Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Illustrations xi
4. Preface xv
5. Acknowledgments xxi
6. Part one: Early Chinese Immigrants, 1852–1904
7. Introduction 1
8. Songs of Gold Mountain Wives 7
9. To His Excellency Governor Bigler (1852) 9
10. The Founding of Golden Hills’ News (1854) 13
11. Letter by a Chinese Girl (1876) 15
12. Documents of the Chinese Six Companies Pertaining to Immigration 17
13. The Second Exhumation and Return of the Remains of Our Departed Friends to the Homeland (1876) 26
14. Reminiscences of a Pioneer Student (1923) 30
15. Reminiscences of an Old Chinese Railroad Worker (1926) 39
16. Memorandum No. 29 to Envoy Zheng (1882) 43
17. Memorial of Chinese Laborers at Rock Springs, Wyoming (1885) 48
18. A Chinese View of the Statue of Liberty (1885) 55
19. Reminiscences of an Early Chinese Minister (1932) 57
20. Bow On Guk (Protective Bureau) (1887) 68
21. Why Am I a Heathen? (1887) 70
22. Why I Am Not a Heathen: A Rejoinder to Wong Chin Foo (1887) 79
23. The Geary Act: From the Standpoint of a Christian Chinese (1892) 86
24. Leaves from the Life History of a Chinese Immigrant (1936) 91
25. Kam Wah Chung Letters (1898–1903) 97
26. Part two: Life Under Exclusion, 1904–1943
27. Introduction 103
28. The Treatment of the Exempt Classes of Chinese in the U.S. (1908) 109
29. Detention in the Wooden Building (1910) 118
30. Letter Asking for Support to Build the Sunning Railroad (1911) 125
31. Admission of Wives of American Citizens of Oriental Ancestry (1926) 129
32. “Just plain old luck and good timing” 138
33. “I was the only Chinese woman in town” 157
34. Second-Generation Dilemmas (1930s) 165
35. I Am Growing More Chinese— Each Passing Year! (1934) 177
36. Declaration of the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance (1933) 183
37. Chinese Women’s Association Condensed Report for the Years 1932–1936 186
38. Song of Chinese Workers (1938) 196
39. Chinatown Goes Picketing (1938) 200
40. Paul Robeson: The People’s Singer (1950) 204
41. The Founding of McGehee Chinese School (1944) 209
42. “There but for the grace of God go I” 212
43. One Hundred and Seven Chinese (1943) 221
44. Part three: Becoming an Integral Part of America, 1943–2003
45. Introduction 225
46. San Francisco Chinese Papers Blame Immigration Practices in Suicide of Chinese Woman (1948) 233
47. I Want to Marry an American Girl (1955) 240
48. My Bitter Experience in the United States (1956) 247
49. Father and Son (1995) 252
50. “We gave workers a sense of dignity” 259
51. “All the daddies were Chinese and all the mommies were white” 272
52. “I always felt out of place there” 281
53. “It was not a winnable war” 292
54. “I’m a Chinaman” 304
55. Major Education Problems Facing the Chinese Community (1972) 312
56. On the Normalization of Relations between China and the U.S.
57. Proclamation by the Chinese Six Companies of San Francisco (1971) 321
58. A Turning Point in Chinatown (1979) 323
59. Asian American Women and Revolution: A Personal View (1983) 327
60. “In unity there is strength” 336
61. The Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire (1983) 340
62. Anti-Asian Violence and the Vincent Chin Case
63. The New Violence (1984) 345
64. A Letter from Lily Chin (1983) 352
65. A Journey of Bitterness (1999) 355
66. Immigrant Women Speak Out on Garment Industry Abuse (1993) 359
67. Chinese and Proud of It (1996) 363
68. Learning to See the Man Himself (1997) 368
69. The Best Tofu in the World Comes from . . . Indiana? (1998) 372
70. Reflections on Becoming American (1999) 377
71. Affirming Affirmative Action (1995) 383
72. Countering Complacency 388
73. “One mile, one hundred years” 395
74. A Second-Generation Call to Action (1999) 403
75. The Los Alamos Incident and Its Effects on Chinese American Scientists (2000) 416
76. “We are Americans” 423
77. Chronology of Chinese american history 429
78. Chinese glossary 437
79. Bibliography 447
80. Index 459