Pacific Northwest History: Chinese Americans
Chinese Americans in PNW History
The Tacoma Method & Anti-Chinese sentiment in the PNW
"The cry is here that the Chinese must go. I say that they should not go: that they can not go; will not go. More than this, that, were it conceivable that they went, your State would be ruined; in a word, that the Chinese population of the Pacific Coast have become indispensable to its continued prosperity, and that you cannot afford to part with them upon any consideration."
An excerpt from a letter addressing the 'Chinese Question' written by Kwang Chang Ling in September of 1878
(click on image to enlarge - citation below)
Featured websites & online collections
Covered here are largely just sources about Chinese immigration to the area. There is a page in this guide looking at Japanese Americans, but our guide is still growing to address other Asian groups and their role in shaping the PNW.
- Asian Americans and the Modern Pacific NorthwestFrom the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
- Asian Voices - Digital HistorySearch through a list of articles about Asian Immigration, Asian contributions to the building of America, and their role in the war. Most are primary sources/first-hand accounts.
- Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United StatesAn introductory article and links to other resources regarding the Chinese in US History - From the National Archives
- Chinese in Oregon History - collectionSearch through this collection of articles and primary sources relating to the Chinese in the history of the PNW, primarily in Oregon - from the Oregon History Project and the Oregon Encyclopedia
- A History Bursting With Telling: Asian Americans in Washington State"A Curriculum Project for Washington Schools" Includes articles and images, from the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwestest
- HistoryLinkA free, authoritative, Washington State history encyclopedia.
- Industrialization, Class, and Race; Chinese and the Anti-Chinese Movement in the Late 19th-Century NorthwestFrom the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
- Tacoma History LiveA blog, connected to UWT, with stories, information, and an array of primary source materials such as historic photos.
- The Tacoma MethodCreated by students at the University of Puget Sound in 2017, this website highlights the 1885 expulsion of the Chinese from Tacoma. Includes primary and secondary sources.
- Tacoma Public Library Oral History CollectionThese oral history interviews were conducted by Ruth L. Wett as part of an oral history project sponsored by the Tacoma Public Library in 1976. Each interview provides insight into activities in various neighborhoods, the mixture of immigrant communities, and the reflections on everyday experiences living in Tacoma around the turn of the last century.
- Virtual Tour: 1885 Chinese Expulsion: Places & PeopleThis virtual exhibit "was produced by staff and volunteers from Tacoma Historical Society, in association with the Chinese Reconciliation Park Foundation, and with the support of Tacoma Creates" and features an array of Tacoma history and primary source materials
- Chinese Reconciliation Project FoundationLearn more about the 1885 Expulsion of the Chinese from Tacoma and the Reconciliation park.
- From Darkness to Light - Lihuang Wung Gives a Tour of Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park A short video from the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation
- Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation ParkThe website gives a history of the 1885 events and has additional information about the park.
The Tacoma Method & Anti-Chinese sentiment in the PNW
Featured articles
Background Articles
The articles linked below come from a couple of places. First, many are from subject-specific encyclopedias in the library's collection, and others are from online, from such websites as HistoryLink - a great PNW-focused website. They are good for finding definitions and a general overview of a topic.
- Chinese Americans - HistoryLink From HistoryLink.org
- Chinese Workers in the San Juan Islands From HistoryLink.org
- Anti-Chinese Activism — Seattle From HistoryLink.org
- "Yellow Peril" A 2014 article from Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia
- Chinese at Tacoma - Asian American Society Encyclopedia From Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Chinese in Oregon History - collection Search through this collection of articles and primary sources relating to the Chinese in the history of the PNW, primarily in Oregon - from the Oregon History Project and the Oregon Encyclopedia
- Asian Americans and the Modern Pacific Northwest From the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
- Anti-Chinese Activism — Seattle From HistoryLink.org
- Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States An introductory article and links to other resources regarding the Chinese in US History - From the National Archives
- Anti-Chinese Sentiment An excerpt from the book "Yours for Liberty: Selections From Abigail Scott Duniway's Suffrage Newspaper" from 1885.
- Chinese mining in Oregon From the Oregon Encyclopedia
- Seattle Riot (1886) From " Revolts, Protests, Demonstrations, and Rebellions in American History: An Encyclopedia"
- “The Problem of Oriental Immigration in the State of Washington,” Herbert H. Gowen A primary source document from by a "Lecturer on Oriental Literature" from the University of Washington, 1909 - from "Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia"
- “The Chinese Must Go,” but in a Reputable Way: Development, Jefferson County, and Anti-Chinese Activism, 1870–1890"A chapter from the book, " Frontier Boosters : Port Townsend and the Culture of Development in the American West"
Popular source articles
Linked below are articles from newspapers, magazines, and other popular news websites, as well as from the library's collection.
