American MemoryLibrary of Congress / Ameritech Award Winner
University of California, Berkeley ( Bancroft Library, Ethnic Studies Library) and California Historical Society
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The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials. Included are photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter. These documents describe the experiences of Chinese immigrants in California, including the nature of inter-ethnic tensions. They also document the specific contributions of Chinese immigrants to commerce and business, architecture and art, agriculture and other industries, and cultural and social life in California. Chinatown in San Francisco receives special treatment as the oldest and largest community of Chinese in the United States. Also included is documentation of smaller Chinese communities throughout California, as well as material reflecting on the experiences of individuals. Although necessarily selective, such a large body of materials presents a full spectrum of representation and opinion. The materials in this online compilation are drawn from collections at The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley; The Ethnic Studies Library, University of California Berkeley; and The California Historical Society, San Francisco.
The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful to Congress and the American people and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The goal of the Library's National Digital Library Program is to offer broad public access to a wide range of historical and cultural documents as a contribution to education and lifelong learning. Digital collections from other institutions complement and enhance the Library's own resources.

The Library of Congress presents these documents as part of the record of the past. These primary historical documents reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress, the University of California, Berkeley, and California Historical Society do not endorse the views expressed in these collections, which may contain materials offensive to some readers.


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Acknowledgments


The digitization and presentation of these materials by the Bancroft Library* and the Ethnic Studies Library* at the University of California, Berkeley and the California Historical Society* was supported by an award from the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition. Links marked * lead to Web pages mounted at Berkeley.

The source materials for this collection are housed at the University of California, Berkeley and the California Historical Society. Please contact the owning institution to request reproductions. For other questions or to provide information relating to the original materials, contact the Bancroft Library Reference Desk.*


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