Events › The Geary Act Project: AAPINH Heritage Month

This presentation by local historian Connie Young Yu addresses the "paper trail" of Chinese exclusion and the documentation of Chinese American history. Connie will speak about the historic implications of The Geary Act of 1892 that extended the Chinese Exclusion Act and required photo-identification for all Chinese in America. She will show slides from The Geary Act Project, an on-line gallery of certificates of residence, including those submitted by descendants of Chinese pioneers.

The purpose of the Project is to reveal a hidden chapter in American history about an unconstitutional act toward a race of people, with far reaching consequences: for truth and justice, for today, for all. This program is free and open to all.

About Connie Young Yu

Connie Young Yu is a writer and independent historian dedicated to documenting America’s immigration history for over a half century. She was involved in the preservation of the immigration detention building that led to the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay becoming a national monument. She was a founding member of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) and is an Advisory Board Member and Historian for CHCP. Among her many works, she is the author of Chinatown, San Jose, USA, The Peoples Bicentennial Quilt Book and co-author of Hakone Estate and Gardens.

This Asian American Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian Heritage Month (AANHPIHM) program is co-sponsored by the Organization of Chinese American Women-Silicon Valley Chapter, The Geary Act Project, and Saratoga Library.

Logo Credit: Courtesy of The Geary Act Project.

An example of an editorial cartoon at the time:

Photo Credit

Coffin, G. Y. In Cruel Suspense: Me Go-Ee or Me Stay-Ee? Me No Sabee. , None. [Between 1880 and 1900] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2016679756/.