*glamour And Grace* Chsa Annual Gala 2008 *program*

CHINESE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ANNUAL GALA

2OO8

C h i n e s e H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y o f A m e r i c a M u s e u m & L e a r n i n g C e n t e r 9 6 5 C l a y S t r e e t S a n F r a n c i s c o , C A 9 4 1 0 8

STAFF Sue Lee, Executive Director Francis Wong, Deputy Director Judy Hu, Communications Manager Anna Naruta, PhD, Director of Archives

(415) 391-1188 | [email protected]

Liana Koehler, Administrative Assistant

chsa.org | CivilRightsSuite.org

Lenora Lee, Operations Manager

http://youtube.com/CHSAmuseum

Pam Wong, Programs Coordinator

Get the latest! Sign up for email updates at chsa.org

CHSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Charlie Chin, Ar tist-in-Residence

Paul Fong, President

CORE CONSULTANTS

C o n n i e Yo u n g Yu , 1 s t Vi c e P r e s i d e n t

Ex hibition D esi g n

D o u g C h a n , E s q . , 2 n d Vi c e P r e s i d e n t

Gordon Chun Design

L i n d a A . C he u , Tr e a s u r e r Vi r g i n i a C . G e e , S e c r e t a r y

Contract R eg istrar

D o n a l d C h an

Maren Ar t Ser vices

Cedric Cheng Wi l l a r d C h i n

D esi gn and A rt D irection

Barre Fong

Jeff Mellin, Big Blue Ox

Calvin Fung Robert Fung

Journal D esi g n

Russell Leong

Side by Side Studios

Galin Luk D r. R o d n e y L u m

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Wi l l i a m G . R o o p

Chinese America: History & Perspectives — The Journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America

A l i s a Ye e J e f f r e y P. Wo o , E s q . , L e g a l C o u n s e l BOARD EMERITI Him Mark Lai P h i l i p P. C h o y FOUNDERS T h o m a s W. C h i n n C. H. Kwock Chingwah Lee H . K . Wo n g T h o m a s W. S . Wu , D D S

Colleen Fong, PhD (chair) • Him Mark Lai • Laurene Wu McClain • Ruthanne Lum McCunn • Russell Jeung, PhD • Russell Leong • Anna Naruta, PhD SPECIAL GALA THANKS TO Wendy Soone– Broder • Robert Barde • Theresa Burke • Dr. Donald Cheu • Jeffrey Gee Chin • Liana Koehler • Evan Leong • Franklin & Daisy Leong • Felicia Lowe • Rita Mah • Charles McClain • Laurene Wu McClain • Ruthanne Lum McCunn • Lewis Sykes • John Kuo Wei Tchen • Richard & Sophie Tom • Lisa Wong • Ron Wong Established in San Francisco in 1963, CHSA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit operating under Federal Tax ID #94-6122446

CHINESE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

ANNUAL GALA

2OO8

Saturday September 20 Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco

6 PM RECEPTION No-host Cocktails Silent Auction begins 7 PM DINNER Greetings by Mistress of Ceremon ies

Cynth i a G ouw

Welcome & Acknowledgements

Sue Lee

CHSA Ex ec utive Di rector and

Paul Fong

CHSA Board P res ident 8 PM PROGRAM

CHSA’ s Vi sual Ann ual Celebrat ion 2008 with musical score composed by J on Jang and

T hree Hundred Years: From the E mpress of Ch ina to the Present

Tr ibute to Phi li p Choy – Architect of A meri can Hi story Music composed by Jon J ang Per for med by F rancis Wong, saxophone, and Jon J ang, piano World premi ere of the new vi deo

Hi m Mark La i: The Master Arch iv ist

by Lowedown Product ions and the Chinese Hi stori cal S oc i ety of America with remarks by Laurene Wu McClain

