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Remembering Angel Island
The Chinese American Museum's Remembering Angel Island exhibition commemorates the 100th year anniversary of the opening of Angel Island Immigration Station through its history, legacy, and unforgettable stories.
Remembering Angel Island exhibition commemorates the 100th year anniversary of the opening of Angel Island Immigration Station through its history, legacy, and unforgettable stories. Constructed in 1910 in the heart of San Francisco Bay, Angel Island Immigration Station processed more than one million immigrants from over 80 countries—including 175,000 Chinese—during its 30 years of operations before burning down in 1940.
Though often nicknamed “The Ellis Island of the West,” the mission of Angel Island served an entirely different purpose than its East Coast counterpart, particularly for Chinese immigrants. The passage of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act subjected many Chinese to intense interrogation and detention on Angel Island that lasted weeks, months, and sometimes even years. The ordeal of this experience left an indelible mark in the lives of Chinese immigrants that forever changed the course of America’s history.
Remembering Angel Island provides a bracing look into the hope and heartache of this seminal chapter of America’s immigrant history through historic photographs, a reproduction of a poem carved on the barracks of Angel Island, coaching papers, artifacts, and a multi-media station featuring a mock interrogation and personal stories of those who endured or were profoundly affected by the Angel Island experience.
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