Standing up for Chinese merchants in the 1880s

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Grant Din shared on chineseamericanfamilyhistory https://groups.io/g/chineseamericanfamilyhistory this article from Alyssa Bentz

Standing up for Chinese merchants in the 1880s

Hello everyone-
I stumbled upon a webpage from Wells Fargo that talks about the bank standing up for Chinese merchants even after the exclusion acts were passed. It’s written by Alyssa Bentz, corporate historian for the bank. I contacted her because I was wondering if a tinshop in SF Chinatown where my great-great grandfather worked from about 1884 to 1899 (according to his son’s NARA file) was in there and sure enough it is. The book, called 1882 Directory of Chinese Business Houses, includes Chinese businesses in SF, Oakland, San Jose, LA, Sacramento, Stockton, Marysville, Portland, Virginia City, NV, Victoria, BC, and Denver.

Hello everyone-
I stumbled upon a webpage from Wells Fargo that talks about the bank standing up for Chinese merchants even after the exclusion acts were passed. It’s written by Alyssa Bentz, corporate historian for the bank. I contacted her because I was wondering if a tinshop in SF Chinatown where my great-great grandfather worked from about 1884 to 1899 (according to his son’s NARA file) was in there and sure enough it is. The book, called 1882 Directory of Chinese Business Houses, includes Chinese businesses in SF, Oakland, San Jose, LA, Sacramento, Stockton, Marysville, Portland, Virginia City, NV, Victoria, BC, and Denver.

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Alyssa told me that I should feel free to pass it along to anyone who might be interested. Please feel free to download it from my cloud storage (it’s 36 megs).

The California Historical Society also has an original copy of this book as well as the one from 1878, but they aren’t available to view in person during the latest shelter in place. Here’s a link to their online database.

Grant

—
Grant Din(he/him)Nonprofit, research, and genealogy consulting
grant@tonaidin.net
www.tonaidin.net
cell 510-499-7328

This is now in our Resources tab under IV. Researching American Documents 5. Standing up for Chinese Merchants

Help Wanted

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doug's post image

Looking for volunteer with librarian mentality to organize, update, and categorize our Resources click .

  • HTML and WordPress knowledge is appreciated but not necessary.
  • No requirement to generate content. Merely to keep the table of contents organized
  • Checking the Resources page once every 1-2 months should be enough for our current volume of content generation
  • No need to attend to the other categories.
  • If you want on a one time basis to organize the Resource page, and then not be involved, this would be helpful.

Email me bacgg.doug@gmail.com or leave a comment below and I will ping you.

Bystander Intervention PSA

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Learn more about bystander intervention. Attend a free ihollaback online training

https://www.ihollaback.org/harassmenttraining/

BYSTANDER INTERVENTION TRAININGS

Hollaback! teaches bystander intervention using our proven 5D’s methodology: Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct. Exit polls show that 99% of people we train leave confident they will intervene next time they witness disrespect or harassment. Here are specific trainings in this space that we offer:

Sign up for a free Guide to Bystander Invention https://www.ihollaback.org/

View the CHSA recorded American Chinese Restaurants program

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If you missed the CHSA American Chinese Restaurants! program live, the recording is now available! Click here to watch!

Please support CHSA and your local Chinatowns. Please send local resources to CHSA so we can add them to our resources toolkit.

We hope you can join CHSA for our next program, Ching Ling Foo: America’s First Chinese Superstar! Sat, March 20, 2021 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM PDT

Chien-Shiung Wu Commemorative Forever® Stamp First

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Thank you for your interest in the virtual First Day of Issue Ceremony for the Chien-Shiung Wu Commemorative Forever® Stamp. This virtual ceremony will be carried on the Postal Service’s social media channels, Facebook and Twitter. The USPS video is longer available.

Do click on the start triangle to view a video about Chien-Shiung Wu video below.

Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) was a Chinese immigrant who became a nuclear physicist in an almost entirely male-dominated field in the 1950s. She worked with Oppenheimer and Fermi on the Manhattan Project, helping develop the method for separating nonfissionable uranium 238 from fissionable U-235—the bomb’s key fuel. Her experiment on the non-conservation of parity disproved a fundamental law of physics that had been considered incontrovertible for 30 years. The male theoretical physicists she worked with were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1957, but she did not get the award this time, nor for earlier work on Beta decay that was also considered Nobel-worthy. She was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978. Her expertise in experimental physics evoked comparisons to Marie Curie. She’s one of only two individuals being honored with stamps this year, and in a year that the USPS is honoring Asian-American achievement. The art for her stamp was done by Asian-American painter Kam Mak.

