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LA Chinatown Heritage & Visitors Center

(open Wednesdays through Fridays 11am-3pm and Sundays 12pm-4:30pm)

411 Bernard St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Feedback
chssc@earthlink.net
323.222.0856

This website is produced by CHSSC
        

The Early Years

1769----> Spanish explorers under Gaspar de Portola enter the area that is now Los Angeles on their way northward.
1781----> El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles is founded by Felipe Neve.
1848----> The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill starts the California gold rush. This brings many people from all over the world including Chinese.
1850----> On September 9, California gains statehood. The first U.S. Census taken after California's admission into the union shows 2 Chinese house servants listed as residents of Los Angeles: Ah Fou and Ah Luce.
1854----> California Supreme Court includes Chinese among racial classes prohibited from testifying against whites.
1859----> Arrival of first Chinese woman to the United States. Chinese fishermen become established off Catalina Island.

19th Century Sojourners

1864----> Thousands of Chinese men, the vast majority from Kwangtung Province in southeastern China, are Recruited by Central Pacific Railroad Co. for work on the western portion of the first transcontinental railroad.
1870----> Census: of 5,728 citizens in Los Angeles, 172 are Chinese. Chinese cemetery is established on Fort Moore Hill near current headquarters of Los Angeles School District.
1871----> "Chinese Massacre" leaves 18 Chinese dead in Los Angeles.
1875----> Sixty seven Chinese arrive in Los Angeles to work on construction of Los Angeles & Independence Railroad.
1876----> The Southern Pacific Railroad connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles is completed by Chinese laborers; work includes 1.25-mile San Fernando tunnel. Chinese vegetable peddlers are required to acquire licenses.

Beyond Railroads

1877----> Chinese Methodist Mission is established. Successful bidders for irrigation projects are not allowed to use Chinese laborers.
1878----> Chinese vegetable peddlers strike when the city passes a new ordinance aimed at the Chinese. The attempt to drive Chinese labor out of Los Angeles is unsuccessful.
1882----> The Chinese Exclusion Act is passed by Congress. Further immigration of Chinese laborers is suspended. Chinese residents are denied of rights to become naturalized U.S. Citizens.
1886----> Part of Chinese quarter was burned by arsonists. Los Angeles Trade & Labor Council and Knights of Labor move to boycott Chinese goods and labor in Los Angeles.
1888----> Los Angeles Congregational Mission for Chinese is established.
1890----> Population figure decreases. Way Leung Kung Saw is formed to protect welfare of Chinese in Los Angeles.

Backlash

1891----> Los Angeles Chinese market gardeners, recruited to raise celery in area between Westminster and Huntington Beach, are harassed and attacked.
1893----> Chinese resident laborers must register under Geary Act and must obtain resident certificate. First Chinese deportee in U.S. is from Los Angeles.
1894----> Chinese are invited to participate in Los Angeles' Fiesta de las Flores, a new annual tradition in the multicultural city.
1898----> First Chinese newspaper, Wah Mei Sun Po (Chinese American News) is founded in Los Angeles by Mg Poon Chew.
1900----> An estimated 3,200 Chinese believed to reside in Los Angeles. Chinese in Los Angeles renounce the Boxer Rebellion, a movement in China aimed at destabilizing the increasingly weak Qing rulers. Chinese attempting to re-enter the United States during this period of unrest back in China encounter greater difficulties.

Establishing Roots

1905----> Sun Yat-Sen, an American educated doctor and one of the leaders of a campaign to establish a republic in China, pays a visit to Los Angeles.
1909----> Louie Gwan and other Chinese (along with Caucasian and Japanese vegetable growers) build City Market Wholesale Produce Terminal, located at 9th and San Pedro Streets in modern day downtown Los Angeles. Two hundred thousand shares of stock were sold at a dollar a share to finance the start of the market.
1911----> China's last dynastic emperor abdicates in Beijing. Republic of China is established with Sun Yat-Sen as its first President.
1912----> Native Sons of the Golden State establishes lodge in Los Angeles Chinatown. Its members are American born Chinese in California. Lodge's main purpose is to defend civil rights of Chinese Americans. In 1914, its name is changed to the Chinese Americans Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.).