Mak i ng Ch inese A meri can History C onclus i on

Sue Lee

CHSA Executive Director

Cynthia Gouw Mistress of Ceremonies

Born near Berkeley, California, to Chinese American parents, Cynthia Gouw embraces creating understanding within the global community as she seeks compelling stories around the world and has worked toward ensuring bi-lingual education and preservation of Chinese culture. As a three time Emmy Award winning TV News Anchor and Reporter and a nationally recognized journalist, she has worked in the top media markets in the country, including the ABC and CBS affiliates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Sacramento. In Philadelphia, Cynthia is Founder and Director of Creative Content for SnapGlowTV, a web-based video-oriented women’s channel, which will launch this fall on Philly.com, the most visited local internet site in the region. Cynthia hosted the TV show Asian Outlook, a half-hour talk show focused on the affairs of the Pacific Rim for WYBE. The Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters named her show “Best TV Talk Show Series” in 2006. She’s interviewed Oprah Winfrey. In 2007 she worked with General Colin Powell to inaugurate his new chairmanship of the Eisenhower Fellows in Philadelphia. For her work on Pacific Time, KQED-FM San Francisco’s nationally syndicated NPR program, the Asian American Journalists Association recognized Cynthia with a National Award for her reporting on Asian American issues. The Public Radio News Directors also awarded “Best Large Market Public Affairs Program” to a show featuring Cynthia’s reporting on the Korean American community and the tenth anniversary of Los Angeles’ civil unrest. The Chinese American Council’s Member of the Year and the Asian Bar Association of Sacramento’s Honoree of the Year, Cynthia has also been recognized by the California State Legislature, and was on the Advisory Board of Stanford University’s “Grade the News”, a media and ethics watchdog group. Cynthia is also an actress who co-starred as “Caithlin Dar” in the movie Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier and also won the top prize on the syndicated TV talent show Star Search and was named the “$100-Thousand Dollar Spokesmodel Grand Champion.” MORE Magazine, a fashion and beauty magazine, named her as one of the top models over forty in a nationwide model search. Crowned Miss Chinatown Los Angeles 1983 and Miss Chinatown USA 1984, Cynthia is currently a contract model with Wilhelmina Models, New York. Cynthia received her BA in Political Science/International Relations from UCLA and her JD from UCLA’s School of Law. She and her husband split their time between their homes in Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jon Jang MU SI CIAN/Com poser

Jon Jang has followed his own path of creating music which has become “two flowers on a stem,” a metaphor expressing the symbiotic relationship of his cultural identity and musical aesthetics as an American born Chinese. For two decades, Jang’s works chronicle and bring to life the Chinese immigration experience in the United States. Works include Chinese American Symphony commissioned by the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra and Oakland East Bay Symphony, Unbound Chinatown — A Tribute to Alice Fong Yu; Paper Son, Paper Songs; Island: the Immigrant Suite No. 2 for the Kronos Quartet and Cantonese Opera singer and the score for the dramatic adaptation of Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Women Warrior. In April 2004 at the Banlieues Bleues Festival in Paris, Jon and James Newton composed and performed When Sorrow Turns to Joy — a Musical Tribute to Paul Robeson to commemorate the anniversary of the World Peace Conference in 1949. Chinese American Symphony — which pays tribute to the Chinese who built the first transcontinental railroad in the United States and is dedicated to Philip P. Choy — gave its Bay Area premiere at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland on February 22, 2008. Jang’s ensembles have toured in Europe, Canada, China, South Africa (1994) and the United States. In 2001, Jon performed on piano with Max Roach in Zurich, Berlin, Milan, and the Royal Festival Hall in London.

FRANCIS WONG MUSICIAN

Few musicians are as accomplished as Francis Wong, considered one of “the great saxophonists of his generation” by the late jazz critic Phil Elwood. A prolific recording artist, Wong is featured on more than forty titles as a leader and sideman.  For over two decades he has performed his innovative brand of Asian American jazz/creative music for audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe with such luminaries as Jon Jang, Tatsu Aoki, Genny Lim, William Roper, Bobby Bradford, John Tchicai, James Newton, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye and the late Glenn Horiuchi.  But to simply call the Bay Area native a musician would be to ignore his pioneering leadership in communities throughout Northern California. Wong’s imaginative career straddles roles as varied as performing artist, youth mentor, composer, artistic director, community activist, non-profit organization manager, consultant, music producer, and academic lecturer.

