Bulletin
Chinese Historical Society of America
November/December 2004
Vol. 40, No. 8
NATIONAL TRUST FOR
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
HONORS CHSA
Dec/Jan
CALENDAR OF CHSA
EVENTS & EXHIBITS
Dec 1 Book reading by Pam Chun
of When Strange Gods Call, her latest
novel of ill-fated lovers trapped by
old family rivalries in Hawaii during
the 1970s. USF Lone Mountain
Campus, 5:45pm.
Accepting the
award for CHSA
in Louisville,
Kentucky were (lr) architects
Wayne Barcelon
and Darlene Jang,
CHSA executive
director Sue Lee,
and historian and
CHSA board
member Philip
Choy.
Dec 9 SFSU professor Russell Jeung
details the interplay of religion and
Asian American identity in his new text,
“Faithful Generations: Race and New
Asian American Churches.” CHSA
Learning Center, 7pm.
Dec 18 Book lecture by journalist
and social historian William Wong, featuring Images of America: Oakland’s
Chinatown, a photo history of Oakland’s
Chinese community. CHSA Learning
Center, 2pm.
O
Dec 21 Chinese New Year Parade
exhibit. Philip Choy Gallery, through
Feb. 27, 2005.
Dec 27 CHSA New Acquisitions.
Stage Gallery, through January 23, 2005
Jan. 15, 2005 CHSA Annual
General Meeting and Volunteer
Recognition Luncheon. Gold Mountain
Restaurant, 644 Broadway, San Francisco,
11:30am. $40 per person. For details,
(415) 391-1188 ext 201 or check our website www.chsa.org.
Jan. 29 Book launch for
Rosemary Gong, author of Good Luck Life:
The Essential Guide to Chinese American
Celebrations and Culture. CHSA Wells Fargo
Learning Center.
All CHSA events are free
to members, except as
noted.
For more information, call 415 391-1188
or visit our website at www.chsa.org.
n September 30, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation presented the Chinese Historical
Society of America with its prestigious National Preservation Honor Award. CHSA was one of 22 national award
winners honored by the National Trust at its week-long
2004 National Preservation Conference in Louisville,
Kentucky.
Representing CHSA at the ceremony were CHSA executive director Sue Lee, Darlene Jang and Wayne Barcelon of
Barcelon+Jang, Architecture/Urban Planning, and historian
and CHSA board member Philip Choy .
Known as the “Lantern on the Hill,” CHSA’s Museum
and Learning Center is a San Francisco hub where
Chinese-American culture and history come alive. It is
housed in the Julia Morgan-designed Chinatown YWCA,
which the renowned architect designed in 1932 with an eye
to integrating Chinese motifs and Western architecture. An
earthquake had left the building dormant for 14 years
before CHSA transformed the
Read about our
landmark into a museum and
2004 Gala,
learning center for the Chinese
“Dancing on the
American community as well as
Roof,”
visitors from across the globe.
on pages 4 & 5
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CHSA NEWS AND TIDBITS
CHINESE
New Staff
HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OF
AMERICA
BOARD OFFICERS
Lorraine Dong, Ph.D., President
Willard M. Chin, 1st Vice President
Frank Jang, 2nd Vice President
Darlene V. Mar, Secretary
Calvin B. Fung, Treasurer
BOARD DIRECTORS
Irene Poon Andersen
Donald Chan
Joyce M. Chan
Philip P. Choy
Colleen Fong, Ph.D.
Russell Jeung, Ph.D.
Him Mark Lai
Agnes Lam
Catherine S. Lam
Ellen Lee
Alexander Lock
Paul Louie
William G. Roop
Gloria S. So
May Wong
FOUNDERS
Thomas W. Chinn
C.H. Kwock
Chingwah Lee
H.K. Wong
Thomas W.S. Wu, D.D.S.
STAFF
Sue Lee, Executive Director
Marisa Louie, Program Assistant
Russell Ow, Operations Administrator
Leonard Shek, Program Coordinator
Ivy Wong, Weekend Supervisor
Jeannie Woo, Collections Manager
Maggie Yan, Reading Room
Coordinator
Program Assistant Marisa
Louie is a recent graduate from
the American Studies and
Environmental Studies departments at the University of
California, Santa Cruz. She
began her involvement with
CHSA two years ago as a collections volunteer, and traveled to
her maternal grandfather’s village in Kaiping, Guangdong,
China as part of the “In Search
of Roots” program in July 2004.
Now, when she’s not sending off
flyers about the latest CHSAhosted book reading or coordinating CHSA’s other public programs, Marisa may be found hiking and cycling in the great outdoors or perusing through used
bookstores.
