Contents

• President's Message
• CAM Gains Major State Grant;
  AB 268 Sweeps Through Senate
• Become a Member of the Friends or Make a Donation
• The Chinese American Museum's Third Annual Historymaker Awards
• Garnier Building Seismic and ADA Work to be Completed by March 2000
• How the Chinese American Community in the San Gabriel Valley Came to Be
• A Story from the Chinese Diaspora: The Chung Family
• Chinese Article
• What's New with the Museum!
• Board of Directors
• Newsletter Staff

Greetings! As record-breaking heat rolled through the east, the climate in the Southland has been wonderful. The Chinese American Museum did not need hot weather to heat up its activities.

It should now be well known that through a bill authored by Assemblyman Gilbert A. Cedillo, CAM received $500,000 from the State of California. Assemblyman Cedillo formally announced the presentation at a July 22 news conference at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, noting that the funds will help to establish a permanent location for the Museum.

Assemblyman Cedillo emphasized the importance of recognizing the valuable contributions Chinese Americans have made to the history of Los Angeles. Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor Richard Riordan, President of the Los Angeles City Council John Ferraro, State Board of Equalization Member John Chiang, and I added our remarks, celebrating the goals of the Chinese American Museum, the City of Los Angeles, and the State of California.

In my statement, I confirmed CAM's dedication to researching, preserving, and sharing the 150 years of Chinese American contributions to California. I also stated, The Chinese American Museum will open in the year 2000 during California's sesquicentennial. Currently, we are focused on the restoration, reconstruction, and renovation of the permanent Museum site...I am pleased that Governor Gray Davis has signed the 1999 budget approving the allocation of money toward the development of the Chinese American Museum...Clearly, California is a state whose leaders are dedicated to preserving the heritage of all Americans. The Chinese American Museum is proud to be a part of that effort.

We are pleased that our work enjoys such broad support. If you have ever wondered whether the money you have donated has been used effectively, you can be assured that CAM is a worthy project. The strength and breadth of our support gives you that assurance.

The hard work that we are pouring into the CAM project is certainly paying off. We look forward to your joining and contributing to our efforts, and we look forward to seeing you at our Third Annual Historymaker Awards!

Yours Truly,
Ronald S.W. Lew

The Friends recently received a $500,000 grant from the State of California. Assemblymember
Gilbert Cedillo (5th from L), Mayor Richard Riordan (3rd from R), and Assembly Speaker
Antonio Villaraigosa (2nd from R) showed their enthusiastic support for the Chinese American
Museum at the CAM press conference of July 22, 1999.

Joining FCAM President Ronald S. W. Lew, several prominent Southland officials helped to mark a successful moment in CAM's 1999 state government grant campaign. The big news was the $500,000 granted to CAM (with additional like amount for the Historic Italian Hall Foundation) in the State Budget recently signed by Governor Gray Davis. Furthermore, Assembly Bill 268 (AB 268), the Chinese American Museum bill originated by Cedillo, was passed. The milestone occasion was a bustling press conference convened by Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. The press conference took place on July 22 in front of a lunchtime public audience of over 200 people, including a barrage of TV cameras and working press ranging from the Los Angeles Times to five Chinese American dailies to freelance journalist Sam Chu Lin.

(L to R) Getty intern Jing-Chiou Liou, El Pueblo interns
Shelley Tong and Juliet Flores, and Getty intern Amy Luu
assisted at the CAM press conference of July 22.

The new grant is a major component of what has been thus far a successful 1999 drive, which has energized a fundraising spurt that put CAM's capital campaign within reasonable reach of the $2 million dollar goal required by the end of the year 2000. CAM has also received significant sums through the generosity of local donors, community organizations, and foundations in 1999.

Assemblyman Cedillo, chief AB 268 author and budget line architect, struck the theme by extolling the value of diversity, We embrace and respect the rich, diverse culture and heritage of these two communities. He noted, Fortunately, we live in a country that rights its wrongs, that includes, not excludes; that appreciates, not denigrates; that knows everyone deserves dignity and respect.

Having added his considerable support to AB 268 and the resultant budget line, Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa underscored Cedillo's words, Our support of the Chinese American Museum is a commitment to celebrate the diversity of this state. He encouraged that the bad times as well as the good must be told, Too, we must never forget stories of abuse, we must learn from them, and strive toward a better society.

