Chinese Immigration

1. Highlights 1892 - Chinese Exclusion Act 1898 - Supreme Court on citizenship 1902 - Prohibition on immigration

extended 1906 - California “miscegenation” laws 1906 - San Francisco Earthquake

destroys records - increases immigration

1944 - Chinese Exclusion act repealed

2. Pictures of Artifacts

A wedding certificate

3. Arrival and Processing

Ellis Island -East Coast Angel Island -West Coast

– Between 1910 and 1940, there were as many as 175,000 Chinese immigrants

– Bathed with carbolic soap– Clothes and bags disinfected by steam– Barracks fumigated with sulfur dioxide – 14 day waiting period

3. Arrival and Processing

“Paper Sons” and “Paper Daughters”– Grueling interrogations

• Minute details - a genuine applicant • Memorized months in advance • Witnesses needed to agree • Deviations would prolong questioning• Weeks to several months to years if appealed

3. Arrival and Processing

Immigration Station, circa 1918.  Administration building in left foreground,  Hospital in left background, Detention Barracks in mid-center, Julia Morgan-designed employee cottages at back, Perimeter Road on right.

3. Arrival and Processing

Disrobing before the leering eyes of strangers or being probed and measured by metal calipers was frightening.

4. Immigration GraphChinese Immigration 1851-1996

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

350000

400000

1851-60

1861-70

1871-80

1881-90

1891-1900

1901-10

1911-20

1921-30

1931-40

1941-50

1951-60

1961-70

1971-80

1981-90

1991-96

Immigrants

5. Settlement

Settled in Western United States– California– Washington– Idaho

Railroad workers Miners Laundries

5. Settlement

Mining– Mined claims after white man left

Transcontinental railroad– Good hard workers (12,000 out of 13,500)

Laundry – Low cost to get started & profitable

Restaraunts– Fed miners who couldn’t cook

6. Famous Chinese-Americans Gary Locke - Governor or Washington Maya Lin - Vietnam War Memorial

sculptor Bruce Lee - Actor I.M. Pei - Architect Amy Tan - Novelist Michelle Kwan - Ice Skater

7. Treatment

Exclusion Act of 1882-1943-Suspended immigration for 10 years-Couldn’t bring family in-Barred from naturalization

Left with what white man didn't want Barred from marriage to other races Not allowed to own land

7. Treatment

Why they were not treated well– Shortage of jobs– Worked for less– Concentrated populations– Prejudice

• 1/3 miners came from southern states• Easier to spot

8. Interview

"When I first came,Chinese treated worse than dog. Oh, it was terrible, terrible. At that time all Chinese have queue (pigtail) and dress same as in China. The hoodlums, roughnecks and young boys pull your queue, slap your face, throw all kind of vegetables and rotten eggs at you."

Andrew Kan in 1924

8. Interview

“I work on four-mou land [less than one acre, a larger than average holding] year in and year out, from dawn to dusk, but after taxes and providing for your own needs, I make $20 a year. You make that much in one day. No matter how much it cost to get there, or how hard the work is, America is still better than this."

-A Chinese farmer

9. Push Factors

Opium War (1842-52)– Opium War - peasants taxed heavily– Floods and Crop failures - possible famine

Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864)– 20 to 30 million died from war and famine

Chinese-Japanese war (1894-5)– Lost control of Korea to Japan

9. Pull Factors

1848-1852– Gold Rush in California

1863-1869– Work on the Intercontinental Railroad

10. Three Interesting Facts

Introduced new foods and customs– Firecrackers– Chow Mein

Diet was better than other groups Could not testify in courts

11. Local Connections

Spokane Chinese Association, SCC Asian Club and Gonzaga University Chinese Students and Scholars Association– Info: 928-3787; 489-1167; or 443-7061

Spokane Chinese Baptist Church– 2326 E. Queen Avenue 483-6272