THE CHINESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Pearl River delta, Taishan county
Ancestral homeland of majority of overseas Chinese
Guangdong (Kwangtung) province in southern China
The first Chinese immigrants came to America during the
1849 Gold Rush
Chinese immigrants made up most of the Central Pacific
Railroad's work force, along with
the Union Pacific Railroad, completed the Trans-Continental
Railroad in 1869. Visit the
Central
Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum web site for more
photos of the
Chinese railroad workers, and the Golden Spike Ceremony
held in Promontory Point, Utah, 1869
Anti-Chinese cartoons such as these typified the American
political climate which scapegoated
Chinese immigrants and led to the federal Chinese Exclusion
Acts of 1882 and 1924.
Immigration certificate (late 19th century)
Angel Island (1910-1940) interrogration of immigrants
from China
Angel Island: Chinese poetry reflecting the despair of
many Chinese immigrants detained there
Chinese merchant family (late 1800's)
Dr. Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Republic that overthrew the Manchus in 1911
Chinese Americans celebrate founding of the Chinese Republic
in 1911
Traveling Chinese opera troupe in America
Racist music, early 20th century
Fu Manchu the villain
House boy (1920's silent film era)
Chinese American film icon, Bruce Lee
Chinese graduate students (circa 1930s)
Chinese American baseball team (circa 1930's)
Chinese Americans in Chicago protest Japanese aggression
in China (1931)
Hazel Toy inducted into U.S. Army (1943)
Chinese students at Massachusetts Institute of Tcchnology (1944)
Chinese Americans march in support of America's World
War II effort
Contemporary Chinese restaurant kitchen in America
Chinese hand laundry (nearly extinct?)
Contemporary Chinese American grocery store
Contemporary Chinese American garment workers