Introduced by Cedillo as representing the heavy lifters, namely the successful community-based CAM campaign team, Judge Lew thanked officials and staffers for their efforts and then remarked, This year has been exceptionally productive for the Museum. We are closer to realizing our dream of opening the Museum at the end of next year...California is a state whose leaders are dedicated to preserving the heritage of all Americans. The Chinese American Museum is proud to be part of that effort.

Other speakers, likewise echoing the diversity theme and the community's thanks, included Hon. John Chiang, Mayor Richard Riordan, and City Council President John Ferraro.

How had our Sacramento adventure reached this moment? AB 268, authored by Cedillo jointly with Assemblyman George Nakano, passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Specific monetary appropriations were then removed and replaced by an insertion into Governor Davis's budget. Noting AB 268's progress, the Italian American community through the Historic Italian Hall Foundation made a late request to Cedillo. In what must be recognized as a stroke of win-win insight, Cedillo melded the two El Pueblo projects together, instantly gaining Republican co-authors and wider legislative support. From this moment, there was no stopping AB 268, now known as the irresistible Marco Polo bill, which garnered an impressive list of 22 co-authors before easily passing both Houses. It stood as a cultural bill of unusual combination championing the State's diversity.

Securing actual funding in the Budget Bill was a challenge, which the staffs of Assemblyman Cedillo and Assembly Speaker Villaraigosa worked intensely and successfully to achieve. Assistance from other legislators was a definite factor. Finally the Budget Bill sat early on the Governor's desk this year. In a year of a large surplus, public concern still rose about cultural and arts projects receiving an unusual amount of legislative additions. A final flurry of eleventh hour letter faxing by CAM's campaign staff was necessary to secure CAM's budget line item. Governor Davis signed the Budget Bill in the last week of June with CAM's line intact.

Dr. Munson Kwok
Development Chair

We invite you to join the Friends of the Chinese American Museum as a member. Donations from individuals like you enable us to continue bringing Museum exhibits and programs to the community. Your contribution will support CAM development and services including educational programs, gallery and traveling exhibits, artifact acquisition and preservation, and Museum site construction. Please join us today. Thank you for supporting the Chinese American Museum.

FCAM is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent provided by law.

Business category honoree Albert Quon established Quon-Quon Inc., a national import- export company in 1931.

Sports category honoree Michelle Kwan, twice World Champion in figure skating, won the silver medal at the 1998 Olympic Games.

Science and Engineering honoree Charlie Sie recently retired as Xerox Corporation's vice president, responsible for West coast operations.

Honorees of this year's event span the spectrum of Chinese America. Recipient of the business award is Albert Quon, prominent importer/exporter of Chinese merchandise who established Quon-Quon, Inc. in LA's Chinatown in 1931. The award for community services goes to the Friends of the Chinatown Library for its long-time dedication to the construction, maintenance, and expansion of the Chinatown Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library System. Science and engineering award recipient Charles Sie is recognized for his exceptional service to the Xerox corporation, his research and analytical ingenuity, as well as his managerial expertise. Michelle Kwan, figure skating extraordinaire, will be receiving the Historymaker Award for the sports category for achievements in her spectacular displays of artistry and athleticism.

Under the leadership of chairperson Betty Wong Oyama and co-chairpersons Pedro Chan, Julia Keh, Munson Kwok, and Chi Mui, the 25-member banquet committee and numerous additional volunteers have contributed their time and energy to the Museum's cause. Through the dedication and generosity of community persons and organizations, the guests of previous Historymaker Awards have collectively contributed over $200,000 to the Museum. With the continued philanthropy of individual donors and corporate sponsors, gala guests perform a crucial role in the establishment and development of the Chinese American Museum.

By Michelle Chung
Museum Assistant
and
Elmo Gambarana
Secretary

The historic Garnier Building, located at 423 North Los Angeles Street,
will house the permanent Chinese American Museum.

The good news is that construction work on the seismic stabilization and ADA compliance in the buildings within the Pico and Garnier Blocks at El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument began at the end of August. Because of the need to complete the work by the summer of the year 2000, the project is now being undertaken by the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering, rather than the Recreation and Parks Department whose extensive construction schedule would have required a delay in the completion of the work.

