Chinese Historical Society of Southern California

CHSSC Summer Picnic
2023-08-12 11:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CHSSC, 411-415 Bernard St, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States

Podcast: Iron Horse Road: A Tale from Gold Mountain
2023-07-19 | Podcast
Premiers on Wednesday, July 19th, 2023

Iron Horse Road recounts one of the great neglected epics of American history. 20,000 Chinese laborers tunneled through granite mountains, dangled over cliffs, and dragged entire trains over alpine summits where other Americans feared to tread. The prosperity of the oncoming gilded age was founded on their blood, sweat and grit, but their story has long been minimized and forgotten.
Equal parts history and travelogue, Iron Horse Road uses binaural 3D audio to transport the listener to deep canyons, echoing caverns and windswept peaks–a world where adventure is always around the corner, and the past is carved in blood and stone.
Stay tuned for the Wednesday July 19th, 2023 release on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Overcast, RSS Feed. You can also listen here at https://blood-on-gold-mountain.captivate.fm/.

Asian Influence on Pasadena's Craftsman & Mid-Century Modern Homes
2023-06-04 10:00 - 12:30 | Bus Tour
Kansha Pasadena and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California will be co-sponsoring a two-and-a-half-hour bus tour on “Asian Architectural Influence on Pasadena’s Craftsman and Mid Century Modern Homes” on Sunday, June 4.
Pasadena has one of the best, and most extensive, collections of Asian influenced architecture in the United States. There are significant Asian architectural influences on four different residential building styles in Pasadena: “High style” Arts and Crafts by Greene and Greene and the Heineman Brothers, vernacular Craftsman bungalows, Mid Century Modern by Buff and Hensman and other Pasadena modernist architects, and even in California Ranch Style Homes.
The tour will be narrated by Dave Nufer, a presenter, docent, and program developer with Pasadena Heritage and the LA Conservancy.
The co-sponsoring organization, Kansha Pasadena, is a leading Pasadena cultural organization celebrating and highlighting Asian American and Japanese American culture and history.
This tour explores these, sometimes subtle, Chinese and Japanese architectural influences on thousands of Pasadena area homes, influences that have helped to shape our cityscape. This bus tour will be passing by and stopping at numerous examples of Greene and Greene, vernacular bungalow, and Mid Century Modern, the Pacific Asia Museum and other Asian inflected architectural styles.
The two-and-a-half-hour bus tour begins at Parking Lot I (Brookside Aquatics Center) at 10 AM.
Rose Bowl Stadium-Lot I
1001 Rose Bowl Drive
Pasadena, California 91103
Tickets will also be available on the day of the tour, if not sold out.
Price: $25.

Our Voices Now: A Black and Asian Dialogue to Action - AARP Event
2023-05-24 19:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Broadcast
AARP convenes our Asian American and Pacific Islander and Black communities to address the double pandemic of COVID and systemic racism. In this free online event, we explore our overlooked history of working together for positive change and open up the conversation on empathy, healing and our shared vision of tomorrow.
Where do we go from here, and how might we build bridges for multi-generational Asian and Black solidarity? By bringing our communities together, we can move towards our collective physical, mental and financial well-being.
Join author and journalist Paula Madison, the first non-Asian Black K-pop star Alex Reid, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas in this candid examination of how we got here and how we can uplift Black and Asian communities. Moderated by MSNBC’s Richard Lui.
How to Join
Please note that you must be signed in to your AARP.org account or create an account to register for events. AARP membership is not required. Please do not opt out of event-related email, as you will be emailed a link to join the LIVE BROADCAST two days prior to the event. You will also receive a reminder email on the day of the event.

Two Pasadenas: Debate Over Internment Camps
2023-05-23 19:00 - 20:30 | Pasadena Museum of History, 470 W. Walnut St, Pasadena, CA, 91103, United States
Admission: General $15; PMH Members $10
During World War II, Pasadenans struggled with many questions. Was it right to lock Americans of Japanese descent in camps? What could be done to counter FDR’s War Relocation Authority?
Join Susie Ling, Pasadena City College Professor of Asian American Studies and History, for this presentation about the people who did their best to help their Japanese American neighbors. Pasadena’s Friends of the American Way – along with William Carr, Hugh Anderson and PCC’s John Harbeson – sponsored the return of the first “test case” to the area, 19-year-old Esther Takei (Nishio).
Presentation will begin at 7:00 pm; PMH Galleries will be open for viewing at 6:00 pm.