- Opera Tacoma Method takes on the violent expulsion of the Chinese population in Tacoma in 1885 A 2021 article from the International Examiner
- Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, 1943From the Office of the Historian - an overview of the repeal of the 1882 act
- How Chinese pioneers helped build the Pacific NorthwestAn article from the Washington State Magazine at WSU, includes information, links to additional resources, and moe
- Hidden history of anti-Chinese violence in Seattle "To understand what happened in Seattle in February 1886, you have to go back a few months earlier to the late summer of 1885. All over the West, whites began taking violent action to force Chinese out of their communities. Jobs were scarce. Chinese laborers, who’d been helping build the transcontinental railroad, were now looking for other employment, and were perceived as an economic threat. A new federal law, passed in 1882, legally excluded most Chinese from entering the United States."
- How Tacoma’s small Chinese community reckoned with the city’s anti-Chinese historyA 2022 article from the Seattle Times
Scholarly articles
- Inside and Outside Chinatown: Chinese Elites in Exclusion Era CaliforniaA 2011 article from the Pacific Historical Review
- Labor radicalism and the local politics of Chinese exclusion: Mayor Jacob Weisbach and the Tacoma Chinese expulsion of1885A 2019 article from the journal Labor History
- Race and Restriction: Anti-Asian Immigration Pressures in the Pacific North-west of America during the Progressive Era, 1885–1924A 2003 article from the journal History
The Tacoma Method & Anti-Chinese sentiment in the PNW
Featured videos
Linked below are films, both full documentary/education films or film segments, as well as shorter videos from the library's collection and on the web.
- 'It's almost too relevant': Tacoma mob's 1885 removal of Chinese immigrants resonates today A short video from King5 News
- American Experience: Plague at the Golden Gate - Discover how the 1900 outbreak of bubonic plague set off fear and anti-Asian sentiment in San Francisco. A fascinating medical mystery and timely examination of the relationship between the medical community, city powerbrokers and the Chinese American community, Plague at the Golden Gate tells the gripping story of the race against time to save San Francisco and the nation from the deadly plague.
- American Experience: The Chinese Exclusion Act This ~2 hour video from season 30, Episode 7, of the PBS series American Experience
- The Chinese Exclusion Act A short video from NBC News Learn
- From Darkness to Light - Lihuang Wung Gives a Tour of Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park A short video from the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation
- Of Race and reconciliation: A look at the 1885 Tacoma Chinese expulsion A video, ~1 hour, from PBS KCBT
- TED Talks: The dark history of the Chinese Exclusion Act A short video from TED Ed by Robert Chang
- Untold Stories from the Chinese Exclusion Act Files An hour+ video from the Seattle Channel, on YouTube, from 2019
The Tacoma Method & Anti-Chinese sentiment in the PNW
Featured Podcasts
- Chinese Questions on American Terror: Chevi Chung [Podcast]A 25 minute episode from podcast, That's WOW
- Tacoma’s History with Michael Sullivan – Part 1 (Early Days to Early 1900s) [Podcast]An episode from the Move to Tacoma Podcast, with Tacoma historian, Michael Sullivan
- Tacoma’s History with Michael Sullivan – Part 2 (Early 1900s to WWII) [Podcast]An episode from the Move to Tacoma Podcast, with Tacoma historian, Michael Sullivan
- Beth Lew-Williams, “The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America” [Podcast]This episode is part of the New Books in Asian American Studies series from the podcast, Asian American Studies. It includes an interview with author, Lew-Williams and their new book about the Chinese Expulsion ~1hour
- The Chinese Exclusion Act [Podcast]A ~25 minute episode of the podcast, Civics 101. The website includes a transcript of the episode as well.
Featured Books & eBooks
Click on the book, or title, below to learn more
Featured Books
Related guide
Looking for articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals?
Remember to click on the Articles in the TCC Databases tab located in this guide to see a list of suggested databases. There you can find articles about the history of the Pacific Northwest. And be sure to check the other tabs in this guide, such as the People Groups & Immigration or Trade, Industry & Transportation for more Tacoma/Pierce County-related articles on a variety of topics.
Related guide
Find additional resources on the following linked guide.
Source Citations:
“Letters of Kwang Chang Ling: The Chinese Side of the Chinese Question”. (2014). In M. Y. Danico (Ed.), Asian American Society: An Encyclopedia (Vol. 3, pp. 1100-1119). SAGE Reference. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX6500000354
Chinese? No! No! No! (Edward N. Fuller Collection, Comp.) [Handbill]. (1892). https://www.washingtonhistory.org
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