West Coast Chinatowns Panel Discussion

CHSA presents a very special introspective panel discussion about the various histories of Chinatowns in Portland, Oregon; San Jose, Red Bluff, and Marysville, California; and Washington State. Learn about the establishments and rise of these communities; the adversity faced during Exclusion era; and their present-day existences.

Join this conversation with authors and historians Bruce Chin of the Helen & Joe Chew Foundation, Trish Hackett Nicola, Brian Tom, Gerrye Wong, and Dr. Kristin Wong.

This presentation includes a Q&A session along with a lunch buffet with the authors.

Copies of the following Chinatown series books will be on sale $14 each:

• Marysville
• Tehama County
• San Jose
• Portland, Oregon
• Washington State

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Bruce Chin

Bruce Chin is the Vice President of the Helen and Joe Chew Foundation, which was established to preserve and share the rich history of Red Bluff, California's historic Chinatown and is dedicated to reflecting on the Asian American heritage at large. He is the former president of CHSA. Bruce is co-author of the book, Chinese in Tehama County.

Trish Hackett Nicola

Certified genealogist emeritus Trish Hackett Nicola is a public historian and retired librarian. She has bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in library and information science. She has worked with the Chinese Exclusion Act files at the National Archives at Seattle as a volunteer since 2001. Her blog at ChineseExclusionFiles.com contains more than 330 entries from the National Archives and information for family historians and researchers on how to use this resource.

Brian Tom

Brian Tom's career includes time at the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation, followed by work with California Rural Legal Assistance in Marysville. He maintained a private law practice in San Francisco’s Chinatown for 30 years and served as an Ad Hoc Administrative Law Judge for the ALRB. He later founded and directed the Chinese American Museum of Northern California and co-authored four Arcadia Publishing photo histories: Marysville’s Chinatown, Sacramento’s Chinatown, Locke and the Sacramento Delta Chinatowns, and Gold Country’s Last Chinatown.

Gerrye Wong

A former kindergarten teacher in San Jose, Gerrye Wong created cultural programs and authored the teacher’s curriculum guide Chinese Folklore and Foods. In retirement, she co-founded the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, which built and gifted the Ng Shing Gung temple replica and established the Chinese American Historical Museum in San Jose. She later served as Capital Campaign Chair for CHSA. As board director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, she also led efforts to restore the historic hospital building that once served detained Chinese immigrants. She is the author of Eternal Spirit and co-author of Chinese in San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley in Arcadia’s Images of America series.

Dr. Kristin Wong

Dr. Kristin Wong is a clinical pharmacist and a fourth-generation Chinese American whose family has been actively involved in the Portland Chinese community. These vintage photographs from the Portland Chinatown Museum, along with public archives and private collections, reveal the fascinating history that dates back over 175 years of what was America’s second-largest Chinatown in 1900.

ABOUT THE HELEN & JOE CHEW FOUNDATION

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Chinese Historical Society of America