Image: Esther Takei and PJC Superintendent John Harbeson in front of the C Building, September 1944. The Rafu Shimpo, 2019.

Chinese Laundries in San Diego
2023-05-20 10:00 - 11:00 | Zoom
This Saturday, May 20, 2023 at 10 a.m., John Lee Wong will serve as the speaker for the upcoming edition of The Chinese American Experience & Beyond. Through this Zoom presentation, John will explore the history of Chinese laundries in San Diego, drawing from memories of his family’s business on State Street.
Please register here to learn more about this fascinating topic: https://sdsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcuGqpz8uG9bu_q7NQvXovw_Yyth07mLO#/registration

Clockshop’s 3rd Annual Community & Unity People’s Kite Festival
2023-05-13 14:00 - 18:00 | Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
RSVP

PBS Screening the Award Winning Documentary TYRUS!
2023-05-10 13:00 - 2023-05-22 13:30 | PBS
Tyrus Wong: American Masters, Episode #3102
Wednesday, May 10, 1:00pm on KCET
Friday, May 12, 4:00pm & 9:00pm on PBS SoCal World
Saturday, May 13, 5:00am & 11:00am on PBS SoCal World
Friday, May 19, 8:00pm on PBS SoCal 2
Saturday, May 20, 4:00pm & 10:00pm on PBS SoCal 2
Monday, May 22, 2:00am, 7:00am & 1:30pm on PBS SoCal 2

Check the PBS listings in your area for additional screenings.

If you would like your own copy of the documentary, DVD’s signed by
the writer.director Pamela Tom are still available on etsy.
They are $24.99 and make great gifts and include complimentary gift wrap!
etsy.com/shop/tyruswong

Santa Barbara Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage, 1870s-1970s
2023-05-07 12:00 - 16:00 | Sahyun Library, 316 Castillo St, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, United States
CHSSC will create an exhibit of our artifacts to display at this event. Come by and say hello!

Chinese American Culture Night at UCLA
2023-05-06 19:00 - 22:00 | UCLA Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Ct, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States

Chinese Lives in Wyoming - An Overview of Immigrant Lives in Wyoming from 1868 to 1937
2023-05-03 19:00 - 20:00 | Eventbrite
Chinese immigrants from Toishan (Taishan) and elsewhere in Guangdong Province contributed much to the development of transportation, merchandising, and mining in southwestern Wyoming. Initially it was thought that these immigrants only worked on the railroad in 1869, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that in that year men from southern China operated laundries and entered the coal industry. The lives and contributions of the men and women from southern China will be discussed as will their overcoming being forcibly removed from Almy coal mines on September 2nd 1885. Significantly, Chinese grit and tenacity led them to persevere in reforming their communities after their removal from Almy and the attack on Chinatown in Rock Springs on the same day. These two tragic events cannot be overlooked, but the ability of the immigrants to overcome the tragedy and form new communities in Wyoming that endured for decades will be a point of focus.
Dudley Gardner is Professor Emeritus at Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) and Principal Investigator for the Western Archaeological and Anthropological Research Institute (WAARI) in Rock Springs, Wyoming. He received his B.A. in English from Lee College, his M.A. in history from Colorado State University, and his Ph.D. in History from University of New Mexico. Dudley has extensive archaeology experience working on various projects as Project Manager, Crew Chief, and Crew Member in Wyoming, Tennessee, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, California, Utah, Colorado, Easter Island, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand, Southern China, and Mongolia. He is currently working on the Yale University Tarvagatai Valley project in Mongolia and Burgastai Valley and is the Principal Investigator for projects in Wyoming, Colorado, New Zealand, Fiji and Montana. Dudley has extensive teaching experience and has published numerous books, government publications and articles.
Register

April Program - Preserving Our Duty & Honor Collection
2023-04-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Speaker Bios
David Castro is an aspiring Archivist who wishes to bridge the gap between marginalized communities and their representation in traditional archives by using web-based technology to disseminate and preserve knowledge. He is three years into his MLIS program at San Jose State University focusing his career pathway on ‘Archival Studies and Records Management,’ along with a secondary focus in ‘Data Assets Management.’ David also earned his B.A in History from UCLA where he found a strong passion in the preservation of archival material and cultural artifacts. While working at CHSSC, he has developed his skill set in collections management, community outreach, and historical research.
Albert Lowe previously worked with CHSSC as the Duty and Honor project archivist. Albert also participated in the family genealogy program, In Search of Roots, and was a researcher for Loni Ding’s “Ancestors of the Americas.” He is the co-founder of the Asian American magazine, SLANT, and has an advanced degree in Ethnic Studies from UCSD and a MLIS degree from UCLA. Albert’s recent work is in the realm of low wage worker empowerment and affordable housing. He currently works as a strategic campaigner at the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 770.

2023 Ching Ming Cancelled
2023-04-01 11:00 - 13:00 | Evergreen Cemetery, 204 N Evergreen Ave, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Due to muddy conditions and the unavailability of crematorium, we have decided to cancel this year’s event.
CHSSC will host Ching Ming (Chinese Memorial Day) on Saturday, April 1, 2023, 11:00am – 1:00pm.
Ceremonies will take place at the historic Chinese Memorial Shrine at Evergreen Cemetery to pay our respects to those who have paved the way for us.
The Shrine stands at the center of what was once a 19th century Chinese cemetery. Built in 1888 by the people of Los Angeles’ Old Chinatown, the Shrine is considered the earliest extant Chinese structure in Los Angeles. The site remains culturally and historically significant and has been designated Los Angeles Historic/Cultural Monument No. 486. It is owned and maintained by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.

Activities at the historic 1888 Chinese shrine: cleaning the gravesites; placing flowers on the graves; ceremony by a Taoist priest.
There will be a short walk to crematorium site to visit the nearby memorial wall installed by the county and have light meal.
Visit the gravesite of Donaldina Cameron and her family.
Evergreen Cemetery is located at 204 N Evergreen Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90033. The Chinese Memorial Shrine is located at the east end of Evergreen Cemetery. Enter from Evergreen Ave. Parking is free on adjacent cemetery roads. This event is free and open to the public.

Celebration of Life for Gilbert Hom
2023-03-25 11:00 - 16:00 | Shadow Park Clubhouse, 12800 South St, Cerritos, CA, 90703, United States
You can also contact Gordon Hom if you would like to attend. He is coordinating the food for the celebration. His number is 562-397-3148.

CAM Springfest 2023
2023-03-04 12:00 - 17:00 | Chinese American Museum Los Angeles, 425 N. Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States

March 2023 Program - My Unforgotten Seattle - A Memoir by Ron Chew
2023-03-01 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Our May Program Speaker
Ron Chew is principal of Chew Communications, a Seattle-based consulting firm which documents community history and helps museums and emerging non-profits cope with organizational growth.
Chew published his memoir, “My Unforgotten Seattle” in 2020. He is also the author of “Reflections of Seattle’s Chinese Americans: The First 100 Years” (2003, 2013), and “Remembering Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes: The Legacy of Filipino American Labor Activism” (2010).
Chew is a lifelong Seattle resident. He graduated from Franklin High School and attended the University of Washington, where he majored in journalism.
In 2001, Chew was appointed to the National Council for the Humanities by President Bill Clinton. He was a recipient of the Ford Foundation’s “Leadership for a Changing World” award and was named to the American Alliance of Museums “Centennial Honor Roll.”
Chew served on The Seattle Public Library Foundation board of directors during the successful 1998 “Libraries for All” capital campaign, which raised over $80 million to build a new central library and support 27 neighborhood branches. He currently serves as vice president of the Board of Trustees.

Presentation: What Your Mother Never Told You: Chinese American Traditions
2023-02-28 06:30 - 19:30 | San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102, United States
David Lei is putting on a great “lecture” tomorrow, Tuesday February 28 at the San Francisco Public Library at 6:30 p.m.
For people who are unable to attend in person, PLEASE register at the link below. The link will take you to the SF Public Library website.

