (1901), held that Asian immigrants had lower standards for their children’s socioeconomic achievement than White Americans. We revisit this view with new evidence of intergenerational mobility of native-born Asian Americans to identify when a well-educated, “model minority” generation of Asian Americans emerged historically. Drawing on recently released linked 1900–1940 full-count U.S. Census and restricted-use 2000–2022 Census and American Community Survey microdata, we investigate educational and occupational mobility experiences of native-born Asian Americans born between 1880 and 1980. We find that Asian Americans surpassed Whites in educational attainment during the Asian Exclusion period (1882–1943) and have consistently maintained higher educational mobility for over 100 years. However, their higher occupational mobility than Whites is a more recent phenomenon, which emerged after World War II and the Civil Rights Movement. During the Exclusion period, Asian Americans had lower occupational attainment and mobility compared to Whites. We discuss potential cultural and structural factors that help explain both the continuity of high educational mobility and change in occupational mobility among Asian Americans over time.