Contents

• President's Message
• Newly-Appointed El Pueblo General Manager Samuel Luna
• Chinese American Museum Site Update
• From Your Closet to CAM's Permanent Collection
• Wish List of Artifacts
• Thank You, Artifact Donors!
• The CAM's Film, Photo, and Sound Archive
• Film & Photo Artifact Donors
• I.Q. Magic to Design Chinese American Museum Exhibits
• Volunteers Help Bring Chinese American Museum Events to the Community
• Chinese New Year Banquet
• A Special Donation
• Friends of the Chinese American Museum Membership Form
• In Search of my Past: A Young American Visits His Chinese Home Village
• What's New at the Museum!
• Chinese Article about CAM
• Send Us Your Favorite Recipes!
• Board of Directors
• Newsletter Staff

Greetings! On behalf of the Friends of the Chinese American Museum, let me first wish you all a very happy Year of the Dragon. Next, with heartfelt appreciation, I thank those who have donated funds, services, and artifacts to the Museum and shared with us your stories of our history. These contributions will go a long way to facilitate the development of the Chinese American Museum. Because of your support, we have made great progress in the past year.

In recent months, some wonderful people have joined the CAM team. We have signed up Thomas Hartman and his firm, I.Q. Magic, very talented and innovative museum designers, to design the Museum's exhibits. Newly-elected board members Barbie Chien, Linda Sun, George Wang, and Judge Debra Yang will bring new energy, enthusiasm, and skills to the CAM. We have hired new staff, Estella Chung, our new assistant curator, and James Hong, our new administrative assistant. With the generous financial support from the Getty Trust, the Museum will soon have two college interns who will work with our staff this summer. Finally, I want to acknowledge the many new volunteers who have contributed their time and efforts to help make our recent events very successful.

Because of your help, we have been able to offer to the community a number of events, such as the Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley exhibit, the calligraphy lecture and demonstration, and the Chinese New Year banquet in Chinatown. We are now proud to participate in the upcoming Chinese rare books and documents exhibit at the Los Angeles Public Library. Also, we are currently planning our Fourth Annual Historymaker Awards, scheduled for November 17, 2000 at the Universal City Hilton. We hope that you can join us for this event and show your support for the Museum.

As the CAM progresses, I am energized by the thought that preserving our heritage enriches our lives and benefits our entire community. I continue to be inspired by the growing enthusiasm and support for the Museum. Everywhere I go, there are new volunteers and supporters. As our goal of opening the Chinese American Museum comes closer to reality, let us continue to work together. I look forward to working with you throughout the year!

Yours truly,
Ronald S.W. Lew ( )

New general manager Samuel Luna oversees El Pueblo's
44-acre facility, which includes the CAM.

Samuel Luna is the new general manager of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, and one of his main responsibilities is the Chinese American Museum. Last November, Mayor Richard Riordan appointed him as the general manager after a highly competitive national search of candidates for this position. Mr. Luna now oversees the administration, activities, public relations, preservation, and revenue generation of the 44-acre facility, which includes the CAM.

With 43 historic and artistic landmarks and 88 merchant locations to manage, Mr. Luna has devoted much of his first four months as the general manager toward understanding the concerns and interests of El Pueblo's diverse staff, merchants, and volunteer groups. As the Museum site is an important part of El Pueblo Monument, he has also met with Friends president Ronald Lew and president-elect Robert Kwan to discuss future plans for the CAM.

Recently, assistant curator Estella Chung interviewed Mr. Luna regarding his previous work experiences and his hopes for the Chinese American Museum.

Estella Chung (EC): In your previous positions, what was the most challenging situation you had to resolve?

Samuel Luna (SL): In the last year, I was the director of the Targeted Neighborhood Initiative Program. That was a program without a home; it wasn't the single responsibility of one agency. Instead, it was a $36 million, three-year program that rested on six departments in the City. The challenge was moving those departments along in the program and insuring that the program was a top priority for them. It was only one of many programs that they were implementing while it was the most important program for me because it was the one I was overseeing. It's often difficult to influence and make things happen in agencies that you don't manage.

EC: It sounds like your previous experience involved a lot of listening and understanding before you could move forward.

SL: Right, and if you become a good listener, then you can become a good problem solver. I've been fortunate that the positions I've held in the City have taught me to be a good listener, and hopefully, a good thinker.

EC: What are your hopes for the CAM, and how do you see yourself helping the Museum move in that direction?

