Chinese Historical Society of Southern California

Chinese immigrants have made significant contributions to the progress and development of the United States, particularly California. But this fact was and still is omitted in the curriculum of social studies in schools. To fill this unfortunate and unjustified gap in formal education, a small group of concerned citizens met and decided to form a historical society with the mission of preserving for present and future generations the significant contributions of the Chinese pioneers. This group met on May 29, 1975 in Los Angeles. An ad hoc committee was formed with Stan Lau as convener and Norman Wong as Vice-Chairman. On November 1, 1975, 27 people attended a general meeting which formed the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC). Officers elected at this meeting were Stan Lau, President, Jerry Shue, Vice-President, Emma Louie, Corresponding Secretary, Ann Lau, Recording Secretary, George Yee, Treasurer, Paul Louie, John Ching and Chuck Yee, Members-at-Large. A constitution for the Society was adopted January 7, 1976.

The mission statement of the CHSSC is:

To bring together people with a mutual interest in the important history and historical role of Chinese and Chinese Americans in Southern California;

To pursue, preserve and communicate knowledge of this history; and

To promote the heritage of the Chinese and Chinese American community in support of a better appreciation of our rich, multi-cultural society.

 

Chinese Labor and California Wine Industry

The content of this post is gleaned from the article, "Wine Makers of the Past" by Margie Lew, published in Gum Saan Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, August, 1977, pp2-3, Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.
 
A group of 228 persons got together for a gourmet Chinese dinner with wine at the Golden Palace Restaurant in Los Angeles Chinatown May 14, 1977. Among the guests were:

Elne Meline, President of the Conference of California Historical Societies; Merrill Baugham, Vice-President of Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society; Claire Crain, Conference Vice-President (14B). There was a large number of people from the wine making regions of California. The guest speaker was William F. Heintz (1933-2012) of Glen Ellen (Sonoma Valley) who had the distinction of being the only professional wine and viticultural historian in the country at the time of this dinner. I do not know whether this distinction still hold true today.

Below are excerpts from the above mentioned article.

“Through diligent and persistent research, Mr. Heintz has discovered that the Chinese built many of the wineries in California, as well as working on numerous wine cellars (also known as tunnels) which entailed a great amount of blasting and excavating. These buildings and tunnels were so well buiolt that many of them are still standing and are being used.”

“Mr. Heintz states, ‘It is my conclusion that most of the wine made in California during the 19^th century was made by Chinese or with Chinese help. This is based on the simple, inescapable fact that Chinese made up 90% of the vineyard and winery help in those years. They not only pruned the vines in the spring and picked the grapes in the fall, they made or helped make the wine in the wineries in the 1880’s”

“Without reservation, Mr. Heintz feels that viticulture in California would have been set back 30 to 50 years were it not for the Chinese vineyard worker. At least two circumstances bear this fact:

For the first 40 years of grape-growing in California, it was believed that the vines should be no higher than 18 inches from the ground. Picking grpaes required continuous bending and stooping in addition o lifting 30-50 lb boxes of the fruit under a hot sun for hours at a stretch. Caucasian laborers could not work under such conditions, so it was the Chinese who did this heavy, painful work from the 1850’s to about 1890.

In the 1870’s, a vine disease called “Phylloxera” (native to our East Coast) threatened to wipe out the vineyards in California. Twenty years of experimentation finally brought forth the discovery that Eastern American grape roots, grafted with the fine European grape, was the only solution. Since most of the grapevines had been wiped out by the phylloxera, the vineyards had to be replanted. Thi was done by the Chinese laborers, who also took over the tedious work of grafting the vines, a delicate the technical undertaking. (Field grafters of vines today are among the most highly paid professions in viticulture). Mr. eintz further states, ‘The phylloxera story is one of the highlights in the history of the grape and win in this state. You can read about it in most history books. But nowhere will you find any reference to the Chinese contribution.’”

Mr. Heintz’s books include “California’s Napa Valley: One Hundred Sixty Years of Wine Making,” which was published in 1999.

He also wrote “Wine Country - A History of Napa Valley (the Early Years 1838-1920)” and “San Francisco’s Mayors 1850-1880.”

Last but not least, he published “The Chinese in California, a brief bibliographic history,”  by Gladys C. Hansen (selected by) & Heintz, William F. (annotated by) Heintz (Jan 1, 1970)

Chinese American Citizens Alliance

Chinese American Citizens Alliance (CACA) was founded in 1895. Its original name was Native Sons of the Golden State. Its original intent was for purposes of fellowship and mutual protection because of the hostile social environment against Chinese immigrants at that time in the United States, particularly in California.

According to Mabel Lum Lew, in 1904 her father, Walter Lum and his friends Ng Gunn and Lum Joe Gay, reactivated the Native Sons of the Golden State. By 1915, a large number of Chinese both in California and outside of California are became interested in the organization. A new charter was taken out and the name changed to CACA. Mabel says that her father was elected first Grand President.

