Just off the Point of Tiburon in the San Francisco Bay, there’s an old barracks full of dark stories. They’re stories of ill-treatment and unnecessary incarceration. The words aren’t written on paper, but carved on wooden walls, only to be painted over many times. The stories are those of men, women, and children waiting to leave the Angel Island Immigration Station. Today, Angel Island is managed by California State Parks, but from 1910 to 1940, the federal government detained thousands of immigrants at that location.
Read MoreIn the mid-to-late 1800s, as German, Irish and Chinese immigrants began to arrive on American shores, Asian immigrants were singled out in the Page Act of 1875 and later the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Read MoreThis is the California we’ve been pining for — 40 summer destinations that call to us loudly in good times and bad. If you’re getting to know California, these 40 are great places to begin. But we’ve tried to make this list more than a starter kit. Even if you’re an old hand, there will be destinations that you’ve missed, and I’ve added a pro tip to every destination. Now let’s get back on the road.
Read MoreA new study says that anti-Asian hate crimes have increased in 16 of the nation's largest cities and counties by 164% this past year. All of this violence has highlighted the need for Asian American and Pacific Islander stories to be heard. Fortunately, all Americans have plenty of opportunities to listen and learn at historical sites throughout the United States.
Read MoreEd Tepporn, executive director of Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, joins KTVU to talk about the significance of the island, which was used to detain and interrogate Asian immigrants.
Read MoreTo celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, as well as to draw more attention to these landmarks, the U.S. National Park Service has curated an itinerary of national parks and historic places that recognize the important roles that those from the AAPI community have played.
Read MoreWith the Blue & Gold Fleet possibly ending its ferry service from San Francisco to Angel Island, Supervisor Gordon Mar on Tuesday called for a resolution supporting continued service to the island to honor the estimated one million immigrants who were once detained there.
Read MoreThough it’s less frequently discussed in history classes than its New York counterpart, Angel Island in San Francisco Bay was often described as the “Ellis Island of the West”—and it was there that thousands of would-be immigrants of Asian and Mexican descent were turned away, and where life in the U.S. began for the few who did enter.
Read MoreOver the past year, we have all witnessed the increasing acts of hate and violence against Asian Americans, particularly against women and the elderly. Some have tried to cast these incidents as a new trend. Yet, for those of us who identify as part of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) diaspora, we are quite familiar with the longstanding discrimination and violence experienced by our communities.
Read MoreI never met my grandfather, Lui Lee. First name Lee. Last name Lui. He came to the United States as a teenager, having grown up as a poor farmer in Southern China. His family saved up money so their son could go to the golden mountain — America. When he passed through the foggy Golden Gate strait of San Francisco on the SS Asia in the early 1900s — the big red bridge wouldn’t be built until decades later — just the choppy, cold waters of the bay greeted him. He hit landfall at the U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island.
Read MoreUnder the lush, rolling hills and waterfront views of Angel Island lies a history less suitable for photos: the story of thousands of immigrants, many of them arriving from China, who were detained and often subjected to traumatizing treatment on their journey to the United States. That history is set to become less accessible, local history experts and advocates say, with the proposed termination of the ferry route from San Francisco to Angel Island from Blue & Gold Fleet.
Read MoreAngel Island in the San Francisco Bay draws sightseers and hikers to its picturesque shores but, until very recently, its darker history of Japanese internment history eluded even the island’s park rangers and tour guides. This Bay Curious story reveals how 700 West Coast Japanese residents, mostly from Hawaii, were interned here in the early 1940s, and how one family's own history intertwines with this place's secrets.
Read MoreAs we face an intense election this week, we need all the motivation we can get to keep fighting and stay hopeful for the future. One thing that helps me do that is taking a look at the past and paying homage to our communities’ pioneers.
Read MoreThe Berkeley City Council voted unanimously to approve renaming a street "Kala Bagai Way" after an Angel Island immigrant who was discriminated against in Berkeley.
Read MoreFor Casey Dexter-Lee, it’s hard to put her love for Angel Island State Park into words. It’s where she met and married her husband, James, and the place she’s called home for 20 years. For her longtime work and contributions, she was recently awarded the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s Spirit of Angel Island award.
Read MoreUntil very recently, Angel Island’s Japanese internment history eluded even the island’s park rangers and tour guides. I met with Grant Din, a researcher and former volunteer with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, who is virtually the only expert on the topic.
Read MoreSenator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and 21 of their Senate colleagues to introduce a resolution in honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month this May, noting the significant contributions to our nation made by generations of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Read MoreNew Tech High School teacher Nancy Hale explains, “In Ethnic Studies (an English class of students from 10th-12th grades) we studied the treatment of Chinese immigrating to the United States. We read some of the poems of the Chinese who were imprisoned on Angel Island awaiting their fate in the wonderful book ‘Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island 1910-1940’”
Read MorePremiering Monday on PBS, “Asian Americans,” a five-part special, is considered to be the most ambitious documentary project ever to chronicle the history of the Asian-American community. Its debut also couldn’t be more timely, considering that the month of May is Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.
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