Honorees from different segments of the Asian Pacific community were honored.

The following is an excerpt from 06/02/24 Ding Ding TV:

By Gerrye Wong, CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee

Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents District 17 in California, held a fireside chat event recently in Cupertino’s Quinlan Center in celebration of Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In recognition of community dedicated efforts, he gathered members of the different communities at a reception event for all to gather to reflect on our significant progress, look towards the future, and honor members of the community. 

Highlight of the afternoon event was Congressman Khanna awarding citations in recognition for the honorees' commitment in promoting cultural stewardship and for outstanding and invaluable services to the community.

Third generation Chinese American [and CHCP Advisory Board Member], Leianne Lamb has always been passionate about celebrating Asian American culture and advocating for AAPI representation through the arts. Currently she is the Board Chairperson and Executive Director of Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS) in San Jose, an organization dedicated to promoting AANHPI theater, film, and music as well as showcasing emerging artists. She served on the Boards of San Jose Taiko and a social justice organization focused on protecting seniors in SF Chinatown during anti-Asian hate times.  Many of her CATS Board members were in the audience applauding her honoree award.

I was honored to be among Congressman Khanna’s noted community citizens. He cited my work in co-founding the Chi Am Circle, a 55-year-old organization of Asian American women in Santa Clara County, and the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, which under my leadership built the Chinese American Historical Museum at History Park San Jose and gifted it to the city of San Jose in 1991 as a token of friendship from the Chinese community. Khanna acknowledged my Board positions on the Chinese Historical Society of America, the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, and the Self Help for the Elderly, where my passion was instrumental in helping establish museums highlighting Chinese American history, as well as serving the needs of the Asian senior communities.

For more information:  Read the full 06/02/24 Ding Ding TV press release.

Watch clips of the event, courtesy of Ding Ding TV:

By Allan Low and Debbie Gong-Guy (CHCP Trustees and Scholarship Committee Co-Chairs), Gerrye Wong (CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee), and Brenda Wong (CHCP Director and SDCAP Chair)

The Chinese Historical & Cultural Project (CHCP) was honored to recognize the recipients of the Lillian Gong-Guy Memorial Scholarship (LGGMS), awarded during the Student Recognition Day held on Saturday, May18th at History Park San José.

The Lillian Gong-Guy Memorial Scholarship was established in 2014 in tribute to CHCP’s late co-founder, Lillian Gong-Guy, to recognize exemplary seniors who have demonstrated academic achievement balanced with strong community service and involvement. This year marks our tenth anniversary. The ten scholarship award recipients this year truly represent the future leaders of our community.

Back Row (left to right):  Jonny Luo, Lynn Dai, Sam Bai, Micheline Ma, Alan Chian
Front Row (left to right):  Sophia Zhang, Youjia He, Vanessa Lam, Audrey Fan, Thea Louise Dai

Our scholarship winners are Sam Bai of Saratoga High School, Alan Chian of Mountain View High School, Lynn Dai of Saratoga High School, Thea Louise Dai of Castilleja School, Audrey Fan of Los Altos High School, Youjia He of Piedmont Hills High School, Vanessa Lam of Milpitas High School, Jonny Luo of Saratoga High School, Micheline Ma of Piedmont Hills High School, and Sophia Zhang of Evergreen Valley High School. Each of the recipients expressed much appreciation and thanks to CHCP for their scholarships.

In addition to the Co-Chairs, Allan Low and Debbie Gong-Guy, this year’s Scholarship Selection Committee members were Helina Chin, Jeffery Lee, Brenda Wong, Judy Wong, and Karyn Wong.

As part of the Student Recognition Day event, CHCP also acknowledged and honored the fine work of CHCP's Student Docent Cultural Ambassador Program (SDCAP). This year's 33 Ambassadors donated 882 hours of time to Chinese and Chinese American historical and cultural projects/events for SDCAP's community enrichment.