A fence has been placed around the project area and signs are up. We are expecting the seismic and ADA work to be completed in the Garnier Building by some time in March 2000, which will allow the Museum's grant-funded work on the North Bay of the Garnier Building to get under way. The timetable for the installation of the Museum is still set for the end of the year 2000.

Jean Bruce Poole
Historic Museum Director
El Pueblo de Los Angeles
Historical Monument

Other than the personal perks that go along with working at CAM, I really learned a lot about the San Gabriel Valley. For instance, did you know that the first Chinese settlers in the area were farmers and orange pickers during the 1880s? Did you also know that Frederick Hsieh and other developers marketed Monterey Park to overseas Chinese so effectively that Monterey Park became the second most selected area of settlement for immigrants from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong? After a few years of rapid development, Monterey Park was given the name Little Taipei and the Chinese Beverly Hills.

After a lengthy brainstorming session between the computer screen and myself, I decided the best way to introduce this topic is through a brief outline. As mentioned before, the first Chinese settlers in the San Gabriel Valley were agriculturalists, but this group was quite small mainly because of the racial restrictions placed on the Chinese and other ethnic minorities in the area. Furthermore, the significance of Los Angeles Chinatown as a social, cultural, and economic center for the Chinese made moving to the San Gabriel Valley less appealing. It was not until after several international events that a significant trend of the Chinese moving into the suburbs of San Gabriel Valley took place.

Mr. Bing Liu (L), owner of Evergreen Publishing,
and Hon. Lily Lee Chen (R), the former mayor of
Monterey Park. Mr. Liu's experience as a San Gabriel
Valley businessman is a part of CAM's newest exhibit.

For instance, the Vietnam War, the dissolution of the mutual security treaty between the U.S. and Taiwan, and the lack of economic opportunities in China created socio-economic instability that prompted thousands of Chinese to leave their home countries for a safer haven. The United States became the prime choice. With the ratification of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act and its provisions for family reunification and development of occupational preferences, more educated, upper-class Chinese immigrated to the U.S. This influx also created a need for housing that Chinatown was unable to meet. Through the constant promotion of the San Gabriel Valley as a mecca for Chinese, the movement of Chinese and Chinese Americans steadily went eastward.

When the Chinese first moved into Monterey Park
in large numbers, the proliferation of Chinese
language signs prompted an English-only movement,
creating hostility between the Chinese and non-Chinese residents.

At that time, the previous residents of the San Gabriel Valley felt this influx was an invasion of their peaceful communities and, inevitably, conflict arose. For instance, in Monterey Park, the proliferation of Chinese language signs prompted an English-only movement, which created feelings of hostility between the Chinese and non-Chinese residents. Rapid development of the San Gabriel Valley's communities into industrial centers also spurred old time residents to support the slow growth movement in Monterey Park in attempts to control over zealous developers. On the other hand, the Chinese and their international and local businesses generated revenue in communities that needed revitalization. Looking from both sides, a balance of opinion must be struck.

The architecture of many modern buildings in the San Gabriel Valley, such as this business building in the Taipei Center, reflects the influence of Chinese culture in the area.

The popular Shau May restaurants in San Gabriel Valley offer Taiwanese style dishes and desserts to the Chinese Americans from Taiwan who crave a taste of home.

Please visit the Chinese Americans in San Gabriel Valley exhibit, which will be on display on September 11 at the Third Annual Historymaker Awards. After the event, the exhibit will travel to various sites in the Los Angeles area for public viewing.

Amy Luu
Getty Intern

Amy Luu is a fifth year senior at UCLA. She is pursuing a double major in Asian American Studies and Psychology and will study Cantonese in Hong Kong during the 1999-2000 academic year.

In the 1860s, my paternal great, great, great-grandfather, Man Lung, left Kwangtung Province for the U.S. He worked as a laborer for the construction of the Sierra Nevada segment of the Transcontinental Railroad.

In the 1910s, my paternal great-grandfather, Lin, came to LA as a small boy. He worked for the family laundry located in Hollywood.