Leonard Shek is CHSA’s
new Program Coordinator. Born
and raised in the Bay Area, his
life as a poet, writer, activist,
and artist reflects the frenetic
and diverse population of the
Bay Area. Leonard attended UC
Berkeley and the Academy of Art
College in San Francisco. He has
been recognized around the Bay
Area as a skillful organizer and
producer of spoken word events,
as well as a captivating poet.
Contact him at [email protected]
if you would like workshops on
Asian American history, ethnic
studies, poetry and writing.
Jeffery P. Woo, Esq., Legal Counsel
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What’s New for the
Year of the Rooster!
On December 21, CHSA will
open a new exhibition on the
history and legacy of the
Chinese New Year Parade in San
Francisco. With photographs,
documents, costumes, props,
and other memorabilia illustrating the history of the centuryold parade, this exhibit will
explore the changing nature of
the parade’s participants and
spectators. How does the
Chinese New Year parade, one
of the most visible events in
Chinese American culture,
reflect upon the evolving community? Visitors will also be
welcomed to share their memories of the parade.
To celebrate Chinese New
Year, CHSA will offer arts-andcrafts workshops for the whole
family at the CHSA Learning
Center. More info about these
family days will be posted on
the CHSA website in January. A
free self-guided walking tour of
Chinatown, modeled after one
developed by the Parade’s original organizers, will be available
for our intrepid visitors. See you
in the Year of the Rooster!
Correction
The photo of Jackie Mei Ling
on page 3 of the September/
October Bulletin was incorrectly
captioned as Andy Wong. &
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CHSA’S JULIA MORGAN BUILDING RECEIVES
ACCOLADES FROM THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
After moving from one temporary location to another, CHSA
purchased the YWCA building in
1996 to accommodate expanding programs and exhibitions.
“The success of this museum
is a testament to the value of
preserving historic buildings,”
said Richard Moe, president of
the National Trust for Historic
Preservation. “The preservation
and reuse of this landmark is a
great accomplishment for the
Chinese-American community.”
The National Preservation
Honor Awards are bestowed on
distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public
agencies, and corporations
whose skill and determination
have given new
meaning to their
communities
through the preservation of our architectural and cultural
heritage. The
National Trust for
Historic Preservation
is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting
the irreplaceable. The Trust provides leadership, education, and
advocacy to save America’s
diverse historic places and revitalize communities. For more
information, visit the National
Trust’s website at www.nationaltrust.org. &
Receive CHSA’s
New E-Newsletter!
S
ubscribe to CHSA’s ENewsletter, our semimonthly e-mail event listing. You’ll receive news
about upcoming programs
and activities. Receiving our
E-Newsletter will not void
your subscription to our
more substantial and informative monthly Bulletin. Email [email protected] to
subscribe or visit
www.chsa.org and fill out
the form at the bottom of
our website. &
“The success of this
museum is a
testament to the
value of preserving
historic buildings.”
RICHARD MOE, PRESIDENT,
NATIONAL TRUST FOR
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
IN SEARCH OF ROOTS
SEEKS INTERNS FOR 2005
T
he In Search of Roots program, co-sponsored by the
Chinese Culture Center and the Chinese Historical Society
of America, is currently accepting applications for the 2005 year.
Interns will have the opportunity to document their family history
and relate it to the Chinese American experience, through lecture
seminars and workshops on oral history and archival research.
Program interns will travel to the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong
Province in July 2005, where they will visit their ancestral villages
and tour other sites of significance to Chinese America. Interns
should be between 16-25 years old and must have ancestral origins
in the Pearl River Delta. For more information or to obtain a program application, please visit http://www.c-c-c.org/roots/roots.html
or contact Program Coordinator Albert Cheng at 415-986-1822,
[email protected]. &
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“DANCING ON THE ROOF”
A Smashing Success for CHSA’s 41st Anniversary Celebration
PHOTOS OF 1930s BAND MEMBERS (THIS PAGE)
BY FRANK JANG. PHOTOS OF 1970s BAND
MEMBERS (OPPOSITE PAGE) BY WILLIAM PORTER.
C
HSA’s Gala “Dancing on the
Roof” was a triumph!! Though
we moved the venue at the last
minute because of the San Francisco
hotel strike/lockout, over 650 guests
joined us at the San Francisco
Airport Marriott to pay tribute to the
Chinatown dance bands from the
1930’s-1970’s. Surprise supporter,
Noel Lee, head “monster” of Monster
Cable, drummer, and member of
Asian Wood, a 1970’s band, graciously donated gift items for all our honorees and guests. Thanks to all of
our honorees, guests, volunteers,
board members, staff, donors, and
supporters for helping make the Gala
a MONSTER success. Here are some
photos for you to enjoy. &
Edmund Jung of the Cathayans, William Lo of the Chinatown
Knights, and William Chan and Frederick Young of the Cathayans
await their honors.