SL: I think the best thing I can do there is to utilize my listening skills. I want to know from the Friends of the Chinese American Museum what their thoughts are and what their vision is. I'm only just learning the history of the Museum and what has gone into it. I want to make sure that we end up with a terrific museum with adequate space to showcase Chinese American history in Southern California. I'm very excited to be at El Pueblo and to work with all of the groups. I very much appreciate that the Friends of the Chinese American Museum are organized, and that they are in place. I'm very glad that now I can enter the scene and be a part of helping their dream come to fruition. Anything I can do to help in that regard will be very rewarding for me.

By Estella M. Chung
Assistant Curator

Presently underway at the CAM site, located at 423-425 North Los Angeles Street,
is the construction of the Museum interior and the landscaped entrance and sidewalk.

The structural retrofit of the Garnier Building is 80% complete. The construction crews are now installing new concrete basement slabs. They have roughed in most of the electrical wiring in the basement and have put in 50% of the floor slab drainage. Within the next few weeks, they will be putting in the partition walls and will be installing the rough electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems. Work is also progressing with the preparations required for the installation of new sidewalks and landscaping. It is expected that the retrofit work will be done by early August, in time for the City's big convention party. The job has not been held up on account of the rainy weather early this year as the crews are working two shifts. Our architect, Barton Choy, is also working hard on plans for the interior.

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

FCAM president-elect Robert Kwan (L) with
Mrs. and Mr. Ze-I Wang (C and R), who donated
a tea set that belonged to Chinese painter and
calligrapher Chang Dai-chien ( ).

You may have an important storyteller in your attic, closet, or garage. Or, it may be on your wall or bookshelves.

I am using the term storyteller instead of artifact, because artifact is loaded with misconceptions and limitations. For many of us, this word evokes images of very expensive objects used by famous people. Napoleon's hand-carved gold sword with an emerald and ruby handle fits this notion. Perhaps the Napoleon Museum would use the gold sword to tell visitors about his military skills.

History museums use artifacts to tell stories about the past, and we need artifacts to help tell the story of Southern California's Chinese Americans. But I fear that if I ask you (yes, you, the very person reading this newsletter), if you have an artifact to donate to the Chinese American Museum's permanent collection, your immediate reply would be, No, I don't have anything expensive, collectable, or used by someone famous. Therefore, we invite you, your friends, and your relatives to think creatively about that old stuff in your home that you cannot bring yourself to throw away.

This is why I am asking you to browse around your home for storytellers to donate or loan to the CAM. The Museum is interested in the everyday experiences and culture of Chinese Americans. Have you ever used photographs, home movies, letters, a grandfather's old suit, or other ordinary items to tell a story about the past or to explain what it was like to be Chinese American back then? If you have, that object is an artifact we may be able to use. Some of the best storytellers are random things such as speeding tickets, grade school report cards, plane tickets, and old bills that show the cost of merchandise and services. These seemingly unimportant objects will help us put together the story of Chinese Americans. Please use this opportunity to share your family's history in Southern California with future generations of Americans.

Below is a list of sample storytellers you might have in your home. If you would like to donate or loan an artifact to the CAM, please contact curator Suellen Cheng or myself at (213) 626-5240, (213) 680-2525, or estella_camla@hotmail.com.

By Estella Chung
Assistant Curator

Estella Chung is the assistant curator of the Chinese American Museum. Before joining the CAM, she worked for the Historic American Engineering Record, National Building Museum, National Museum of American History, and Southeastern Architectural Archive. She holds a master's degree in American Civilization with a focus on Museum Studies from Brown University and completed her undergraduate work in American Culture at the University of Michigan and University of Sussex in England.

Among the earliest immigrants to come to this nation, Chinese Americans make up the largest Asian ethnic group in the United States today. More than one-third of of Chinese Americans in the U.S. lives in this state, and one out of every three Californians of Chinese decent reside here in the Southland. To fully appreciate the history of this multicultural region, one must also recognize the 150 years of Chinese American history here. Yet, their contributions to California's past and present economic, social, political, and cultural development remain relatively unknown to the general public. This lack of information obliterates an important aspect of American history.

One way the CAM intends to counter this void is by researching, preserving, and sharing historical materials on the Chinese American experience through a unique collection of still and moving images and oral history interviews. The archive will not only be for Chinese Americans who wish to search for their roots, it will also serve all Americans who seek a deeper understanding of California's history and culture.

The Museum has collected over 500 historic photos dating from the 1880s to present time. They depict Chinese Americans of different economic classes and professions, living in rural, urban, and suburban communities. In addition, film footage that has been made accessible to the CAM so far dates back to the 1930s. These vintage home movies, filmed by a privileged class of Chinese Americans, depict farming communities, Chinese-owned businesses, and events such as weddings and holiday celebrations. The Museum also owns a collection of oral history interviews with over forty individuals. They include long-time Los Angeles Chinatown residents born in the early 1900s as well as new arrivals from China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan who make up the more affluent and privileged second wave of Chinese immigrants.