Remembering the past gives power to the present. Memories do add up.
-Fay Myenne Ng, Bone

I am the product of a diasporic migration that originated in China more than one hundred years ago. My paternal great, great, great- grandfather Man Lung departed from the 19th century colonial port city of Hong Kong bound for America as a laborer for the construction of the Sierra Nevada segment of the Transcontinental Railroad. The few existing photographs of these early laborers were meant to reflect the historical record of events and circumstances depicting the conditions under which they build the railroad. These photographs, however, reveal little of the unofficial history that would more accurately be told by the laborers themselves.

Chinese American history texts and photograph collections offered me a limited understanding of what it must have been like to be transported thousands of miles from one's home, toiling sixteen hours from sunrise to sunset, and feeling the uncertainty of what lies in the following day's work (which often involved the many risks associated with this type of labor, including dismemberment of one's body due to the explosives used for cutting through the mountainous terrain and being buried alive by sudden snow drifts and avalanches). Man Lung's story is part of this collection that does not belong to the official historical record, but is no less important than what has been written as history.

It was the belief of my ancestors who came to America that one should always return to their homeland in old age. This thought was widely held by the majority of Chinese who had left for the U.S. As each generation grew older, their male children would join the fathers as a means of providing continuous support for their families back home. This meant that many of the men who came were either bachelors or husbands separated from wives. A common pattern that emerged for these sojourners was the marriage of these men prior to departure from China or their periodic return to the homeland to father children. This trend was no different from my ancestor's experience of sending for their sons to join them in the U.S. whom they had not seen for years on end. This also accounted for the reason behind the large number of years separating the children where it would be possible for the eldest to be the father of the younger ones based on age.

For generation after generation, then, what was initially conceived of as an opportune moment for an economic venture became a lifestyle for a time to come. When my paternal great-grandfather, Lin, came to the United States in the 1910s, many things had already changed from the time his grandfather first entered the U.S. At the time of Lin's arrival, the earlier vessels had been replaced by faster and safer steamships that accelerated the time for passage as a strategy for earning a larger profit. Additionally, the population of Chinese in America had been more spatially distributed than previous data indicated, thus demonstrating the geographic dislocation of Chinese Americans from the major urban centers to its peripheries. Lastly, but certainly of mention, were the immigration procedures intended to exclude them from participation in virtually all aspects of life -- social, political, economic, and cultural. These factors converge on a particular understanding of the Chinese American experience as defined by struggle and hardship in the face of immense adversity.

From 1882 until 1943, the United States government imposed exclusionary legislation against the Chinese. During this time, the Chinese American communities established in the mid-nineteenth century grew not because of migration, but rather natural increase accounted for the greater numbers of Chinese recorded on the official census records. Older Chinese Americans remained within the confines of the ethnic enclave more so than the younger generation who were shaped by American popular culture. Influenced by images and ideologies of the American Dream, many sought inclusion in the mainstream as a means of partaking in this collective dream. Immigrant parents desired for their second-generation children to access educational and career opportunities by adopting American ways, yet they also wanted their children to retain the Chinese cultural heritage and traditions.

The American Dream was what Lin and his brother Quong sought in America. Lin's father (name unknown) had settled in Los Angeles during the turn of the century. He then sent for his young sons who were expected to contribute to the earnings that were to be sent back to the homeland. Together, they had saved enough money to open a hand laundry in Hollywood. The City of Hollywood was a rather strange and unfamiliar place for Lin and Quong. To begin with, it lay outside of what was familiar geographically and culturally. Furthermore, to them, it represented a lack of moral restrain and integrity.

(L to R) Uncle Fan, Grandmother, Father, Great-grandmother, Uncle Wilson, and Aunt Helen lived in LA's Chinatown during the 60s and 70s.

My brother, Aaron (2nd from L), and I(R) identify ourselves as both second and fifth generation Chinese Americans.

Because of the struggles and determination of the generations coming to the U.S., my family in China was able to survive and flourish lavishly. Stories passed down claim that we were one of the wealthiest families in our region. In China, we ventured into various enterprises enabled by the remittances sent back from those who toiled in the U.S. for those in China to have a better life. The stories of bachelor societies in Gam Saam, or the Gold Mountain, were not an accurate reflection of our family's experiences as they were able to amass a significant amount of money to send back, indicating that the vices associated with images of Old Chinatown in America did not taint the persistence of my ancestors to bring wealth home.