Entering a New Era

1917----> Chinese Americans travel to Europe to fight in World War I.
1919----> Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association establishes a cemetery at First and Evergreen Streets in Boyle Heights.
1931----> Mei Wah Club, a social and athletic organization for Chinese American women, is founded in Los Angeles.
1937----> Sino-Japanese War starts with troops of the Japanese Imperial Army invading Manchuria, a resource rich region of northern China. Chinese Americans in Los Angeles holds Moon Festival to raise relief funds for China. In San Pedro Harbor, Chinese Americans march to protest the United States' sending scrap metal to Japan despite the Chinese government's request for an immediate embargo against Tokyo.

The War Years

1938----> New Chinatown and China City open in Los Angeles. Chinese populations in Los Angeles districts of City Market, East Adams, and Spring Street near China City, increase due to destruction of Old Chinatown site to make room for construction of Union Station.
1940----> Still officially neutral, the United States declares an embargo against American made war supplies being sold and sent to Japan.
1941----> In July, Washington declares a total economic embargo against Japan and freezes its assets. This and other policies triggers Japan's December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor in the U.S. territory of Hawaii. Washington declares its entry into World War II. The Flying Tigers, a volunteer troop of aviators led by American Clare Chennault, is formed in China to combat Japanese aggression.
1943----> Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the wife of China's leader, delivers an address at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl. During the East Coast leg of her American tour, the American educated Chinese First Lady asks Congress to repeal Chinese Exclusion laws. Her wish is granted.

A New World Order

1945----> World War II ends with the Allied powers led by the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China victorious over the Axis faction of Germany, Italy and Japan. Nationalistic sentiments among the peoples of Asia leads to calls for independence, gradually forcing out the British, French and Dutch colonial regimes that had ruled in the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia), French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos), British Malaya (Malaysia) and British India (India, Burma, Pakistan and Bangladesh). Periods of violence and unrest grip most of the region as its leaders struggle to build their own nations. In subsequent decades, this would lead to influxes of refugees (including ethnic Chinese and their descendants who had migrated to other parts of Asia) seeking safety in the shores of countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain and France.
1946----> Number of Chinese women entering the United States increases largely due to the passage of the 1945 War Brides Act and the 1946 Fianc? Act. These bills allowed Chinese American returning servicemen to bring back their China born brides, most of whom they had met while the men were fighting the war in Asia.

Life in the Mainstream

1949----> Chinese Communists win the bitter civil war that had plagued China since the defeat of Japan four years earlier. Mao Tse-tung and the Communists declare the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1st. The Nationalist Chinese government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, moves its republic to the province of Taiwan.
1951-53-> Passage of a number laws contributes to a surge in Los Angeles' Chinese population. The McCarran-Walter Act removes racial barriers to immigration and the Refugee Relief Act approves admission of many refugees above ordinary quota limitations.
1953----> Military experience and greater access to college educations, made possible by various G.I. bills, and the passage of a number of laws, including the McCarran-Walter Act help propel Chinese Americans into the mainstream of American life.

"Keeping Up With the Lees"