SDCAP Chair Brenda Hee Wong is tremendously proud of the work all SDCAP members have accomplished during their time in the group. She acknowledged the dedication of many of the members, citing how long they had been active members. Their years of dedicated service include the following: 

• 5 years: Vanessa Lam
• 4 years: Ryan Dowlat, and Kasey Walker
• 3 years: Allison Cheng, Charity He, Lauren Lin, and Metrica Shi
• 2 years: Ethan Butt, Zacharee Ho, Nguyen Huynh, Owen Lee, Victoria Ma, and Sophia Zhang
• 1 year: Darlene Dinh, Sada Bill, Claire Hsia, Michael Hua, Luwan Huang, Madeline Hung, Beatrice Lee, Brian Li, Matthew Lin, Sophia Lin, Albert Luo, Kiera Ng, Dylan Ngo, Kendra Pang, Angela Siu, Han Tang, Megan Tian, Selina Wang, and Serena Wang

As SDCAP Chair Brenda Wong said to the packed house, this year’s SDCAP graduates are truly exceptional. The five graduates are heading to the nation’s top colleges (Harvard, UC Berkeley, Georgetown and San Jose State University). These accomplished SDCAP graduates are Vanessa Lam, Metrica Shi, Kendra Pang, Sophia Zhang, and Nguyen Huynh.

Also, congratulations to Victoria Ma for achieving the President’s Volunteer Service Award!

We would like to thank all the volunteers and sponsors of the LGGMS and SDCAP programs for their generosity and support.

By Mike Mak, CHCP Director and AAPI Festival Planning Co-Chair

The 2nd annual History San Jose/CHCP South Bay AAPI Festival is in the books. Thanks to everyone who helped make it successful and looking forward to making this event even better next year. Thanks to History San Jose (HSJ), Viet Museum, Japanese American Museum of San Jose, Mosaic America, and all the other great partners for this event. 

CHCP kicked off the event by inviting all the event participants to join a parade led by the Dragon and Lion Dance Teams through the park to the SJ Japanese Friendship Garden, Viet Museum, and back to the Chinese American Historical Museum and the center of the Lilian Gong-Guy Plaza where all the entertainment took place.

The first portion of the entertainment was arranged by CHCP.  Special thanks go to Leung's White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance Association, Kimberly Tom and her Kilo Project hip-hop Dance Group, Singer Flora Hui, TJ/Cambodian Dance, Off the Grid K-pop Dance Group, and to our emcee Ashlyn Tsui (2023 Miss Chinatown USA, 2023 Miss Talent, and 2024 Miss Bay Area Teen USA).

By Christian Jochim, CHCP Vice President of Education

Former CHCP Director Trisha Lee, now Principal of Monta Loma Elementary School in Mountain View, with CHCP VP of Education Christian Jochim and the school’s Librarian, set up CHCP's "Pioneering the Valley" Traveling Exhibit at the Monta Loma Elementary School. The Traveling Exhibit was on display at the school from May 13 through May 17.

The 155th Anniversary Celebration of the completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad was held on May 10 and 11 in Utah. CHCP Director Brenda Hee Wong, CHCP members Willy Wong and George Chin, and CHCP Advisory Board member Lee Liu Chin were in attendance to celebrate the anniversary. 

Many visitors from across the nation attended the Golden Spike Reenactment at the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory, Utah. A memorial ceremony at one of the actual camps used by the Chinese railroad workers was also held at the Chinese Arch. The Chinese Arch was named to honor the thousands of Chinese workers brought in to accomplish Central Pacific’s portion of the railroad. Originally named Chinaman's Arch, the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association (CRWDA)  plus other Asian-Americans successfully lobbied the U.S. Board of Geographic Names to re-title this Utah natural wonder.

Also to commemorate the Chinese railroad workers who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad, a monument was unveiled at the Utah State Capitol grounds in Salt Lake City on May 11. CHCP has proudly donated to the CRWDA in support of the monument and is named on the Donor Plaque which is located on the back of the monument.

The following is an excerpt from the CRWDA website describing the design of the monument:

The design and concept of the monument focus on symbolism by utilizing building materials that are indicative of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The number six has been selected for its significance to the duration and completion of the railroad as well as an important good luck number for the Chinese people. Hence, the total amount of the building materials is derived from the number six with six layers of material compressed together.