The CAM will showcase these archival materials in its inaugural exhibits when the Museum is open. In addition, other museums, universities, research institutions, and students of all ages will have access to this collection for research purposes.

The collection that the Museum currently owns, however, is only the beginning of what will be an extensive and on-going archival project. While the Haynes Foundation grant will jump-start the development of this archive, your participation and contribution is vital in building its content. Any additional financial support also will be very helpful.

If you would like to contribute funding or materials to this archive, please contact curator Suellen Cheng or assistant curator Estella Chung at (213) 626-5240, (212) 680-2525, or estella_camla@hotmail.com.

By Sherie Yang ( )
Editor

Thomas Hartman, president of I.Q. Magic,
has signed on as the CAM's exhibit designer.

Thomas Hartman, museum creator and president of I.Q. Magic, has signed on as the Chinese American Museum's exhibit designer.

Founded in 1992, I.Q. Magic is a communications and exhibit design firm offering an extensive range of conceptual, design, interpretive, and facility planning services, along with production management and project development. Its clients have included the State of California (Golden State Museum); the Getty Conservation Institute; MGM Studios; the Hollywood Bowl Museum; the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens; the Los Angeles International Airport; World Cup USA ‘94; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee; Seiyu Stores Corporation/Tokyo; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and Magic World, U.A.E.

I.Q. Magic president Thomas Hartman is widely recognized as an experienced and innovative leader in the exhibition design field. He has lectured internationally on exhibition design and design management, and has held design faculty positions at UCLA, the Otis/Parsons School of Art and Design, and California State University, Fullerton. The firm's projects have received professional awards at the state, regional, and national levels.

The board of directors and staff of the Friends look forward to collaborating with I.Q. Magic in creating the Museum's inaugural exhibits.

Volunteers Tom Lim (front) and Pei Lim (back) staffed the Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley exhibit.

El Pueblo staff Jim Fong (L), Evergreen Books owner Bing Liu (C), and student Cindy Cheng (R) helped to prepare the recent exhibit.

Over the past several months, Mr. Bing Liu, owner of Evergreen Publishing and Stationery, had lent his art gallery for a CAM exhibit, shared his experiences as a Chinese American entrepreneur for the Museum's archive, and even frequently filled in as a greeter for the Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley exhibit. And all this was after he donated $10,000 toward Museum development.

Volunteers Jim Fong and Fred Gong provided visitors with Museum information at the 1999 China Expo-USA last November.

(L to R) Judy Hao, Ronald Taw, Elmo Gambarana, and Vivien Hao volunteered at the CAM's Chinese New Year Banquet.

The community spirit and generosity from Museum volunteers like Mr. Liu is what has enabled the CAM to grow. Without the support of volunteers, the FCAM and El Pueblo Monument could not have progressed this far toward establishing the permanent Chinese American Museum and in bringing events to the community. That is why the Friends of the Chinese American Museum would like to express its sincere appreciation to the individuals (listed below) who have volunteered at recent CAM events - the Chinese New Year banquet, the 1999 China Expo-USA, and the Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley exhibit.

Individual volunteers as well as USC and UCLA student groups collaborated with El Pueblo curator Suellen Cheng and exhibit designer Pingy Quon on Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley, which was open to the public from December 10 through January 10, 2000. Volunteers assisted in the conservation of artifacts, translating the text cards, transporting the exhibit materials, setting up the displays, staffing the gallery and the opening reception, and taking down the displays.

Prior to the exhibit, several volunteers gave up a part of their Thanksgiving weekend last year to set up, maintain, and staff the FCAM booth at the 1999 China Expo-USA at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Special thanks goes to Museum sponsor KSCI-Channel 18 for donating the booth space and providing this outreach opportunity.

At the CAM's most recent outreach event, the Chinese New Year banquet of February 11, volunteers dressed in traditional Chinese outfits to welcome and entertain the guests. Special thanks goes to board member Barbie Chien for coordinating the volunteers for the banquet, the exhibit, and the Expo booth.

The CAM is always seeking enthusiastic and responsible individuals to assist at events and with various aspects of Museum development. If you would like to join the Chinese American Museum as a volunteer, please contact Barbie Chien, volunteer coordinator, at CAMvolunteers@yahoo.com. Also, you may now signup using our new on-line volunteer form!