CHSA executive
director Sue Lee
speaks with
members of the
dance bands of
the 1930s.
C H S A
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“It really has been great getting together
tonight and reminiscing about those years.”
THE ILLUSIONS (DURING ON-STAGE SPEECH)
Henry Ng
& Victor
Ng of the
Illusions
Abacus
The Intrigues
Persuasions/Sand/
City Lights/C.P.
Salt/Earwaves
Danilo Porciuncula,
Steve Monteclaro
and Allen Louie of
the Enchanters
The Soundcasters
Majestic Sounds
Jest Jammin’
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CHINESE MASSACRE MAP
By R. Gregory Nokes
A
proposal to honor as
many as 34 slain
Chinese gold miners by designating a “Chinese Massacre
Site’’ on official maps has been
at temporarily derailed by commissioners in Wallowa County,
Oregon who object to use of the
word “massacre.”
The little-known massacre
occurred in late May of 1887 at
the mouth of Deep Creek, where
it flows into the Snake River
along Hells Canyon in Wallowa
County, Oregon. The Chinese
miners were allegedly
ambushed by a gang of seven
rustlers and schoolboys. Some
may have been killed at other
nearby locations.
A proposal to mark Deep
Creek as the site of the massacre on future maps was made
by Jeff Ford of Boise, Idaho, who
said he wanted “to give permanence to one of the West’s most
heinous egregious acts’’ stemming from the hostility that
some Caucasians directed at the
tens of thousands of Chinese
laborers who emigrated to the
United States in the late 1800s
in search of work.
Ford said he’s open to compromise, but is concerned that if
the massacre isn’t acknowledged in a public way, future
generations might never know it
happened.
As it is, many of the facts
surrounding the massacre in the
remote canyon are obscure. The
murders weren’t discovered for
several weeks until the bodies of
The number of victims has
never been known for certain.
While the gang members were
formally accused of murdering
10 miners, most researchers
have settled on 31 or 34 as the
correct total.
The Walla Walla Statesman, a
now-defunct newspaper, carried
an account of the confession on
Sept. 30, 1891 in which
McMillan’s father quoted his
son as saying at the time of his
death that the gang killed 34
several victims surfaced in the
Chinese in three groups and
Snake River near Lewiston,
robbed them of their gold,
Idaho, 70 miles north. Other
which was never recovered.
bodies were found later along
Much of what is known
the rocky cliffs deep in Hells
about the massacre came from
Canyon, which marks the border records that were found in 1995
between Oregon and Idaho.
locked away in an unused counMonths following the masty safe in Enterprise, which gave
sacre, Frank Vaughan, a member rise to speculation that subseof the gang accused of the
quent generations tried to cover
killing, turned state’s evidence
up the crime.
against six other gang members.
McArthur said an alternative
They were: Bruce Evans, the
to naming the massacre on
leader; J.T. Canfield; Homer
maps might be to designate
LaRue; Hezekiah Hughes; Hiram Deep Creek as an historic site
Maynard and Robert McMillan.
with an historic marker. &
All lived in Wallowa County; several gang members, including
Editor’s Note: If you would like to
Vaughan, were members of wellcomment or send an appropriate
known families.
name for this site, send a letter to:
Evans, Canfield, and LaRue,
Oregon Geographic Names Board
regarded as the primary killers,
C/o Oregon Historical Society
fled the county and were never
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR 97205
caught. Maynard, Hughes and
McMillan went on trial in
Dick Markley,
Enterprise where a jury declared
Acting Forest Supervisor
Attn: Sue Cothren
them innocent in Sept. 1888.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
McMillan was just 15 at the time
3502 Highway 30
of the massacre and one of the
La Grande, OR 97850
schoolboys in the gang.
Jeff Ford of Boise,
Idaho...wanted “to give
permanence to one of
the West’s most
heinous egregious
acts’’ stemming from
the hostility that some
Caucasians directed at
the tens of thousands
of Chinese laborers who
emigrated to the
United States in the
late 1800s.
C H S A
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JOIN OR RENEW
YOUR CHSA MEMBERSHIP!
MEMBERSHIP FORM
CHECK ONE:
I
t’s time to join or renew your membership to CHSA. Your
membership and contributions assure our ability to sustain
operations and launch new efforts to promote Chinese
American history! Please return the form to us or renew online
at www.chsa.org! By the way, we welcome additional donations.
❑ New
❑ Individual $50
❑ Student/Educator/Senior $30
❑ Family $40
❑ Contributing $100
❑ Sponsor $250
Co-sponsored by the Asian American Studies Department at
San Francisco State University || October 7-9, 2005
T
______________________________
NAME
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directions and multitude of
paths tracking through present-day Chinese America.
