Histories of San Jose Japantown explored New Year's celebration stories and traditions as told by local Heinlenville, Japantown, and Pinoytown collaborators at this Zoom/Facebook event.  They learned about the stories behind the food and festive activities held in Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino American homes to celebrate the New Year!  CHCP Advisory Board Member/Historian Connie Young Yu participated by sharing Chinese New Year traditions.

The Saratoga Historical Foundation (SHF) and the Organization of Chinese American Women (OCAW) co-sponsored "From Resilience to Celebration: An In-Depth, Pictorial Journey Inside San Francisco's Beloved Chinatown" on January 10 at 2:00 pm on Zoom. The presentation was given by Dick Evans, a noted San Francisco photographer, and Kathy Chin Leong, an award-winning journalist. The presentation covered the history, culture, and traditions of San Francisco's Chinatown and is based on their book, "San Francisco's Chinatown."

View the presentation below:

During World War II, Chinese Americans served in all branches of the military and fought in every theater of operation. They served with distinction, earning many military honors for their service and heroism. The number of Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans living in the U.S. at the start of World War II was limited because of discriminatory policies. Despite their small number, however, approximately 20,000 served in the Armed Forces, and of these, approximately 40 percent were not U.S. citizens.

The United States Congress is honored to present the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) to the Chinese American veterans of World War II.  Our Nation is forever indebted to these veterans for their bravery, valor, dedication, commitment, and sacrifice, particularly in the face of discrimination.

View the virtual Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony held in honor of the Chinese American World War II Veterans below:

NOTE: The decision has been made to discontinue the awarding of a “no-cost” Medal for applications received after February 28, 2021. Applications received after that date may still be reviewed (and if approved) for the purpose of having a veteran’s name listed on the website, but the veteran and/or family must make their own arrangements to purchase their Chinese American WWII Congressional Gold Medal directly from the U.S. Mint.

To register a Chinese American WWII veteran, please visit the Congressional Gold Medal Veteran Registry webpage.

To purchase a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal, visit the U.S. Mint webpage.

Voices from the Railroad: Stories by descendants of Chinese railroad workers is a book published by the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) that reveals the stories of Chinese railroad workers and their descendants. These stories have never been told outside of their families until now. Learn about Chin Lin Sou, Hung Lai Woh, Jim King, Lim Lip Hong, Lee Ling & Lee Yik Gim, Lee Wong Sang, Lum Ah Chew, Mock Chuck, & Moy Jin Mun, workers of the Central Pacific Railroad. No longer nameless, faceless workers lost to history, their stories will shatter misconceptions about the Chinese who helped build America.

Co-edited by Sue Lee & Connie Young Yu, this book features first-hand narratives by railroad worker descendants: Gene O. Chan, Montgomery Hom, Carolyn Kuhn, Paulette Liang, Russell N. Low, Sandra K. Lee, Andrea Yee, Vicki Tong Young, and Connie Young Yu. Featured in the book are photographs and historic documents that link Chinese railroad workers to living descendants.

New in the 2020 edition is a section dedicated to the 150th Anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad held at Promontory Summit, Utah.

The book can be ordered from CHSA’s online store.

For wholesale or bulk orders, contact: info@chsa.org.

Join our men and women veterans from all branches of service and conflicts as they tell us in their own words about their experiences on this Veterans Day.

American Legion Cathay Post 384, the Chinese American G.I. Project, and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance are proud to present a retrospective program by Montgomery Hom, Executive Producer, honoring Chinese American Veterans from the battlefields of WWII to the mountains of Afghanistan.

Ming-Na Wen, celebrated actress and narrator for Montgomery Hom’s Emmy-nominated PBS documentary film, “We Served with Pride”, shares her family’s legacy of service at time 22:30 of the video recording.

The Chinatown Bridge Archway featuring a mosaic-covered dragon is now up in Downtown Santa Cruz. The archway is stationed at the Front Street entrance to the popular pedestrian and bike bridge that crosses the San Lorenzo River and leads into San Lorenzo Park. It was created to recognize and honor the final Chinatown in Santa Cruz that once thrived along the west side of the San Lorenzo River.

The dragon archway will also feature poems in Chinese characters in stainless steel plaques that will be powder-coated in red in addition to brass plaques that will read in Chinese script: Chinatown Santa Cruz. The lettering will be lit by solar-powered Chinese-style lanterns. Photos created in brass of the story of Chinatown will also be mounted on the archway.

A formal ribbon-cutting ceremony will be staged in the spring.

Before you visit, take a look back at the history of Santa Cruz County’s forgotten Chinatowns in a 3D scan of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History’s 2019 exhibition: Guided by Ghosts.

Watch the recording of the Zoom webinar below:

As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII and honor our Chinese American veterans from the Golden State, we will listen and learn from our most senior WWII Chinese American veterans, plus currently serving and retired military personnel, as they share their personal stories and their messages to future generations. This is a very historic gathering of all Chinese American military personnel, both past and present.

In addition, view the premiere of the short feature, “We Served with Pride, the road to the Congressional Gold Medal,” at time 33:00:00 of the video and listen to CHCP Advisory Board Member / Historian Connie Young Yu at time 1:03:30.

Recording of the 9/2/20 SPICE webinar “Angel Island Immigration Station: the Hidden History” with Connie Young Yu and Jonas Edman. This webinar is a joint collaboration between the Center for East Asian Studies and Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) at Stanford University.

CHCP Advisory Board Member/Historian Connie Young Yu speaks about how the Chinese detention barracks on Angel Island were saved from demolition in the 1970s, opening the door to the hidden history of the immigration station. She recounts the experience of her grandmother, Mrs. Lee Yoke Suey, who was detained in the barracks for 15 and a half months starting in 1924 and how the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on her grandmother’s case.

SPICE worked with graphic artist Rich Lee to publish “Angel Island: The Chinese-American Experience.” Its author, Jonas Edman, shares activities and materials from this graphic novel that tells the story of Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay between 1910 and 1940.

By Christian Jochim, 2020 CHCP Secretary

CHCP successfully spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to urge the SJ City Council to vote for the “Heinlenville Park” name for a new Japantown park. The park is to be located where the former Heinlenville Chinatown existed from 1887 to 1931.

CHCP, founded in 1987 to rebuild the replica Ng Shing Gung temple in History Park, has long identified with the temple’s original home of Heinlenville, not only by featuring the rebuilt temple as its Chinese American Historical Museum, but also by promoting the video “Home Base: A Chinatown Called Heinlenville” and by offering a Heinlen Award for extraordinary contributions to preserving Chinese American culture by local non-Chinese Americans.

The recording of the proceedings of the City Council meeting can be viewed below. Listen to CHCP Director Brenda Hee Wong speak at time 3:01:00 of the proceedings.