Excerpts from

“Long Road Home: the Creation of the Chinese American Symphony” by Jon Jang

A preview from Chinese America: History & Perspectives – The Journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America, 2009 special edition

The Chinese American Symphony, which pays tribute to the Chinese who built the first transcontinental railroad in United States, is also dedicated to Philip Choy, a longtime visionary leader and historian. During the 1950s, Chinese Americans were victimized by the era of McCarthyism. It was taboo to utter a word about Chinese America or China. Despite the realities of both racism and anti-communism, Philip Choy and others laid the early tracks of Chinese American history. Just like the Chinese workers of the Central Pacific railroad who were ahead of the Irish American workers of the Union Pacific in the race to build the railroad, Philip Choy was ahead of his time before the term Asian American was invented. Where did the birth of the idea of the Chinese American Symphony begin and how does Philip Choy fit in all of this? Who Built the Railroad? The article, “Gold Spike rites snub Chinese rail workers,” by Ken Wong and published by East/ West on May 14, 1969 described then-CHSA President Philip Choy’s indignation of the snubbing of the Chinese: The main speaker, Federal Transportation Secretary John A. Volpe asked, “Who else but Americans could drill ten tunnels in mountains 30 feet deep in snow? Who else but Americans could chisel through miles of solid granite? Who else but Americans could have laid ten miles of track in 12 hours?” The irony of Volpe’s speech was that these “Americans” were in fact, foreign-born Chinese who would be barred for years from becoming citizens.

Philip Choy told the audience of politicians including four U.S. Senators, seven Congressmen, and historical society buffs, that “many of the historical facts presented at the program were false, distorted and inaccurate. A white supremacy attitude persists and prevents many from recognizing the validity of the Chinese role in the construction of the transcontinental railroad.” Reading this article, I became angry, but proud that Uncle Phil took a strong stand and spoke out. Instead of going ballistic, I channeled my anger into something positive and creative. Laying Down the First Track of the Chinese American Symphony As a composer, I used Volpe’s exclusion of the contributions of Chinese laborers in his speech to add another layer to the meaning of the Chinese American Symphony. The work opens with the sound of a percussion instrument called the anvil representing the golden spike. But when the anvil is struck, one cannot determine the racial identity. Is it an Irish American worker? Is it a Chinese worker? This places the responsibility on the listener to make their choice. When we hear the Danny Boy reference performed on the pennywhistle early in the symphony, we can immediately make the Irish connection. But even today, the Chinese Americans have no anthem like Danny Boy, which has been considered the unofficial Irish American anthem. …

Excerpts from Jon Jang’s forthcoming article in a special volume for 2009, on the fortieth anniversary of a wealth of activism in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Chinese America: History & Perspectives – The Journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America is sought by readers, researchers, and libraries throughout the nation and the world. A complimentary copy is one benefit of becoming a member of CHSA.

Philip P. Choy Philip P. Choy was born and raised in San Francisco Chinatown. A retired architect, Choy is a renowned authority on California and Chinese American history and historical sites. He has served on the San Francisco Landmarks Board, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society Advisory Committee, and the California State Historical Resources Commission. When the Angel Island Immigration Station— today a museum—was slated for demolition, he served on the Chinese Cove Historical Advisory Committee to develop the preservation of the historic site and the poetry-inscribed walls of the detention barracks. In 1993 he prepared the case report that placed the Station on the National Registry of Historic Places. With Him Mark Lai and Thomas W. Chinn, he co-edited A History of the Chinese in California–A Syllabus (San Francisco: Chinese Historical Society of America, 1969), a reference work based on their identification and analysis of a wide range of historic documents, and which was prepared in response to popular and institutional demand for accurate historical information.

Philip P. Choy and Him Mark Lai then co-taught the nation’s first college-level course in Chinese American history. He has created or consulted on numerous historical studies, publications, traveling and permanent exhibits, and media projects. With Him Mark Lai, Choy researched and produced Outlines: History of the Chinese in America (first edition 1971); Journeys Made...Journeys to Come: A Pictorial History of the Chinese in America (2001), and, as a KRON six-part television series, the early masterwork documentary, Gam Saan Haak – The Chinese of America. His most recent book is Canton Footprints: Sacramento’s Chinese Legacy (2007). This evening premieres the new edition of his seminal study, The Architecture of San Francisco Chinatown (2008).