"To empower Chinese Americans, we promote American citizenship, practice responsible patriotism, pursue the highest ethics, morals and values of the community, preserve historical and cultural traditions, and provide youth education."

The modern CACA's vision is "for every Chinese American to be a fulfilled American citizen with an equal opportunity to discover and enjoy the American way of life."

For more information on CACA, go to http://www.cacala.org/about-us.

Interrogation at Angel Island

Below is a sample interrogation of a Chinese man at the Angel Island Immigration Station.
Source: Hoobler, Dorothy and Thomas. The Chinese American Family Album. Oxford University Press: New York, 1994. pg. 44-45.

What is your name?
Leong Sem.

Has your house in China two outside doors?
Yes.

Who lives opposite the small door?
Leon Doo Wui, a farmer in the village; he lives with his wife, no one else.

Describe his wife.
Chine Shee, natural feet.

Didn't that man ever have any children?
No.

How old a man is he?
About 30.

Who lives in the first house in your row?
Leong Yik Fook, farmer in the village; he lives with his wife, no one else.

How many houses in your row?
Two.

Who lives in the first house, first row from the head?
Yik Haw, I don't know what clan he belongs to.

Why don't you know what clan he belongs to?
I never heard his family name.

Do you expect us to believe that you lived in that village if you don't know the clan names of the people living?
He never told us his family name.

How long has he lived in the village?
For a long time.

Who lives in the first house, third row?
Leong Yik Gai; he is away somewhere; he has a wife, onse son and a adaughter living in that house.

According to your testimony today there are only five houses in the village and yesterday you said there were nin.
There are nine houses.

Where are the other four?
There us Doo Chin's house, first house, sixth row.

What is the occupation of Leong Doo Chin?
He has no occupation; he has a wife, no children.

Describe his wife. Ng Shee, bound feet.

Who is another of those four families you haven't mentioned?
Leong Doo Sin.

Where is his house?
First house, fourth row.

There are two [other] families, who are they and where do they live?
Chin Yick Dun, fifth row, third house.

What is his occupation?
No occupation.

What family has he?
He has a wife and a son; his wife is Chin Shee, natural feet.

Did you ever hear of a man of the Chin family marrying a Chin family woman?
[This was forbidden by Chinese custom.] I made a mistake; her husband is Leong Yick Don.

What is the name and age of that son?
Leong Yik Gai; his house is first house, fourth row.

You have already put Leong Doo Sin in the fourth row, first house. His house is first house, third row. You have already put Leong Yick Gai first house, third row. I am mixed up.

This sample interrogation clearly shows the difficult and overly specific questions asked by the interrogators. The questions were very unrelated to actually gaining citizenship: their primary function was to limit Chinese citizenship as much as possible.

For more information, go to www.chineseamericanstories.blogspot.com/p/angel-island-immigration-station.html and Angel Island Immigration Station

Detention at Angel Island

From 1910 to 1940, Angel Island Immigration Station was built to enforce laws that specifically excluded Chinese and other Asian immigrants from the country. Chinese seeking admittance to the U.S. were subject to interrogations and humuliating physical examinations under the pretext of determining their eligibility to enter the country. They were housed in barracks while awaiting decisions by the authority. They waited for days, weeks, months, sometimes years. While in detention they carved poems expressing their fears and frustrations into walls. Many of the poems are still readable today. In 1940 a fire burned down the Station’s administrative building which led to the closing of the entire station.

For more information, go to www.chineseamericanstories.blogspot.com/p/angel-island-immigration-station.html and Angel Island Immigration Station

 

 

 

Angel Island

I just added a page on the history of Angel Island Immigration Station. Please read about it by going to the Collective Stories section on the right column and click on the link to Angel Island Immigration Station, http://www.chineseamericanstories.blogspot.com/p/angel-island-immigration-station.html . You can also go directly to Angel Island Immigration Station website at http://www.aiisf.org/

Earlier Laws Limiting Immigration from China

Prior to the passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, there were already significant efforts at limiting immigration from China.

·       In 1870, Congress approves the Naturalization Act, barring Chinese from obtaining U.S. citizenship. The Act also prevents immigration of Chinese women who have marital partners in the United States. Chinese and Japanese men must show evidence in support of a woman’s moral character in the case of prospective and actual wives of Chinese and Japanese descent.
The Chinese American population represents 63,199 out of a total U.S. population of 38.5 million. They represent close to half of the male labor force in California.

·       In 1875, Congress passes the Page Law, which bars Chinese, Japanese  and “Mongolian” prostitutes, felons and contract laborer from immigrating to the U.S.

·       In 1878, a federal district court in California rules Chinese ineligible for naturalized citizenship.

In 1880, the United States and China sign a treaty that allows the U.S. to limit Chinese immigration.