Scope and Contents

2 digtized prison ledgers containing the records of 681 Chinese immigrants that were arrested and jailed in Port Henry, NY between 1901-1903.

Abstract Charlie Lai along with Jack Tchen are founders of the Chinatown History Project, which has gone on to become the Museum of Chinese in America. In this five part interview conducted over the course of several months Charlie talks about his childhood in Hong Kong and how his family eventually decided to immigrate to the United States when he was nine years old. He talks about living with his uncle when they first arrived in the states and saying on Long Island. His family eventually moves into...

Abstract In this interview, Fai Ling "Alice" Lee discusses the development of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn; from a sleepy, dilapidated, majority-Norwegian area in the 1970s to a thriving Chinese diaspora in the 1980s and 1990s. She describes the economic and working conditions faced by her father, who worked in a Times Square Chinese restaurant, and her mother, a seamstress in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan. The interview focuses on real estate investing in Sunset Park; home...

Abstract In this interview, Guillermo and Norma Wong discuss their unique situation as a Chinese-Peruvian family living in a Chinese-Latino section of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn; facing anti-Chinese slurs made by Latino residents, for example. They describe the ethnic makeup of their neighborhood, the politics of ethnic identity, racism, and discrimination. The Wongs recall the challenges of making it in America; finding housing, learning English, finding a job, and understanding...

Abstract Jack Tchen along with Charlie Lai are founders of the Chinatown History Project, which has gone on to become the Museum of Chinese in America. In this multiple part interview Tchen discusses growing up in Wisconsin and his family’s ties to China. He then recounts his time at Madison college and how he got more involved in activism and Asian American studies. Next he discusses his time working at Basement workshop, how he met Charlie and working on exhibitions. He left Basement workshop with...

Abstract In this interview, J.L. (Anonymous) and Ning-Yuan Li provide viewpoints on their different lives that led them to America. Li, fine art painter, describes his early education and sensibilities as an artist and recalls the Chinese Cultural Revolution impact on fine art in China. J.L., from Taiwan, relates his life story; the era of the "Anti-Japan War," his career as a soldier, and time spent in Paraguay running a small wrist-watch business. Joined by J.T. (Anonymous, also a narrator of her...