Angel Island and Chinese
Immigration
Sik-Lam Wong黄锡林
Berkeley CA
October, 2012
For Private Use Only
Mr. Chen or Mr. Jiang: My First Exposure
to “Paper Son”
• For many years I had known an elderly
gentleman as Mr. Chen*
• When he passed away, the obituary in a local
Chinese newspaper referred to him as Mr.
Jiang* instead
• It turned out Mr. Chen came to the US as a
“paper son” in the early 1900’s
*Names have been changed for privacy
Angel Island is Not Ellis Island: Not for
Chinese Immigrants
• Ellis Island in New York was the entry point for
new immigrants from Europe in the old days
• Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay was the
entry point for new immigrants from Asia from
1910-1940
– ~1 million people entered the US through Angel
Island
– Also a place to keep out Chinese immigrants due to
discriminatory laws in the past
From Gold Mountain to the Sacramento
River Delta
• Chinese laborers came to the “Gold Mountain” after the
discovery of gold in California in 1848
• Chinese laborers were main labor force behind the
building of the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860’s
• Chinese laborers drained the swamps, built the levees
and worked the farms in the Sacramento River Delta in
the 1870’s
• Chinese laborers were recruited because they worked
hard for low pay
– Resented by local labor for the same reason
• Same happened to the Irish and other minority groups also
– Economic downturn in the 1870’s resulted in protectionism and
discrimination against the Chinese
– Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 to exclude Chinese laborers and
their families from entering US
From San Francisco to Angel Island
• Some Chinese immigrants were naturalized prior to 1882
and became US citizens
• Chinese born in the US or born to US citizens were
automatically US citizens
• The 1906 earthquake in San Francisco and the
subsequent fire destroyed a lot of government records
including birth records
• Chinese would-be immigrants would claim to be children
of US citizens: paper sons and paper daughters
– Industry in San Francisco to arrange papers for immigrants from
China
• That was how my elderly friend, Mr. Jiang, came to the US
as the son of a Mr. Chen
Angel Island as Detention Center
• Angel Island served as
detention center from 19101940 to process Chinese
immigrants
• Immigrants were asked many
detailed and difficult questions
about their homes and villages
– Paper sons and daughters
were coached about the facts
to match with their paper
parents’ accounts
• Legitimate immigrants were
caught in the middle and also
detained at Angel Island
Angel Island Detention Center
(White Building in Foreground)
Time at Immigration Station Was Hard
Restored women’s barracks 2009
Restored men’s barracks 2009
• Men and women lived in separate barracks
• Young boys had to live with the men away from their mothers
• Confined to barracks most of the time with only a few hours of
exercise time
• A friend’s father had such a painful experience at Angel Island that
he vowed that he would never go back there again
Immigration Station
Restored barracks 2009
Barracks: another view,
before restoration
Chinese Scholars At Angel Island
•
•
Many Chinese poems carved onto the wooden panels in barracks; discovered by park ranger,
Alexander Weiss, in 1970
Angel Island Immigrant Station wassaved from demolition and became national historical landmark
Christian Worker(s) At Angel Island
•
•
Deaconess Katherine Maurer, shown in photo, was appointed by Women’s Home
Mission Society to serve as social worker to help Chinese immigrants at Angel Island
Christians were instrumental in helping Chinese immigrants in San Francisco,
including freeing many women from prostitution
Angel Island Shows Both Good and Bad
Side of America
•
Discrimination against minorities in
the past: Blacks, Chinese, Irish,
Native Americans, etc.
– Will always exist to some degree
in an imperfect or sinful world
• In group versus out group
• Competition for jobs and
survival
•
Discrimination is still a worldwide
phenomenon
– Not limited to US
•
But America has the strength to
acknowledge and struggle against
the problem
– Instead of hiding from the problem
•
Christian influence in Chinese
community in the early 1900s
including Angel Island
Memorial for Chinese immigrants at
Angel Island
Many Japanese and Koreans Came
Through Angel Island
Probably about 90 racial groups came through Angel Island, based on
graffiti carved on the wooden panels on the walls,
Many Artifacts Donated by Families of People
Who Had Stayed at Angel Island
•
Display of
Chinese coming
through Angel
Island
•
Photo and
artifacts donated
by daughter,
shown in photo
as baby
Angel Island State Park Tour
Docent leading tour at Angel Island Immigration Station
This presentation is for private use
only and not for public distribution
This presentation is based on material available from the
Internet