The face of Chinese
Americans now includes not
just southern Cantonese, but
immigrants from all parts of
China and from the hybrid
societies of Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Southeast Asia,
South and Central America,
Australasia, and Europe.
Chinese Americans live and
work, scattered across all 50
states and have made inroads
into every profession, including the once unattainable
realm of electoral politics.
Artists, writers, and scientists
stand tall on the national
stage. Despite these accomplishments, discrimination
still lurks in the ongoing portrayal of ethnic Chinese as
perpetual foreigners and
national security risks.
For more information
about the conference, including submission forms, please
check our website at
www.chsa.org or call (415)
391-1188, ext. 108. &
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❑ Gift
MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
CHSA 2005 CONFERENCE
The Changing Face of Chinese America
he year 2005 marks
the anniversary of
many Chinese American milestones, some tragic and some
laudable. It commemorates a
century since passage of
California’s first anti miscegenation law explicitly banning marriages between
Mongolians and Caucasians.
One hundred years have also
passed since Chinese protested the Exclusion laws (18821943) by boycotting American
goods. In 2005, CHSA, will celebrate its 42nd birthday and
the 30th anniversary of the
first Chinese American
Studies conference in the
nation. And, the Asian
American Studies Department
at San Francisco State
University will commemorate
the 37th anniversary of its
Third World Students Strike
that resulted in the formation
of Ethnic Studies. The distance between discrimination
and resistance, between
exclusion and accomplishment, demarcated by these
events highlight the many
❑ Renewal
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CHSA is a not-for-profit organization as
described in Section 501(c)2 of the Internal
Revenue Service Code (Federal Tax ID 946122446). Your gift is tax-deductible to the
full extent allowed by law. Membership
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Sept. 30 are automatically members until
Dec. 31 of the following year.
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DONORS LIST
JULY 1 – OCTOBER 31, 2004
Stan & Irene Poon
Andersen
Asians for Corporate
& Community
Action
Bank of America
Alan Berger
Audrey Chan
Elsie Chan
Joyce Chan
Terence & Norma
Chan
William Chan
Chek Tan &
Company
Bruce Chin
Willard Chin
Fannie Chinn
Lily Chinn
Mayme Chinn
Ida Chow
Philip P. & Sarah W.
Choy
Maurice H. & Aster
Y.K. Chuck
Rose Chung
Lorraine Dong
Dorothy C. Eng
Colleen Fong
Ken & Pamela Fong
Shirley Fong-Torres
Ken Fujitani
Calvin Fung
Buck Gee
Gordon & Anita
Chan Foundation
Thomas Hart
Madeline Hsu
Raymond Huang
Frank Jang
Russell Jeung
Timothy Johnson
Sing-Jok Ju
Lorraine Kimlau
KTSF 26
Him Mark & Laura
Lai
Agnes Lam
Catherine Lam
Kathleen Lawton
Ella Lee
Ellen Lee
Garfield Lee
Jenica A. Lee
Josephine Lee
Theodore Lee
Warren Lee
David Lei
Toby Levine
Gordon Lew
Alex Lock
Harvey Louie
Hazel Louie
Hoover J & Ruby
Ling Louie
John Louie
May & Sinclair
Louie
Paul & Emma Woo
Louie
Paul Edward Louie
Sylvia Louie
Yen Louie
Eva Lowe
Lucky Chances
Casino
Darlene Mar
Robert McCarthy
Doreen Mcleod
Mamie & Wood Moy
Yoshio Nakashima
K. Joe Nanya
Mae M. Ngai
Jimmy G.S. Ong
George Ow, Jr.
Jon & Laurie
Owyang
PG&E
Poon Foundation
Jeff Quan
William Roop
John Sanger
H. Marcia Smolens
Gloria So
Gloria Tai
Colleen Tashiro
Time Advertisement
Evelyn Tom
Stanley Tom
Jeanie & Michelle
Tong
John Tsu
Elaine Varga
Sylvia Walters
Wells Fargo
Peter Wiley
Chaney & Bea Wong
Gerrye Wong
Gordon Wong
Harland Wong
Howard Wong
Jade Snow Wong
Mary Wong
May Wong
Florencio & Judy
Woo
Danny Yee
Mel J. Young
Judy Yung
The CHSA Bulletin is published monthly. To contribute articles about
Chinese American community and historical news and events, please
submit articles to [email protected].
Editor: Sue Lee
||
Design: Elaine Joe
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CHINESE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY OF AMERICA
965 CLAY STREET
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415 391-1188
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TIME DATED MATERIAL