Photo by Dr. Donald Cheu

Him Mark Lai The Master Archivist

Proclaimed by The Chronicle of Higher Education as “the Scholar who legitimized the study of Chinese America,” Him Mark Lai has been at the core of many community institutions as well as a pivotal figure for the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA). CHSA is proud to announce an upcoming project about Him Mark Lai’s scholarship and determination to record and celebrate the lives of the descendants of Chinese immigrants to America. Born in San Francisco in 1925 to immigrant parents, Him Mark Lai’s trailblazing accomplishments are many and varied. In 1969 with Phil Choy he team-taught the first college-level course in the United States on Chinese American history at San Francisco State College (now San Francisco State University), before moving on to teach the first course at the University of California, Berkeley. He has written books and essays on Chinese American history and compiled two bibliographies on Chinese language materials on the Chinese in America. Major works include: Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910–1940 (coauthor with Genny Lim and Judy Yung; San Francisco: HOC DOI, 1980); Cong Huaqiao dao Huaren [From Overseas Chinese to Chinese American] (in Chinese; Hong Kong, 1992), Becoming Chinese American: A History of Communities and Institutions (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2004); Chinese American Voices from the Gold Rush to the Present (coauthor with Judy Yung and Gordon H. Chang, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006), as well as articles on the history and society of Chinese in the United States in Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups (Cambridge, 1980) and The Encyclopedia of Chinese Overseas (Singapore, 1998). He has consulted on the special collections of and in 2000 made a major donation of his research files to the Ethnic Studies Library of UC Berkeley. He has served as an adjunct professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and past president of the Chinese Historical Society of America. An integral part of the Editorial Committee of the Society’s journal since its inception in 1987, Him Mark Lai also currently has multiple books in prep and in press.

HimMarkLai.org 2009 will debut the first phase of HimMarkLai.org with In Search of Roots 尋根 • Details about the founding of the “In Search of Roots” 尋根 program, which guides young Chinese Americans with ancestral roots in China’s Pearl River Delta region to research their family history and discover and travel to their ancestral village • Online editions of Him Mark Lai’s ever-evolving & updated manuscript reference materials developed for the “In Search of Roots” program, and links to current program activities. Through this project, the Chinese Historical Society of America aims to bring awareness and understanding of the depth of Him Mark Lai’s contributions to Chinese American history and create an interface for people worldwide to be able to access, learn from, and work with Him Mark Lai’s groundbreaking scholarship.

Laurene Wu McClain is a history professor at City College of San Francisco and a practicing attorney. She is the co-author, with Charles J. McClain, of “The Chinese Contribution to the Development of American Law” in Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, l882-l943, and co-editor of California Legal History Manuscripts in the Huntington Library. She edited “Breaking Racial Barriers: Wo Kee Company—A Collaboration Between a Chinese Immigrant and White American in Nineteenth-Century America” and “A Chinese American Woman’s Plight during the Cultural Revolution” by Wen Zhengde for the 2005 edition of Chinese America: History & Perspectives—The Journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America, and authored “From Victims to Victors: A Chinese Contribution to American Law—Yick Wo versus Hopkins” for the 2003 edition. Daughter of Chinese Historical Society of America co-founder Thomas W. S. Wu, her recent contributions to CHSA include years of committed service on the Editorial Committee of Chinese America: History & Perspectives. Her work has been published both in China and the United States.

Felicia Lowe is an award winning independent television producer, director, and writer with more than 30 years of production experience. Him Mark Lai – The Master Archivist is Lowe’s second collaboration with the Chinese Historical Society of America. Chinatown YWCA is exhibited regularly in the Museum. Currently in post production for Chinese Couplet, a film about her relationship to her mother told through her mother’s six names, Lowe received an Emmy for “Best Cultural Documentary” for Neighborhoods: The Hidden Cities of San Francisco – Chinatown. The lively hour-long piece on the history of San Francisco’s oldest neighborhood has been broadcast numerous times on PBS. Carved in Silence, documenting the experiences of Chinese immigrants detained at Angel Island Immigration Station and China: Land of My Father, a personal journey to meet her paternal grandmother in China for the first time, have also been broadcast on PBS and abroad. Lowe’s innovative works are used extensively in classrooms across the country and have been shown in museums and film festivals. Lowe has taught film production and scriptwriting at San Francisco State University and Stanford University. A descendent of Angel Island detainees, Lowe has served on the board of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving the history and site of this National Historic Landmark.