$25 Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group 2021 Membership

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Dear BACGG Family

I hope 2021 finds you healthy, and looking forward to new BACGG programs. Our potlucks at the Family History Center are sorely missed. But the biggest loss due to COVID, was being and bonding as a genealogy family. Missed are the live sharing of stories and family history.

It is time to sign up for your 2021 membership, of $25, payable by Feb 11, the day before Chinese New Years when you traditionally pay your debts. Please consider continuing your membership and supporting BACGG with $25 online by Paypal, Zelle, Apple Pay, credit card using Square, google payment or Venmo at:  https://bacgg.org/index.php/due/   Or, you may send a check written to BACGG, 4391 26th St., San Francisco, CA, 94131-1809.  BACGG is not a nonprofit organization and your payment is not tax deductible. 

It looks like we will not be meeting live in the near term, so you probably asking why should I continue being a member? Well, it actually costs us more to run BACGG remotely due to technology costs, rather than live. BACGG cannot survive without your support as we are a 100% all volunteer organization. 

Here are some of the things we delivered in 2020, despite COVID.

New BACGG Website (bacgg.org). We had 10,033 logins viewing 19,893 pages for news, new programs and family history research tips.

1 Live Event, and 6 Webinars covering Chinese New Year, Family Associations, Chinese Night Clubs, Operation: WWII Chinese American GI, and how to use Census / Vital Records data to find your past.

Networking. Through the BACGG network, members have helped members overcome genealogy roadblocks.

Power in Partnerships. BACGG partnered with the Chinese Historical Society of America and Chinese Historical and Cultural Project resulting in our most successful webinar ever, honoring WWII Veterans with 1500 participants online!  100% of the support you made to our webinars went directly to our partners to help pay for the sessions. Thank you for helping keep us solvent.

OK, so what is in it for me in 2021?  We only have a limited number of seats available in our webinars. As a byproduct of doing online sessions, our program participation capacity spreads far beyond our original live Bay Area roots. So as a benefit of being a member, you get first right of refusal to a seat in all our programs and projects. 

Paying members are offered webinar seats first, with any remaining offered to nonmembers. Paying members also can participate in programs like posting a WWII Veteran Remembrance, https://bacgg.org/index.php/ww2-rememberances/ .  

Although 2021 is still in the planning process, we have great plans to kickoff the new year.

  • February. The year of the Ox is fast approaching. Last year David Lei shared the history of how to prepare for the new year, but did you actually follow through? Watch for announcements to help you get ready for the new year of the Ox.    
  • April. Still in the planning process, but we are working out the details for a special program to potentially include an Angel Island Immigration Center virtual tour, and a presentation on its genealogical relevance to our family history .
  • and more to come with your continuous input!

It does not go without saying that BACGG is only as good as its team. So I would like to thank the volunteer Planning Committee, Gail Chong, Jeannie Young, Leona Lau, Bruce Chin, Doug Joe and our newest member Al Low. Plus all those of you who have contributed in posting BACGG web updates. 

If you would like to assist with planning our activities, or have speakers / topics you wish to hear, please contact me.
It has been an honor to serve as Executive Director from BACGG’s inception through 2021. I look forward to “seeing” you all soon.

Until then, be well. Be safe.
\r

Ron Chan   陳光宗 , Executive Director, Bay Area Chinese Genealogy Group

Discover Your Story at RootsTech Connect – Free Registration

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https://whttps://www.rootstech.org/rootstech-connect-2021-registration?lang=engww.rootstech.org/?lang=eng

Join the world’s largest family celebration for free to unlock your family’s history and learn how to preserve the stories of your life.

25 – 27 FEBRUARY, 2021

Introducing RootsTech Connect: A Free Online Conference Experience

For the first time ever, the world’s largest family celebration event will be entirely virtual and completely free. Get ready to celebrate shared connections with people from around the world. Connect with friends, your family, your past, and your heritage and homelands—all from the comfort of your home and in your browser.

Celebrity Keynote Speakers

Keynotes are a huge part of RootsTech events. They deliver messages of inspiration and hope. Stay tuned for the full lineup of keynote speakers to be announced soon.

Virtual Marketplace

The virtual Marketplace will be the perfect place to see the latest innovations, interact with companies from around the world, and find answers and resources to aid you in your work. Plus, get real-time help via video or live chat!

Cultural Activities

Celebrate the world’s cultures with activities such as homeland cooking demonstrations, yoga, and music from around the world. These experiences will be available throughout the online event and on demand.

Connect with Family from Anywhere

Finding cousins and interacting with other attendees is an important part of the RootsTech model. Enjoy exclusive opportunities to chat with other attendees through various messaging boards, social media interactions, and video chats.