By Sherie Yang ( )
Editor

The evening featured a nine-course Chinese banquet and a show that included acrobatics, music, martial arts, folk dance, lion dance, and magic performances. Participating entertainers included the San Gabriel Valley Chinese Cultural Association (Dragon Dance); Jason Jiang, Sonny Soohoo, and Sha Sha Luo (Beijing Lion Dance); and Sydney Wang and her students, Joy, Candice, and Jeff (Folk Dance).

For Chinese Americans, the event was an opportunity to enjoy traditional New Year festivities. For the other guests, it was an opportunity to enjoy performances from Chinese culture and learn about its New Year traditions.

Next year, the Museum will celebrate the Year of the Serpent with another banquet and evening of Chinese cultural entertainment. Please join the Museum at the 2001 New Year's banquet, and come to all of the CAM events between now and then!

By Sherie Yang ( )
Editor

Board director Bob Jung recently brought to the Museum a $100 donation in cash. This is from Chinatown, he explained, It is from the owners of a small shop. By happenstance, days later, board director Munson Kwok was in that same small, popular shop as a customer. He thanked the owners and asked them why they contributed to the CAM. Mr. Wong (not his real name) replied in Chinese, We are very small business, and we do not have much money. But we want to do something. We believe it is important to promote education, especially the education of our children. They must learn and understand about the hardships, the sacrifice that it took for us to come to America, a completely strange land to us, and to seek a better life for them. Yes, Kwok mused, Commitment, sacrifice and perhaps even courage? At that time, Mrs. Wong (not her real name), who had been silent and listening, chimed in, Yes, courage, definitely courage!

So, it is no different for immigrants today than 150 years ago. Such a vignette spurs the urgency for the CAM's opening, to occur within the months to come!

By Munson Kwok ( )
Board Member

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.

Last winter, my family and I visited Sing Ping Lei Village in Kwantung Province, China where my ancestors have lived for several generations.

Visiting the house and the village where my father was born provided me with a greater understanding of my family history.

As a second and fifth generation Chinese American born in Los Angeles, I have found myself in limbo on numerous occasions as to who I am, and where I came from. Exactly what is Chinese American, or even Asian American, for that matter? Growing up in Southern California, I was fortunate to never lose sight of my Chinese heritage while submerged in American society. The older I got, however, the more I realized there is so much I have yet to learn about my family's history. After all, if I am not able to tell my children about their family background, they might lose sight of who they are and where they came from. Knowing one's history is so important, because the experiences of our ancestors have in some way contributed to the lives we live today.

The process of tracing my roots started months ago, when my family decided to go on a trip to Hong Kong during the winter. It was then that my sister and mother had the idea of visiting the village where my father was born. It is also where much of my family history can be traced. Although hesitant at first, I eventually opened up to the idea. As the trip neared, I grew more and more excited about the opportunity. I had no doubt this would be an experience unparalleled to any other I have had in the past.

After several days in the safety and familiarity of westernized Hong Kong, I found myself on a boat headed up the Pearl River ( ) in Southern China. Our destination was the City of Hoiping ( ), where the first leg of the journey awaited us. After lunch, we departed for my father's village, called Sing Ping Lei ( ). At the first sight of it, I was in a state of amazement. Here I was, standing around the most beautiful landscape and taken aback, knowing that my ancestors before me stood where I stood.

As I proceeded to walk around the village, I was directed into an uninhabited house, which turned out to be the one belonging to my family. The first thought that ran through my mind was how many people had walked through this house over the years. Second, seeing the room where my father was born was unbelievable. I could not believe that I was there, thousands of miles from my own birthplace, my own life. Being there for one hour was enough to make me realize how little I knew about my past, and how much I appreciate the entire experience in which I was taking part. Little did I know, this was only the beginning.

The following day, we planned to visit the gravesites of several of my ancestors, a tradition known as bai san ( ). The purpose of this tradition is to show a sign of respect to the ancestors. On this particular day, I was to visit the burial sites of three people I am related to by blood, yet never met. A thirty-minute hike up the side of a mountain took us to the first gravesite, which belonged to the mother of my great, great grandfather, Man Fong ( ). The first of my ancestors to journey to American, Man Fong had worked on the Transcontinental Railroad during the mid-1800s.

As I stared at the small, engraved stone that marked the final resting-place of my great, great, great grandmother, a comforting feeling came over me from knowing that thousands of miles from California where I call home, this place was also home to me. The language barrier, the cultural barrier, and thousands of other differences between the world I was used to and the one I was surrounded by were completely inconsequential. At that moment, and I felt that I was no longer a visitor in this foreign place, but finally arriving home.

