ABOUT US

The Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP) is based in Santa Clara County, California. It was founded in 1987 by the late Lillian Gong-Guy and Gerrye Wong as a non-profit organization to promote and preserve Chinese American and Chinese history and culture through community outreach activities. The leadership of the organization is comprised of volunteers — Officers, Board of Directors, and Advisory Board.  A Board of Trustees oversees the major maintenance of the Chinese American Historical Museum (CAHM or aka Ng Shing Gung Museum) with the City of San Jose and History San Jose.

CHCP’s first major project was to reconstruct the Ng Shing Gung, a religious and community center originally built in 1888 in San Jose’s “Heinlenville” settlement, the last Chinatown of San Jose. In 1991, CHCP donated the Ng Shing Gung Museum to the City of San Jose, making it available to the community at History Park, located in Kelley Park, San Jose. The museum building lower floor serves as a Chinese American Museum telling the stories of the early Chinese pioneers in Santa Clara Valley. The second floor showcases the original 1888 gold-gilded altar and the five gods. The short documentary movie of the last Chinatown in San Jose, Home Base: A Chinatown Called Heinlenville, was directed by Jessica Yu, an Oscar-award winner, and can be viewed upstairs at the Ng Shing Gung Museum.

Read more about the story of CHCP in the article written by Rodney M. Lum, OD, CHCP President in 2007: "Finding Home Again: The Story of the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP) and Its Efforts to Reclaim the Forgotten Historic Chinatowns of San Jose, California."

Mission and Programs

Promote, Educate, and Preserve Chinese and Chinese American history and culture in the Santa Clara County.

In addition to the care and sharing of the Chinese American Historical Museum (CAHM) in the Ng Shing Gung building at History Park San Jose, CHCP shares our stories with Outreach Activities. Outreach Programs include:

• Heritage Education Link Program (HELP) Grants
• Immigration Program Grants 
• Lillian Gong-Guy Memorial Scholarship
• Student Docent Cultural Ambassador Program
• Chinese American World War II Veterans Project
• Pioneering the Valley Traveling Exhibit
• Golden Legacy Curriculum
• Outreach Events
• Informational Booths at various venues: Spirit of Japantown, Viva CalleSJ, San Jose Roots, Marysville Bok Kai Festival, Hakone Gardens, Cubberley Community Center, Saratoga History Museum, Children’s Discovery Museum, Oakridge Mall, Westfield Valley Fair Mall

To see more of CHCP’s programs and activities, watch the video created by CHCP in 2022 in celebration of its 35th anniversary: