Exhibition Opening

Join us to celebrate the opening of two companion exhibitions that shed light on the Chinese American experience in Petaluma and California history. Chinese Pioneers: Power and Politics in Exclusion Era Photographs presents a visual history of the social, political, and judicial disenfranchisement of Chinese Californians—as well as moments of Chinese agency and resilience—in the decades before and after the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Petaluma Chinatown Unearthed: Remembering the Past for a Better Future uses artifacts, maps, and historical records to explore the years between the 1860s and 1890s, when Petaluma was home to a thriving community of Chinese laborers. By the 1900s, most residents of Chinese descent were driven out by racist scapegoating and wide-spread Anti-Chinese movement. This exhibit will also highlight what Petaluma’s contemporary AAPI community is doing to shed light on stories that are hidden in plain sight in.

This is a free event. Light refreshments will be served.

Support for Petaluma Chinatown Unearthed and related programming is generously provided by the City of Petaluma, Dale Minami, Von Chan, Frank Chong, the Petaluma River Park Foundation, and Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of North Bay. Chinese Pioneers is an exhibit by the California Historical Society and touring through Exhibit Envoy. Institutional support provided by San Francisco Grants for the Arts andYerba Buena Community Benefit District. The Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation supported the first 6 bookings of this exhibition.

Host or Publisher Petaluma Historical Library & Museum