#CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT

[whenweallvote]

Happy heavenly birthday to women's suffrage activist Mabel Ping-Hua Lee. 🕊️🤍 

Lee was born in Guangzhou, China in 1897, and received a visa to study in the U.S. in 1905. Seven years later, at just 16 years old, she led a parade of 10,000 people through New York protesting for women’s suffrage.

Women were granted the right to vote in New York in 1917 and across the country in 1920. However, Chinese women including Lee were not afforded voting rights until 1943 because of the Chinese Exclusion Act — which prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens.

While Lee continued to advocate for women’s suffrage, it remains unclear if she ever became a U.S. citizen or was able to cast a ballot. Her work, however, was instrumental in advancing women’s rights throughout the U.S. 🙏🏾

[todaysdocument]

Departure Statement of Wong Kim Ark

Record Group 21: Records of District Courts of the United StatesSeries: Admiralty Case FilesFile Unit: In the matter of Wong Kim Ark for a writ of habeas corpus

WHEREAS, Wong Kim Ark, whose photo is hereto attach-

ed, is about to depart for China, intending to return to the

United States, and is entitled to return thereto.

NOW THEREFORE for the better identifica-

tion of the said Wong Kim Ark, and in order

to facilitate his landing upon his said return-

WE THE UNDERSIGNED do hereby certify that the

said Wong Kim Ark is well known to us. That he

was born in the City and County of San Francisco, State of ["departed from San Francisco" covers text starting at County]

California. That his father Wong Si Ping was a merchant ["per steamer" covers text starting at Si Ping]

and a member of the firm of Quong Sing & Co. No. 751 ["Belcic." printed above Quong Sing]

Sacramento Street, in said City and County of San Francisco, ["NOV 15 1894" printed above City and County; WW Presbury [signature] above San Franciso]

State of California. ["INSPECTOR" printed below San Francisco; number "69" in red ink]

Dated this 2nd day of November 1894.

Signature. Occupation.

Wm. Fisher [signature] 1308 Powell St.

F. Berna 615 Gough

L. Selenger 932 Powell st

STATE OF CALIFORNIA,

City and County of San Francisco.

[Embossed gold seal]

On this 5th day of November in the year One Thousand

Eight Hundred and ninety four before me, ROBERT M. EDWARDS, a Notary Public in and for the

said City and County, duly commissioned and sworn, personally appeared

Wm. Fisher, F. Benner and L. Selenger

known to me to be the persons described in, whose names are subscribed to

and who executed the within and annexed instrument, and they duly acknowledged to me that they

executed the same.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Official Seal, the day

and year in the Certificate first above written.

R M. Edwards

Notary Public.

(In and for the City and County of San Francisco

State of California.)

[mapsontheweb]

Senate vote on the Geary Act, which made the Chinese Exclusion Acts even harsher

via IllustriousDudeIDK/reddit

House vote  

Senate vote  

The original Chinese Exclusion Act expired in 1882 1892 and was essentially replaced with the Geary Act. The Geary Act wasn't repealed until 1943 with the Magnuson Act.  

[museeeuuuum]

I went to the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver today! It was informative, gut-wrenching, and SO WELL DONE. This might be the most well put together museum I have ever been to, and you BET I am going to be doing a video about it!

[panicinthestudio]

Family uncovers secrets their immigrant parents kept, October 25, 2023

On the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of Canada’s most discriminatory immigration policies, siblings reunited in Regina, where they grew up, to learn more about their parents’ immigration to Canada — and ended up unearthing some long-buried secrets. CBC News

[lilithsaintcrow]

“Especially endearing to me is how this descendent recites the poem—not in the rhythmic chanting of a scholar but as a song the six-year-old heard in wonderment and committed to memory with delight."

[desdasiwrites]

“My hope is that this book brings the United States’ history of anti-Chinese violence out of scholarship and research and into our collective memory.” - Author’s Note

– Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Four Treasures of the Sky

[fordhampr]

EATING BITTERNESS: A SPECIAL NAT'L EXHIBITION ABOUT THE CANADIAN JOURNEY FROM EXCLUSION TO INCLUSION

Thanks to my friend Justin Poy, I’m pleased to share information about an important exhibition that’s part of May’s Asian Heritage Month here in Canada. The ACCT Foundation (Action! Chinese Canadians Together) in partnership with the CCCGT (Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto) and The Justin Poy Agency, supported by ACENet (Asian Canadian Educators Network), are pleased to announce a new…

[roesolo]

AANHPI Month Reads: Exclusion and the Chinese American Story

Exclusion and the Chinese American Story (Race to the Truth), by Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, (March 2024, Crown Books for Young Readers), $8.99, ISBN: 9780593567630 Ages 10-14 The Race to the Truth series is a middle grade/middle school series that takes an unvarnished look at marginalized communities in American history. Exclusion and the Chinese American Story traces the history of Chinese people…

[npr-stan]

Ava Chin explores her Chinese American family history in her book Mott Street : Code Switch https://www.npr.org/2024/05/01/1197956357/exclusion-resilience-and-the-chinese-american-experience-on-mott-street

[todaysdocument]

Application for preinvestigation of status in order that James Wong Howe might leave the United States and be eligible for return.

Record Group 85: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization ServiceSeries: Chinese Exclusion Act Case FilesFile Unit: Wong Tung Jim

Form 431 [TRIPLICATE] Application of Lawfully Domiciled Chinese Merchant, Teacher, or Student for Preinvestigation of Status U.S. Department of Labor Immigration Service Seattle No. 31/498 Post of Seattle, Wash. To M.C. Faris, Chinese and Immigration Inspector K June 2, 1924 Seattle, Washington Sir: It being my intention to leave the United States on a temporary visit abroad, and to depart and return through the Chinese port of entry of Seattle, Wash, I hereby apply, under the provisions of Rule 15 of the Regulations of the [word covered by pic] of my claimed status as a lawfully domiciled Exempt. I submit herewith the names of two (or more) "credible witnesses other than Chinese" who can testify of their own knowledge that for at least one year immediately preceding the date of this application I have been engaged in the occupation of a Exempt, and have not performed any manual labor except such as was necessary in the conduct of said occupation. I am prepared to appear personally and to produce before you at such time and place as you may designate the said witnesses and (if a merchant) the partnership or other books of the firm in which I claim membership. The names and addresses of my witnesses are: Herbert Brenon [picture] M.C. Faris, Inspector TO BE FILLED OUT IF MERCHANT The firm in which I claim membership is known as Address My partners in said business are as set forth in the partnership list of our firm filed My interest therein amounts to $ and was acquired in It is not my intention to dispose of such interest while absent from the United States. During the entire year last past I have performed no manual labor other than that necessary to the conduct of the said mercantile business. TO BE FILLED OUT IF TEACHER OF STUDENT I have been engaged during the entire year last past in the occupation of teaching or studying (name branches taught or studied) at the following place or places and during the said time have not engaged in the performance of manual labor. Signature in Chinese [blank] Signature in English Jimmie Howe Address 550 Rune Ave, Los Angeles, Calif. Height 5 feet 3 inches. Physical marks or peculiarities Scar inside right wrist; mole in right eyebrow Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 2nd day of June, 1924. M.C. Faris, Chinese and Immigrant Inspector Port of Seattle, Wash. June 2, 1924 Respectfully returned to With the information that I am [check mark] prepared, on the basis of the evidence submitted with the original of this application, to approve said application. Luther Weedim, Commissioner of Immigration

[walrusmagazine]

100 Years after the Exclusion Act, Chinese Canadians Like Me Still Question Their Belonging

Searching for the sense of identity I had lost during the pandemic, I needed my family to see where our Canadian story began

For some time, my parents had expressed a desire to fly to Vancouver to visit friends and relatives they hadn’t seen in years. Let’s go too and take the kids, I suggested to Elizabeth. We’d go to Victoria as well. We’d take them to the oldest Chinatown in Canada. We’d take our kids to the school my dad went to. I wanted a photo of my parents standing with us and our kids in the place where, in a way, it all started for our family—a chapter of our story coming full circle.

Read more at thewalrus.ca.

Illustration by Phoebe Xiao (phoebexiao.com)

[panicinthestudio]

The Three Major Waves of Korean Immigration Explained, May 8, 2023

Korean culture has long been a part of the fabric of American culture. But what was that journey like? The three most significant waves all happened in relation to geopolitical tensions and trends in both America and Korea. Dolly Li dives deeper. Stream Free Chol Soo Lee now on YouTube or the PBS App.

 PBS Origins

[1ore]

it wasn't enough that arizona's japanese internment camps were placed on gila river indian community and colorado river indian tribes' land as "reservations within reservations" (and against the desires of GRIC.) now i get to learn that chinese and japanese immigrants evaded the chinese exclusion act by traveling first to mexico and then to the u.s., entering through o'odham land, through the late 1800s own flavor of "prevention through deterrence," while the u.s. used what is by all rights a diverse and abundant desert to kill them, just as they do latine migrants today. and now i feel like i have to tell everyone i know about this because nobody told me. our fates as illegal immigrants are so tightly bound up i want to scream.

from Peoples of a Sonoran Desert Oasis by Jared Orsi

[elliotly]

Hello ! As a Chinese highschooler who is currently striving to study in the US and become " The Funkiest International Student ™ " I really loved Adamandi , and it gave me a lot of food for thought . I wanted to ask if the comparison between Vincent and the virus was supposed to be related to Covid-19 and anti-Asian xenophobia ? Thank you so much !

Thank you!! Honestly it more stemmed from looking for setting-appropriate 1930s biology papers that would make for apt metaphors and stumbling onto this one hehe — based more on the concept of the system around something making it the thing that ends up destroying said system. The specific COVID anti-Asian sentiment timeliness ended up crossing my mind a bit later in the process of song creation, so while not directly purposeful, I’m glad that’s also something that reads!

[whitesinhistory]

On May 26, 1924, the U.S. government enacted the eugenics-inspired Immigration Act of 1924, which completely prohibited immigration from Asia. Designed to limit all immigration to the U.S., the act was particularly restrictive for Eastern and Southern Europeans and Asians. Upon signing the act into law, President Calvin Coolidge remarked, “America must remain American.”

In 1917, Congress had passed a highly restrictive immigration law that required immigrants over age 16 to pass literacy tests and excluded immigrants from the “Asiatic Barred Zone.” Immigrants from China had been barred since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and this law expanded that ban to include many other Asian countries. The Act of 1924 eliminated immigration from Japan, violating the so-called “Gentleman’s Agreement” that had previously protected Japanese immigration from legal restrictions.

The 1924 Act also tightened the national origins quota system. Under this system, the number of immigrants allowed to come to the U.S. from a particular country was limited to the percentage of immigrants from that country already living in the U.S. The previous quota was based on population data from the 1910 census, but the 1924 Act based the quota on the 1890 census, which effectively lowered the quota numbers for non-white countries. The 1924 system also considered the national origins of the entire American population, including natural-born citizens, which increased the number of visas available to people from the British Isles and Western Europe. Finally, the 1924 Act excluded any person ineligible for citizenship, formalizing the ban on immigration from Asia based on existing laws that prohibited Asian immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens.

The act was supported by federally funded eugenicists who argued that “social inadequates” were polluting the American gene pool and draining taxpayer resources. Its quotas remained in place until 1965.