1955----> Chinese Chamber of Commerce is established to promote and encourage the development of the Chinese American business community.
1959----> Judge Delbert Wong of Los Angeles is the first Chinese American appointed as judge in the continental United States. The appointment is recognized as a historic event, receiving national media attention. Later, Judge Wong helps form the Chinatown Democratic Club.
1959----> "Confession Program" pardons undocumented Chinese immigrants, including the so-called "paper sons," whose personal histories in the United States are difficult to trace and verify.
1962----> Kennedy Emergency Immigration Act leads to the acceptance of 5,000 Chinese immigrants into the United States during the period of "The Great Leap Forward" in the People's Republic of China. Cathay Bank, the first Chinese American bank in Southern California, is founded to provide and promote economic development of the Los Angeles Chinatown community. Immigration Reforms
1965----> Discriminatory immigration laws end, opening up thousands of slots for migrants from Asian countries. The new law sets a new quota of 20,000 persons from any country. The U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 opens the door to a wave of Chinese migration from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Subsequent immigration leads to a revitalization of the New Chinatown area of Los Angeles.
1970----> New contingents of Chinese arrivals tend to settle outside of New Chinatown in Los Angeles, favoring instead to purchase homes in communities such as nearby Monterey Park. Meanwhile, the Chinatown Service Center, which offers referral services and social aid to the community, is established in Los Angeles Chinatown.
1972----> President Richard Nixon's trip to the People's Republic of China opens up diplomatic relations. The Nationalists in Taiwan, who had previously been recognized by Washington as the legitimate government of China, is marginalized. Taiwan eventually loses its seat as a standing member of the United Nations. The perception of "two Chinas" impacts community life among Chinese living overseas, Los Angeles being no exception. Look Forward, Preserve the Past
1975----> Chinese Historical Society of Southern California is established to foster greater understanding of the experience of Chinese Americans in this region. End of large scale U.S. involvement in the war in the former French Indochina results in the migration of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Many of these new migrants to the U.S. are ethnic Chinese, some of whom eventually relocate to Los Angeles Chinatown.
1977----> The Chinatown branch of Los Angeles Public Library opens.
1982----> California State Legislature passes the Chinese Roast Duck Bill, AB2603, which stemmed from concerns about Chinese roast ducks and other protein items prepared in the restaurants of Los Angeles Chinatown. The bill ensures that Chinese culinary traditions be maintained despite some concerns at the time that meat and other protein items were not being handled in manners that were in compliance with Los Angeles County health codes.
1983----> Lily Lee Chen of Monterey Park becomes the first Chinese American female to serve as Mayor of an American City.

Redefining America

1984----> Cathay Manor, a large senior citizen, low-income housing project, is built. The Chinatown Service Center is relocated into the Cathay Manor.
1986----> Monterey Park is identified as the first suburban Chinatown in the U.S. Center of activity for Chinese Americans shifts to San Gabriel Valley.
1988----> The Friends of the Museum of Chinese American History is founded with representatives from El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and the local community. The Chinese American Museum is scheduled to open some time in late 2002 or early 2003.
1989----> U.S. executive order allows students from the People's Republic of China to stay in the United States following the Chinese government's crackdown on demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The several week-long stand-off between masses of mostly students and soldiers from China People's Liberation Army revolved around calls for China's Communist Party to reform.

A New Era

1990----> Chinese Historical Society of Southern California restores a historic burial shrine at Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, where many Chinese American pioneers now rest. It is still used for Ching Ming ceremonies.
1995----> Chinese Historical Society of Southern California purchases two historic houses on this Bernard Street property as a permanent site for $375,000 with a seller-financed note due 2001 which the Society pays off that year with the donations from many supporters.
1999----> Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwan-born scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is hauled away by FBI agents on charges of leaking sensitive defense secrets to China. His case sparks protests by Chinese American civil rights groups, including the Organization of Chinese Americans Greater Los Angeles Chapter. After 278 days in solitary detention, the charges against Lee were dropped in 2000.

Into the 21st Century

2001----> Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC) pays off its mortgage on its Bernard Street houses.


References: Gum Saan Journal, July 1978 - "The Chinese in Los Angeles," by David Chan; Los Angeles Chinese Chamber of Commerce 1997 Year Book - "Chinese Americans in Los Angeles by Suellen Cheng"; Asian American Almanac, 1995.

This timeline, which is intended to give an overview of the history of the Chinese in Greater Los Angeles, was compiled through the efforts of Ann Lau, Eugene Moy, Peter Wong, Linda Chong and Gilbert Hom. Exhibit arranged by Joanne Yee, later rearranged by Yvonne Chang in 2006.