The Communist Revolution in China during the 1950s dramatically altered the history of my family in ways spoken of softly. My father, Steven (at the age of three), and his paternal grandmother, Yung (Lin's wife), attempted to escape from China to Hong Kong to flee from Communist rule. Their attempt, however, was broken by the Chinese officials. They were imprisoned and subsequently returned to their village in Hoiping in Kwangtung Province. They made the attempt again a while later and successfully arrived in Hong Kong. Shortly after, my grandmother and my Uncle Wilson joined them. At the time, my grandfather, Kim Hing, was already in the U.S. Years later, my uncle, Fan, and aunt, Helen, were born in Hong Kong and lived there until they were able to join their father in the U.S.

The 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act represented a major turning point in the history of the Chinese Americans, and had a particularly important impact on my existence. My parents came to the U.S. during this post-1965 period. My mother, Annie, came to America to pursue higher education at a college in close proximity to Chinatown. My father emigrated under a provision of the 1965 Act, which allowed for families separated to reunify. My grandfather, Kim Hing, came to the States under Lin's sponsorship and subsequently brought my grandmother and their children over. They resided in an apartment complex on Alpine Street in Los Angeles Chinatown. At the time, my father was in his early twenties. He worked and attended school when he first arrived and had to tend to the family. My grandfather, for the first time in his life, had to find work in the U.S., as he had not worked all his life. Flourishing from the wealth of those who had worked in America for a comfortable life in China, he finally began to understand the hardship that accompanied survival in the U.S. They lived in that apartment for several years until they had saved enough money to purchase a home in Highland Park, just a short distance from Chinatown. Their livelihood, however, still remained in the Chinese community. They worked, shopped, and socialized with those in Chinatown because it stood for what was familiar and comfortable to them -- a sense of home and homeland through community.

My father and mother met in the early 1970s through a mutual friend and married a while after courtship. While living in Chinatown for several years, they put away money that would allow them to buy a house in the suburbs. They settled in the community of Rowland Heights at the edge of the San Gabriel Valley in the mid-1970s through a government program enabling those who served in the armed forces to purchase homes at a lower interest rate. At the time, Rowland Heights was little more than a sleepy bedroom community that was predominately white and middle-class. The mass exodus of Chinese from Chinatown and from overseas to the San Gabriel Valley, however, did not take flight until the 1980s when businessmen began investing in the area and when shortages in housing caused by the large numbers of immigrants entering the U.S. had prompted the movement eastward.

Those of my generation, who are children of immigrant parents, struggle not only with understanding the multiplicity of languages and meanings of two vastly different worlds, we also see ourselves and our personal histories as apart from the oldtimers experiences of Chinese America. The longing for homeland and the desire to return home that my ancestors felt so strongly about is foreign to me in many ways. My identity as a Chinese American is complicated by the realization that my home is both in China and in America. Often times, I ponder what it would be like to return home -- to the birthplace of my ancestors -- yet home is also in America, the place of my birth. My identification as both fifth and second generation is, thus, a culmination of memory and experience -- of theirs and of mine. My existence is, in many ways, neither here nor there, yet both here and there.

The need to excavate history and memory plays a crucial role in Chinese American history and culture. Chinese, as an identity, is not singular in definition or significance. The hybridity of Chinese and American cultures and its amalgamation are constantly being negotiated and reconfigured. The Chinese diaspora, which began thousands of years ago, continues into the present with the perpetual movement of people across geographies and political boundaries. To articulate a past that is multiple in breadth and depth beckons for the telling of stories and the capturing of them for generations to come.

Michelle Chung
Museum Assistant

A graduate student in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego, Michelle Chung is conducting research in media studies with an emphasis in Asian American print media.

Jing-Chiou Liou came to the United States eight years ago and is now pursuing a double major in Asian American Studies and Women's Studies at UCLA. She plans to become a writer in the near future but is content right now as a full-time student and as a mother to her eighteen-year-old son.

Museum Seeks Volunteer Coordinator
Are you interested in volunteering for the Museum as a coordinator of other volunteers? Responsibilities include interviewing new volunteers, assigning tasks based on interest, and coordinating work schedule. Flexible hours. Please mail curator Suellen Cheng (see our Contact Information) a cover letter stating your interest in the position along with a resume or a bio describing your experience.

Wish List
Please help in the Museum's preservation program by donating new items on CAM's wish list or by contributing the funds to purchase them. The items are as follows: