Great Job on the Railroad. Now Go Back to China

"Great Job on the Railroad. Now Go Back to China" is the heading of an exhibition review in New York Times, dated October 3, 2014. The exhibition is Chinese American Exclusion/Inclusion, at the New York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York City, which will run through April 19, 2015.

This show is presented in conjunction with Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving, a show at the Museum of Chinese in America In New York City Chinatown, 215 Centre Street, which will run through March 1, 2015. The show's curators examine the questions of "How do you become American?" and "What does it mean to be Chinese?"

Apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act Passed

Below is an excerpt from a press release from Honorable Betty Tom Chu, Honorable Dr. Sophie C. Wong, John Wong, and John Gee.

Senate Joint Resolution 23, as amended, and Senate Concurrent Resolution 122, was passed unanimously by the California State Senate on June 5, 2014.

The Apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act Committee, a grassroots organization formed by Hon. Betty Tom Chu, former Mayor of City of Monterey Park; Hon. Dr. Sophie C. Wong, former President/Board of Education, Alhambra Unified School District; John Wong, founder of Chinese-American Citizens

Alliance/Greater San Gabriel Valley Lodge, Immediate Past CACA Grand Vice-President (National); and John Gee, CACA Grand Representative (National) and Immediate Past President, are working to obtain formal apologies to be issued to Chinese Americans for the enactment of the Chinese

Exclusion Act of 1882 and similar laws. That Act was the only time U.S.federal law was passed to exclude immigration rights based solely on race. The results tore many Chinese-American families apart. The affects of the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited voting, naturalization, and served as a national narrative tone for discrimination against the Chinese. Senator Bob Huff (R-29th Dist) introduced SJR 23 on April 10, 2014,

following the request from the Chinese-American Citizens Alliance/Greater

San Gabriel Valley Lodge (CACA/GSGVL) in Monterey Park.

SJR 23, as amended, is a request by the California Legislature to the U.S. Congress for the adoption of resolutions of apology to the Chinese-American community for enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and other similar Chinese Exclusion Laws. The apology of the California State Legislature for the enactment of past discriminatory laws and constitutional provisions that resulted in the persecution of Chinese living in California, in SJR 23 as introduced, is now separated into SCR 122.

Previous efforts to attain an official apology from the U.S. Congress resulted in the passage of a Resolution of Regret in 2012. But as Senator Huff explained, "An expression of 'regret' is different from an actual

apology. Regret is ambiguous and may or may not imply guilt. An apology is clear, expressing both regret and responsibility." Indeed, this was the cornerstone of rationale taken by the Apology for the Chinese Exclusion Act Committee. 

Anti-Chinese Union of Los Angeles

Below are excerpts from Gum Saan Journal, June 1985, Vol. VIII, No. 1, pp. 2-7.

Title of article, "An 1886 Chinese Labor Boycott in Los Angeles." Material created by E.G. Hager, G.E. Kinney and A.F. Kroll.

"In March, 1885, a Workingmen's Club was formed, in Los Angeles, later to be known as the Independent Labor Union No. I, and finally as the Anti-Chinese Union.  During the City's 4th of July parade, the Union acquired 1,271 signatures and presented the memorial to the City Council requesting the removal of Chinese  beyond the city limits, but this was ruled unconstitutional by the City Attorney. As Anti-Chinese agitation was an essential ingredient for the success of the Workingmen's Party this decision caused its disappearance from the labor scene. However, in 1886, the Los Angeles Trades and Labor Council took up the Anti-Chinese movement."

"In spite of the open disapproval of the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Trades and Labor Council, on February 27th, adopted a program covering the following restrictions. Six of the major platforms covered were:

1. To discontinue patronage of Chinese vegetable gardens and laundries, and of all establishments employing Chinese.
2. To encourage and support non-Orientals engaged in raising produce or operation of laundries, hotels, restaurants, etc., without Chinese labor.
3. To withhold patronage from individuals employing Chinese, renting or leasing property to Chinese, or selling goods manufactured by Chinese.
4. To recommend immediate replacement of all Chinese servants by white help.
5. To request the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County to send delegates to a state antin-Chinese convention summoned to meet in Sacramento on March 10.
6. To find a legal and peaceful solution to the Chinese question."

"The Los Angeles anti-Chinese movement died out almost as suddenly as it had begun. In the first place advocating the discharge of Chinese employees for whom no replacements were available posed an insoluble problem; secondly, the refusal of Chinese vegetable peddlers (almost the city's sole source of supply) to serve families who had dismissed their countrymen caused many people to forget their boycott pledges."

Five Pioneering Chinese American Women of Los Angeles

On October 14, 1978, five Los Angeles Chinese American women pioneers were honored by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California. They broke down barriers and achieved leadership in their professions in the early 20th Century.  At the Society’s annual dinner, California’s then Secretary of State March Fong Eu gave welcome remarks and the awards were presented by Superior Judge Delbert Wong. The five women are:

Caroline Chan - Education

Caroline Chan's father provided for her schooling at the University of Southern California and encouraged her to become a teacher. Ms. Chan earned a B.A. in English and credential to teach English at the high school level. But there were no opportunities for a Chinese woman in the Los Angeles public schools system in the 1920s. She was offered a job teaching English to Chinese women newly arrived in the United States.  Eventually she broke the glass ceiling and became the first teacher of Chinese ethnicity in the Los Angeles public schools system where she remained for thirty year. She was highly respected by her fellow teachers and beloved by her students.

Lily Lum Chan - Community Service

Lily Lum Chan was involved in the establishment of the Chinese Catholic Center, a lecturer in the Chinese Culture Society, a court interpreter and an advocate for Chinese women’s rights. Ms. Chan was the first woman elected to the Board of Directors of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, a position she held for several decades.

Grace Wong Chow in Business

Ms. Chow, along with her husband Emeroy started a small market in the Fresno area beginning in 1918 but lost it because of the Great Depression. They then started The Chow Tea Company. Mrs. Chow traveled throughout the country selling tea and ginger. In 1941, Mrs. Chow started selling insurance and became the first Chinese to sell one million dollars’ worth of insurance in one single year.  She continued this feat for six years and became the first woman to achieve life membership in the Million Dollar Round Table. Additionally, Mrs. Chow devoted much of her time and abilities to civic and community service.

Louise Leung Larson - Journalism

In 1926, Louise Leung Larson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California with a major in English and Journalism. Mrs. Larson applied at the various newspaper offices in Los Angeles. The then Los Angeles Record bought one of the articles she wrote in her journalism classes and hired her on the spot. She was assigned to cover the Hall of Justice. Years later, she worked for the San Francisco News, the Chicago News, the Los Angeles Daily News, and the Santa Monica Evening Outlook. Among the many prominent stories she wrote are articles on Madame Chiang Kai-Shek’s tour throughout the United States to seek aid for China during the war with the Japanese.

Bessie Sue Loo - Motion Picture Industry

Bessie Sue Loo left Hanford, a farming community in central California, after graduating from high school. She enrolled at the University of California at Los Angeles in the 1930s. She became an actor, a casting director and an actor’s agent. She was the first woman of Chinese ethnicity to break the racial barrier in the film industry. For forty years she was the agent for most of the Asian talent in Hollywood. In addition, Mrs. Loo participated in organizations such as the China Relief in WWII, the Jewish Home for the Aged, the Committee to Preserve Chinese Culture and the Motion Picture Relief Fund. She was a president of The China Society of Southern California, and the Los Angeles Chinese Women’s Club. In 1978, Mrs. Loo became a member of California’s State Economic Development Commission.

Locke, California

Historic Locke is in the heart of the Sacramento Delta roughly midway between Sacramento and Stockton in California. It was founded in 1915 and holds the distinction of being the only town in the United States to have been built entirely by Chinese and for the Chinese.

In the late 1800's there was a large Chinese community, 600 to 700, in nearby Walnut Grove. Many of the first levees in the Sacramento Delta were built by Chinese. They came too seek jobs after the Gold Rush and the completion of the railroad that connected the span of the United States. The Chinese population grew very fast after it became known that this delta is fertile for farming. The Chinese labored with pick and shovel, earning very little for the earth that they moved.

A piece of land was leased from George Locke following a fire that destroyed the entire Chinatown in Walnut Grove in 1915. Since it was illegal for Chinese to own land, George Locke agreed to lease nine acres to a group of Chinese who wanted to build a Chinatown to replace the one that was completely burned down in Walnut Grove.

Locke became the new Chinatown, it grew and prospered as many Chinese from San Francisco area settled here. By the 1920's, it was alive with businesses of all types. However, after WWII, the residents drifted away, lured by the promise of big cities. Today it is a quiet town of about 160 residents, fewer than half are Chinese. The original buildings remain. There is a Locke Memorial Park dedicated in 2006, to the Chinese who built the railroad, levees, agriculture and the town of Locke.

In August 2, 1970, Locke was added to the national registry of historical places.
For more information on its history, current and upcoming events in Locke please visit www.locketown.com.

Fiddletown, California

Fiddletown is a small hamlet in California, USA. Its Chinese population there once was second only to that in San Francisco. Below paragraphs are quoted from the Fiddletown Preservation Society's website.

"Fiddletown began as a mining camp during the height of the Gold Rush, with ample placer gold deposits that attracted miners from all parts of the world. The story goes that it was named by early settlers from Missouri who fiddled during slow times when there was no water in the creeks for mining, a frequent occurrence in the summer. Music was always a part of this town, but so was fiddling around. "

"By 1853 Fiddletown evolved into a trading center for nearby mining camps and for farms in the neighboring Shenandoah Valley. Its commercial area during this period of growth featured fifteen to twenty stores, four hotels, several blacksmith shops, a carpenter’s shop, four taverns, a couple of bakeries, two or three restaurants, dance halls, and even public baths. With a church, post office, and school, it was quite a civilized town. In its heyday, the town’s population was about 2,000."

"Chinese miners and merchants also gravitated to Fiddletown, occupying the southwest part of the town. By 1880, half of Fiddletown’s population was Chinese. Though the Chinese departed in the first part of the 20th Century, they left behind several early gold rush buildings that make Fiddletown unique among Sierra foothill towns. The Chew Kee herb store was inhabited for more than 100 years by Chinese residents. It is now open as a museum, containing fascinating objects from the lives of its occupants."

There are three remaining Chinese buildings, Chew Chee Store Museum, Chinese Gambling Hall, and Chinese General Store. For updates on the preservation of these and other buildings in Fiddletown, please visit www.fiddletown.info.  The last Chinese resident, Jimmy Chow, died April 1965. The three remaining buildings tell the story of the Chinese in Fiddletown.

First Chinese American Movie Star - Anna May Wong

Below is a youtube video of the making of "Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words." It is 42 minutes long.

 

Below is the video of "Anna May Wong: In Her Own Words," 56 minutes long.