photo by Alana Lowe Schwartz

Felicia Lowe

Photo by Dr. Donald Cheu

Laurene Wu McClain

Bruno of Hollywood photo, William Hoy Collection, CHSA, Gift of Lily Way Leong, 2000.1.61

CHSA IS GRATEFUL FOR THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:

PREMIER SPONSORS PG&E Mark Ross Foundation DISTINGUISHED PATRONS Gee Family Foundation Sam Wong Hotel HONORED BENEFACTORS Andrew Leong Cresleigh Development LLC Him Mark & Laura Lai Dr. Kou-ping and Connie Young Yu Parkmerced San Francisco Waterfront Partners LLC Shorenstein Company Ted & Doris Lee Wells Fargo Foundation CONTRIBUTORS Annie Soo AT&T Bruce Chin Buck Gee Burr Pilger Mayer Chao Suet Foundation Dr. Donald Cheu Thomas and Eva Fong Foundation Jackson Pacific Ventures Hazel Louie Linda Cheu May & Sinclair Louie New York Life Poon Foundation Reuben & Junius Sarah & Phil Choy United Commercial Bank

SW HOTEL

DONORS Kathy and Rolland Lowe H. Marcia Smolens KTSF Louie-Marsh Family Fund Mabel Yick Louie Nibbi Brothers Associates, Inc. Paul & Emma Louie Peter Wiley Raymond Huang Robert & Alva Herr Virginia C. Gee IN-KIND DONATIONS Alisa Yee Cedric Cheng Connie Young Yu Dr. Rod Lum Ed & Janet Chen Eddie Way Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco Galin Luk Gloria Ng Grand Hyatt New York Ming’s of Palo Alto Nicolas Studio Omni San Francisco Hotel Paul Fong Peet’s Coffee & Tea Southwest Airlines Straits Restaurant Tommy Toy’s Cuisine Chinoise US Airways Yank Sing WINE SPONSOR Courtesy John De Luca FLORAL DESIGNER Michael Daigian Design

www.parkmerced.com

The Ban croft Li brary C aliforni a Historical Society a n d Chinese Histori cal Soc iety of Ameri ca present

T he C hineseof C aliforn ia Through a unique collection of artifacts, images, documents, and personal stories, The Chinese of California explores the complex history and unique challenges Chinese Americans faced in the fight for civil rights. As legislation directed at people of Chinese descent removed the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law, discrimination and violent attacks intensified, and Chinese Californians had to fight for basic human rights. A first-ever collaboration of the Bancroft Library, California Historical Society, and Chinese Historical Society of America.

February 7-August 30, 2008 California Historical Society 678 Mission Street, San Francisco

at the

It was great becau se of yo u ! Historic photos (clockwise from upper left): [Streetscene with three men] California Historical Society Collection, FN-32814; [Affidavit in re Cheung Hung Fon, minor son of native-born San Franciscan Cheung Ah You], 1908, from Papers relating to Chinese in California, 1894-1926, BANC MSS C-R 153c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley; [Marching with flags of U.S. and KMT], Chinese Historical Society of America, Courtesy Hing Dear. (Title image: Gordon Chun Design)

Thank you also to the CHSA Advisory Committee: Philip P. Choy, Colleen Fong, Erika Gee, Him Mark Lai, Paul and Emma Woo Louie, Ling-chi Wang, Connie Young Yu, Judy Yung; Chinese of California Curatorial Team: Anna Naruta (CHSA, Lead Curator), Theresa Salazar (Bancroft Library), and Mary Morganti (CHS); Translators: Him Mark Lai, Danian Lu, Danny Loong; Registrar: Maren Art Services; Exhibition Design: Gordon Chun Design