Portland’s Chinatowns
9781467162883
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Brimming with the heart of Portland's Chinese American culture, Portland's Chinatowns demonstrates resilience, family, and the importance of the history behind the community of immigrants that made Oregon their home.
Portland’s early Chinese Americans faced exclusion laws, racial discrimination, and forced relocation, leading to the New Chinatown/Japantown Historical District in downtown Portland. From modest beginnings in labor intensive industries such as hand laundries, restaurants, and agriculture, many were able to eventually own property when the city laws changed, and their children had opportunities to pursue higher education and other professions. Chinese and Chinese Americans proudly served in every US conflict since the Civil War despite the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which limited citizenship. Historic photographs document their challenges, successes, and contributions, enriching our understanding of the American immigrant experience from the 1850s to the present day. These images celebrate the resiliency of Portland’s Chinese community as they have helped create a vibrant multicultural city.
Dr. Kristin Wong is a clinical pharmacist and a fourth-generation Chinese American whose family has been actively involved in the Portland Chinese community. These vintage photographs from the Portland Chinatown Museum, along with public archives and private collections, reveal the fascinating history that dates back over 175 years of what was America’s second-largest Chinatown in 1900.
Chinese in Washington
9781467147729
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%How the U.S. law targeting Chinese laborers impacted families for generations.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, after the railroads were completed and the gold mines exhausted, an economic downturn stirred up anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States. Capitalizing on this prejudice, the government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to limit immigration and naturalization for people of Chinese descent. By 1892, Chinese were required to obtain certificates of residency or identity and carry them at all times. Those who did not could be deported or imprisoned. As the law became stricter, interrogations, affidavits, and Caucasian witnesses were required to prove Chinese people’s right to remain in America. The act wouldn’t be repealed until 1943.
From the National Archives at Seattle, certified genealogist emeritus Trish Hackett Nicola brings to life the case files of Chinese immigrants.