From China to Chinatown: My Po Po’s Journey by Hailey Soh
2023-02-08 19:00 - 20:00 | Eventbrite
From China to Chinatown: My Po Po’s Journey is a documentary by Hailey Soh that tells the stories of people who immigrated to Los Angeles Chinatown. Hailey created this documentary in the hopes that a public audience might learn more about the history of Los Angeles Chinatown. As the immigrant population in Chinatown grows older, she wanted to help preserve the histories of those who helped build Los Angeles into the city it is today. She realizes that there are many untold immigrant stories and her documentary is only a snippet of the bigger picture.
Hailey’s documentary follows her grandma, her Po Po, Koon Tai Lee Kung, along her journey from Guangzhou, China to Chinatown, Los Angeles. It also includes interviews from her grandmother’s daughter Helena and neighbor Chui King Joe which tell of the community that Chinatown provided for Chinese Immigrants.
Born and raised in Pasadena, California, Hailey Soh is a junior attending Blair High School and lives with her parents and younger sister. Hailey is active member of the student body and is involved in various clubs such as serving on the Associated Student Body as Junior Treasurer, National Honors Society, Girls’ Tennis Team, and she even started her own club – The Broadcasting Club which creates weekly videos to inform students about school-related events and activities. In her free time, Hailey likes to listen to music and play instruments such as the piano and the guitar, and she also enjoys watching her favorite K-dramas on Netflix. She wants to pursue a future where she can continuously learn new things and encounter new experiences.

Chinatown Health Fair
2023-02-04 09:00 - 13:00 | First Chinese Baptist Church, 942 Yale St, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States

Secrets to Longevity by Dr. David Lowe
2023-02-01 19:00 - 20:00 | Eventbrite
In 2005 National Geographic released their findings of a search for the longest lived and healthiest people in the world. They came up with 3 areas where longevity and health could be well documented. They were called Blue Zones. Later 2 more areas were added to this list. Is there something in common with all of these areas? What can we learn from these Blue Zones to help us live longer and healthier lives, to not only add years to our life but add life to our years?
David Lowe, M.D. was born in Walla Walla, Washington and grew up in Southern California. He graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1971 as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha national honor medical society. His internship was at the Harbor-UCLA Hospital in Torrance, California, and he completed his pediatrics residency at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. He served 2 years in the United States Air Force as a pediatrician stationed at the Moody AFB in Valdosta, Georgia. Upon his return to Southern California, he co-founded the Pleasant Valley Pediatric Medical Group in Camarillo, CA. He was soon involved in planning and directing community health programs through his church, the Camarillo Seventh-day Adventist Church. He and his wife Flo have led out in the Heartbeat program that identifies coronary artery disease risk factors, health fairs, the Full Plate Living weight loss program, the Complete Health Improvement Program, the Longevity Lifestyle Matters program and the Diabetes Undone program. They also co-produce the annual WHOLE Conference sponsored by the Camarillo SDA Church.

124th Golden Dragon Lunar New Year Parade
2023-01-28 13:00 - 16:00

Ripples in Time: How the Early Chinese American Experience Shaped the Greatest Generation
2023-01-04 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom
Our January program will feature two-book author Dr. Russell Low, who will explore the early roots of Chinese in America and show how the WWII generation was connected to this past in ways they may not have fully understood. It will be a 1-hour multimedia presentation celebrating Chinese American history, diversity, valor, and patriotism.
Russell Low is a California-born 4th generation Chinese American physician who is a great-grandson of Hung Lai Wah, a Transcontinental Railroad worker, and Tom Ying, a rescued child slave. Russell’s passion for research, family history, and storytelling come together in recently published novels entitled “Three Coins” and “The All-American Crew.”
In exploring the Ripples of Three Coins, Russell celebrates the heroism of the Chinese Americans in WWII from a very personal perspective. On January 23, 1943, a B-24 Liberator bomber and its crew of ten men disappeared without a trace in New Guinea. Their families never knew what happened to them. Now, 80 years later, their long-forgotten letters and dusty photographs finally tell their story in the new narrative nonfiction work The All-American Crew: A True Story of a World War II Bomber and the Men Who Flew It.