Read more about the monument: https://crwda.org/monument-at-utah-state-capitol

By Gerrye Wong, CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee

At the May 2nd Asian American Stories (AAS) Award Ceremony attended by 450 supporters, awards were given to 20 of the 70 people who composed and submitted videos on the theme ALL OF US BELONG HERE. Snippets of all submissions were shown in a summary video as well as those composed by the first to third prize winners. CHCP supported this fine program, hosted by the non-profit Silicon Valley Community Media, by being a sponsor hosting one table for its Board members in attendance.  This event kicked off the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month of May, with many of the 70 contestants brought on stage to win specific awards chosen by a team of 15 judges. The 2024 entries came from all over the world, with one entrant from Alaska who was introduced on stage. To support the AAS fundraising effort, CHCP President Dave Yick and Director Edith Gong were high bidders for the auction prize of a private tour and reception for 20 guests at the famed Flintstone House seen off Hwy 280 in Hillsborough. 

This first-time award ceremony was well received by supporters, such as CHCP, who share the desire to encourage more Asian American stories to be told, similar to what CHCP plans to accomplish with its upcoming Oral Histories Project.

CHCP Co-Founder Gerrye Wong was honored with the 2024 Legendary Story Teller Award for her 40 years of writing about Chinese community and history in newspapers (Chinese Press and Asian Week), magazines (Vancouver's Chinatown news and Gentry), and websites (dingdingtv).  She spoke of the pride she felt telling the thousands of school children, who visited CHCP's Chinese American Historical Museum, of the stories of the early Chinese communities who settled in the San Jose area, as well as her proudest moment when she and CHCP Advisory Board Member Connie Young Yu, together with CHCP support, encouraged the City of San Jose to draft and issue a Resolution of Apology to the Chinese residents who were unfairly discriminated against in their past Chinatowns in the 1800s and at the turn of the century.

Gerrye Wong's video submission tells of her personal story growing up to finally learn to appreciate her Chinese heritage, not only embracing it, but proudly telling the world about the many contributions Chinese have made to America’s history.

CHCP Co-Vice President of Marketing/Outreach Dr. Arthur Jue was awarded an Excellence Award at the dinner for his one-minute video submission of retired ABC Reporter David Louie’s speech made at CHCP's January membership dinner. His video highlighted David Louie's journey and groundbreaking career as an Asian pioneer in media.

Watch Gerrye Wong's and Dr. Arthur Jue's videos:

CHCP Advisory Board Member Ron Chan also participated in the video contest, submitting two videos. The first video, about a virtual conversation with his late grandfather, was created by blending artificial intelligence with live recordings! Ron's second entry titled "I'm Coming Home" is of his father Alfred Chan, a WWII veteran, recounting his emotional return home from the war. Watch both videos below:

By Gerrye Wong, CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee

On April 21, 2024, KTSF (Digital Channel 26/Cable Channel 8) spotlighted an interview by reporter Mina Li with CHCP Co-Founder Gerrye Wong and CHCP Co-Vice President of Marketing/Outreach Dr. Arthur Jue at CHCP's Chinese American Historical Museum in a half-hour show centered on the museum.  At the museum itself, Gerrye and Arthur were able to tell how CHCP first began, due to artifacts from an original Chinatown being found in a downtown San Jose digging site in 1985.

Leading Mina through the museum, they demonstrated CHCP's Timeline Display which shows events occurring in China, United States and San Jose which is of significance for the Chinese, spanning the period from the 1850s through the 2000s. When queried about how CHCP tries to combat the current anti-Asian hate atmosphere, they proudly pointed out that CHCP has hosted trips by thousands of school children so that they can come to the museum to learn of the contributions made by the Chinese throughout the history of America, and how Asians should be treated fairly so that they can continue to contribute to the American economy and society today and in the future.

We thank KTSF and Mina Li for enabling their viewers to know about CHCP’s museum, so that they can visit the museum which is open on most Saturdays each month from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm.

By Dave Yick, CHCP President

CHCP'S April Board Meeting was held at the recently renovated Los Altos History Museum. We were treated to an excellent tour of their historic farmhouse and their museum, equipped with modern screens that encompassed three whole walls. This was followed by a reception, where we met with members of their Executive Committee. Thanks to the Los Altos History Museum for their generous hospitality!