With that first experience tucked firmly into my memories, I was primed for more. Our group descended the mountainside and hiked for roughly another hour through tough terrain and toward another mountain. When we finally arrived at the second gravesite, I was astounded by the view, which overlooked a mountainside and a lake. No words could do justice to the landscape that was ahead of me. I was told that these locations for the gravesites were personally picked according to feng shui ( ), which was a superstitious belief that good luck was a matter of your surroundings. Following some initial confusion as to who exactly was buried here, we were told that this was where my great, great grandfather's first wife was buried. She was the wife from which my family line descended. My father told me as we were hiking that Man Fong had walked those hills for seven years before deciding on that particular burial site for his first wife. Such an undertaking was beyond anything I could possibly comprehend. To know this about him gave me an unparalleled sense of pride of my family, and I yearned to learn more.

We visited the gravesite of my great, great grandfather, Man Fong,
who worked on the Transcontinental Railroad in the mid-1800s.

The final gravesite we visited that day was Man Fong's. I had expected an incredible view high in the mountains like the previous two graves, but I was surprised. His grave was tucked away behind what used to be a rice field and now resembles a marsh. We quickly found out that we had to run to the grave in order to keep from sinking into the mud. Imagine the surprise to my family at this revelation! Finally reaching the gravesite, I was surrounded by high, dry brush, and that was all. The site was very secluded, and I wondered why it was not as extravagant as the other burial sites. I attempted to rationalize the reason for this and supposed it had something to do with feng shui. I stepped back, reflected upon the entire experience, and came to the conclusion that some things will always be shrouded in darkness. There are so many questions left to be answered regarding the history of a family lineage; it would be nearly impossible to find answers to them all. I accepted this, because I realized not knowing everything was part of the appeal, part of the mystery that draws us to learn more.

The experience of trying to piece together a part of my family puzzle was one I would not soon forget. The chance to trace this portion of my family tree and to relive it by physically being there was an opportunity of a lifetime. I am most grateful to this trip for helping me to gain clarity and insight into myself. It allowed me to see who I am and where I stand in the scheme of being a Chinese American. I often used to see this label as a handicap, with me not belonging fully to one group or the other. Through tracing my family ties to its origins in China, I was able to appreciate to a higher degree than before what it meant to be Chinese. At the same time, being an American has presented many opportunities that I would not have if I were raised in another country. Now, instead of a hindrance, I see that being Chinese American allows me to have the best of both worlds.

By Aaron Chung ( )
Student Volunteer

Aaron Chung is a second and fifth generation Chinese American born in Los Angeles. He is currently a second-year student at UCLA, where he intends to major in History and pursue an Asian American Studies specialization. He would appreciate any comments regarding this article and can be reached at aaron595@ucla.edu. To read A Story from the Chinese Diaspora: The Chung Family, an article about Aaron's family history that appeared in FCAM's Summer 1999 newsletter, please access http://www.camla.org/newsletter/1999/summer/index.htm#ChungFamily

Are you interested in researching your family history? Get started by viewing the CAM's list of books and websites on genealogy research.

The Museum will hire two college students for the Getty Multicultural Summer Internship Program at the CAM, made possible for the eighth consecutive year by the Getty Grant Program.

Museum Executive Director Jean Bruce Poole Received the President's Award from the California Preservation Foundation for her outstanding achievements and stewardship of El Pueblo Monument for more than twenty years. Ms. Poole was honored at the Foundation's 25th Annual Conference on April 14 at the State Theatre in Monterey.

CAM Board Member Tim Siu Will Receive an Award as the USC School of Pharmacy's Honorary Alumnus for 2000. Dr. Siu will be honored for his many contributions to the School and the pharmacy profession at the annual Alumni/Senior Awards Banquet on May 7, 2000 at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel.

A landmark exhibit, Visible Traces: Rare Books, Maps and Documents from the National Library of China, is on public view at the Los Angeles Central Library from April 15 through June 25, 2000. A reception to meet the curators will take place at the Chinese Historical Society meeting on Wednesday, May 3, 7:00 p.m. at the Castelar School multipurpose room. The Friends of the Chinatown Library, the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, and the FCAM are co-sponsoring this reception.

The exhibit, Secret World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China's Imperial Palace, is open to the public until September 3, 2000 at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA. Call (714) 567-3600 or check http://www.bowers.org/

Ocelot Internet is Donating Web Hosting Service to the CAM. Ocelot is a premium web hosting company offering innovative Internet solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Special thanks goes to Wesley Luk, Museum friend and partner at Ocelot, for his time and effort in providing technical support.

The CAM is creating a fundraising cookbook, and we would like to include your favorite recipes! Proceeds will go toward the development of CAM exhibits, educational programs, and archival/library collections. Please contribute your recipes in the following format.

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