Holiday Get-Together
2022-12-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Golden Dragon Restaurant, 960 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States

Tan Heung Shan: The Hawaiian Chinese, 1789-1959
2022-12-03 12:30 - 14:30 | Blinn House, 160 North Oakland Ave, Pasadena, CA, 91101, United States

Faith, Hopes and Dreams
2022-11-05 18:00 - 2022-12-17 21:00 | 951 N. Broadway, Chinatown, Los Angeles, 951 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States

Yard Sale
2022-11-05 09:00 - 14:00 | 620 Westboro Ave, Alhambra, CA 91803, 620 Westboro Ave, Alhambra, CA, 91803, United States

November Program - Culture of the Lion Dance in America
2022-11-02 19:00 - 20:00 | Eventbrite
Our speaker, David Lei, co-founded the Chung Ngai Dance Troupe in 1966 and started lion dancing in 1969. After retiring from active lion dancing in 1976, he started to do research on Chinese lion dance resulting in co-publishing the 400 page “Chinese Lion Dance Explained” with Dr. William Hu in 1995.
In 1965, David participated in his first Chinese New Year parade by organizing his friends to perform the dragon -by 1977, David became the San Francisco Chinese New Year parade and Festival director. He is still active as the parade’s cultural advisor. Currently, David is the chair of the Chinese Performing Arts Foundation and a board member of the USA Dragon and Lion Dance Sports Association.
In recent years, David has given talks on Chinese American history and culture at The Commonwealth Club, California Historical Society, Asian Art Museum, Chinese Culture Center and was a commencement speaker to UC Berkeley’s class of 2019 at Memorial Stadium. David feels it is imperative to Interpret Chinese American history and Chinese art/culture/rituals in the American context for future generations.

151st Anniversary of the Chinese Massacre of 1871
2022-10-24 17:45 - 20:00 | Pico House, 424 N. Main St., Los Angeles, CA, 90012, United States
Every year since 2010 the Chinese American Museum has hosted a Commemoration event to remember the victims of the Chinese Massacre of 1871. This year, the museum is hosting a special on-site film screening and in-person program.

5:45pm PDT: Pre-event screening of “Buried History,” a short film which maps out the violent night through today’s streets of downtown Los Angeles.
6:30pm PDT: The Commemoration event featuring keynote speaker Dr. Erika Lee, Regents Professor History and Asian American Studies at the University of Minnesota and this year’s recipient of the Champion for Justice Historymaker Award. Dr. Lee will draw connections between the historic tragedy and today, as xenophobia and racism towards Asian Americans continues to rise in the US.

The program concludes with a candle-light vigil, a reading of the names and traditional Chinese bowing ceremony led by FCAM Board Chair Dr. Gay Yuen.
This event is hosted live in-person* at CAM and available to watch virtually. Registration is required for both by visiting camla.org/1871Commemoration
*For in-person attendees, face masks are highly encouraged inside the event spaces.
This program is presented by the Chinese American Museum with additional support from the Chinatown Service Center.

17th Annual Archives Bazaar
2022-10-22 10:00 - 15:00 | Doheny Memorial Library, 3550 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, United States
We are an official exhibitor!

Grandview Gardens Restaurant: In Their Own Words
2022-10-05 19:00 - 20:00 | Eventbrite
Last year the Louie Family Foundation awarded CHSSC a grant to research the history of the Grandview Gardens Restaurant. In order to learn more about the restaurant and its owners, CHSSC contacted the Wong family. Sophia Wong, daughter of Norman Wong and her cousin Calvin Wong, son of Doc Wong, to learn more. Both Calvin and Sophia have had a continuing interest in the Wong family history as well as the history of the restaurant. They were very generous with their time and their artifacts. Join us at our meeting to learn about their interesting grandfather who started the restaurant in Old Chinatown and to hear stories of their experiences at the restaurant in New Chinatown
The online exhibit that we created can be located on the CHSSC website: chssc.org
