TEN FORGOTTEN CHINATOWNS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

THE FORGOTTEN CHINATOWNS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA EXHIBIT

By Gerrye Wong September 8, 2024

The Chinese American Museum of Northern California held its grand opening of a new museum site in Marysville, California on September 7.  Hundreds of interested  viewers  and museum guests  especially enjoyed the signature exhibit THE FORGOTTEN  CHINATOWNS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.  CHCP was one of the 10 forgotten Chinatowns which was included in this California Humanities grant-funded exhibit, as prepared by Board members Mike Mak and Gerrye Wong. CHCP Board members attending were Brenda Wong, Erwin Wong, and  Elizabeth Lee.

The Chinese American Museum of No. CA  leaders    Brian Tom, with brothers welcome to their museum               Gerrye Wong & Erwin Wong point out San Jose’s Ng Shing Gung altar

Brian Tom, who was the leader behind the opening of this new museum, welcomed all of the guest attendees to his opening day in the Lecture Hall, following a private tour he led for the guests of his new museum exhibits.   A lecture by community historian David Lei, followed, speaking on  “Preserving Chinese American History: A Pain in the Butt”  He spoke, accompanied by slides, about recent activities he had been involved with in discovering many former burial sites of Chinese pioneers from the mid-1800s.  Knowing the importance of protecting the information data discovered, he and a team of volunteers have spent many dedicated hours helping groups digitize their historical  documents.

Representatives from the 10 featured Chinatowns spoke on their specific town’s history of the Chinese who settled there, many finding evidences as far back as the 1850’s timeline.  The forgotten Chinatowns were in the cities of Auburn, Fiddletown, Folsom, Hanford,  Locke, Mendocino, Red Bluff, Sacramento, San Jose and Stockton. As the program stated, “The Chinese American Museum of Northern California (CAMNC) in Marysville was recently awarded a California Humanities grant for this exhibit. The grant invited ten  Chinatowns to submit photos and text that reflect upon their own respective Chinatowns’ history and current conditions.”

This was a very informative session, many in the audience agreed, of little known locations where Chinese communities once existed. We learned of the Auburn Joss House Chinese History Museum and the Kwai Tai Temple in Mendocino where the Chinese settlement began when a junk from China on its way to San Francisco, ended up landing off course in Mendocino.  The Fiddletown Preservation Society member spoke on the Chew Kee store which has been restored. Douglas Hsia showed us photos of Locke historic district, of which the Boarding House is now declared a California State Park. We heard about the Chinese Heritage Museum in Folsom, as well as the China Alley in Hanford.

Honey Lum and Norman Fong showed us maps of where Sacramento’s Chinatown was once located and now holds buildings that once were a vibrant Chinese community center, with hopeful plans to update the area in the future.  Mike Mak spoke of the revitalizing of the Stockton Chinatown community of which its Chinatown was once demolished for building of a highway through the area.

Speaker David Lei joins group from Stockton & Locke 

Gerrye Wong shared the history of the five Chinatowns that once existed in San Jose from 1860s to 1930s and shared  the fact that the last standing building of the last Chinatown, the Ng Shing Gung temple was demolished in 1950.    In 1991 a replica was built by the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project to house the Chinese American Historical Museum which the non profit group gifted to the City of San Jose as a gesture of friendship from the Chinese American community of Silicon Valley.        San Jose representatives Mike Mak, Gerrye Wong, Liz Lee & Brenda Wong

Marysville’s Chinese American Museum of Northern California grand opening in its new site stands at 303 1^st Street where the original Chinatown once stood.  It was an outgrowth of its first museum opened in 2005, according to the dedicated Brian Tom who wanted to present and preserve the history of his hometown. This museum, in addition to the Forgotten Chinatowns section, had areas telling of California Ghost Towns and Survivors, Food and Food containers, Chinese medicine, and China-US Relations – Past, Present, and Future.

Exhibit showing Temples and Altars in California’s past                                                                     Mike Mak  and Gerrye Wong share  their San Jose  exhibit 

This was a wonderful collaboration of 10 Chinese historical groups meeting together to share their history, progress and plans for the future.  All showed their intent to remember the past and bring this history to present day audiences so as to not forget the rich contributions these Chinese immigrants have played and still continue to contribute to the history of America.    It is hoped an event like this will continue in coming years with more cities joining in sharing  their  Chinatown roots too.

San Jose contingent meet Baby and mother  representative from Red Bluff