A Message From AIISF’s Executive Director

I know that many of us are still trying to process the senseless attacks that took place in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay during Lunar New Year as well as Tyre Nichols’ death. All of us at AIISF continue to keep all of the individuals and families who were impacted by these and other acts of violence in our hearts. 

While the perpetrators in the two shooting incidents were Asian American, there is a long history of anti-Asian xenophobia and violence in our country. In the US, there are only a few museums like Angel Island that focus on the experiences of immigrants then and now.

As we continue AIISF’s 40th anniversary this year, we want to highlight that this month also marks the 40th anniversary of the Angel Island Immigration Station opening to the public as a museum site in February 1983. Those of you who had the opportunity to visit the site back then have seen numerous changes and improvements over the years. We hope you’ll join us on Saturday, April 29th, on Angel Island for our 40th Anniversary Gala and Immigrant Heritage Awards to celebrate this milestone together in person!

I am thrilled to share that the Angel Island Immigration Museum has been selected as one of the five recipients of the 2022 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award. We deeply appreciate the partnership with Angel Island State Park, Garavaglia Architecture, and many others who were involved in the restoration and reimagination of the site’s former hospital building. We look forward to accepting this award in honor of all the AIISF staff, board, and donors across the past 40 years and in memory of all the immigrants who were processed through or detained at Angel Island.

We have two exciting programs scheduled for this month (and another Author Spotlight planned for March):

On Thursday, February 16, we are launching our Immigrant Voices Live! program. Building upon the 250+ oral histories we have already collected, we are tapping into the power of storytelling. Join us for this virtual program to hear from a few community members from across the country as they share a personal story about their experiences as an immigrant or someone of immigrant heritage.

On Saturday, February 25, in celebration of Black History Month, we are excited to host Michael Warr and Chun Yu (the co-founders of Two Languages, One Community). They will be reading a selection of their poems to explore the common experiences between African Americans and Chinese Americans.

Finally, you don't want to miss the re-staging of Lenora Lee's Within These Walls by the UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies on February 23-26!

Wishing you a safe and warm February.

40th Anniversary Gala & Immigrant Heritage Awards

Saturday, April 29, 2023 | 5 pm to 10 pm
Hosted on Angel Island

We’re excited to invite you to a very special after-hours event on Angel Island! This is a rare opportunity to see the buildings illuminated under the evening sky while also supporting AIISF.

This year’s benefit event will include…

• An evening cruise from San Francisco to Angel Island.

• Dinner al fresco in a wooded grove.

• Dessert reception at the Immigration Station.

• A night cruise back to San Francisco under the stars.

RSVP details will be available soon!

View the event page here.

2022 Governor's Historic Preservation Awards

The California Office of Historic Preservation has announced the recipients of the 2022 Governor’s Historic Preservation Awards!

Held annually, this is California’s only state-sponsored awards program and seeks to recognize citizen efforts to preserve and celebrate our collective heritage. The five awarded projects for 2022 represent the diversity and innovation of preservation work.

Awards will be presented at a ceremony in Sacramento at 1 pm on March 30, 2023.

• Angel Island Immigration Station Hospital

• First Congregational Church of Long Beach

• Old Orange County Courthouse

• Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Headquarters Building

• Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation Podcast

New Year / New Handles

Follow us on social media! You can now find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter under AIISForg. Follow the links to our different social media channels below!

FACEBOOK • www.facebook.com/AIISForg

INSTAGRAM • www.instagram.com/AIISForg

TWITTER • www.twitter.com/AIISForg

YOUTUBE • www.youtube.com/@AIISForg

LINKEDIN • www.linkedin.com/company/aiisforg

Events from AIISF

Immigrant Voices LIVE! A FREE Virtual Storyshare Event
Thursday, February 16, 2023 | 5 pm (PT) / 8 pm (ET)

RSVP HERE

Our stories are powerful. So are our voices.

We are excited to present a new virtual storyshare event called Immigrant Voices LIVE! This storyshare event builds upon the 250+ oral histories AIISF has curated over the past decade through its Immigrant Voices project. These histories represent the journeys of Angel Island immigrants and those who have immigrated more recently.

We've invited a few members of our national community to share personal stories of their experiences as an immigrant or as someone of immigrant heritage—what has made them feel unwelcome or what has made them feel like they belong.

Black History Month & Chinese New Year
Poetry Reading on Angel Island
Saturday, February 25, 2023 | 11:30 am to 3 pm

$21.00 (tram and event), $10.00 (event only)

RSVP HERE

Poets Chun Yu and Michael Warr co-founded Two Languages/One Community to exchange culture and common experiences between African Americans and Chinese Americans using poetry and translation.

You are invited to experience their poems and stories in English and Chinese at the historic Angel Island Immigration Station.

March Author Spotlight: Jessica Lander
Thursday, March 16, 2023
5:30 pm (PT) / 8:30 pm (ET)
Presented virtually on Zoom

Jessica is an award-winning teacher, writer, and author. She teaches history and civics to recent immigrant students in a Massachusetts public high school and has won numerous awards for her teaching, including being named a Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2021, presented by the Varkey Foundation, and being named a Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Finalist in 2022, presented by the Massachusetts Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Jessica is the author of Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigrant Education, a co-author of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success, and the author of Driving Backwards.

Community Event

Berkeley Dance Project 2023: Within These Walls by Lenora Lee Dance
February 23 – 26, 2023 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley
tdps.berkeley.edu/bdp23

Join the UC Berkeley Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies for a re-staging of Within These Walls, an award-winning multimedia work by Lenora Lee Dance. Inspired by the experiences of the approximately 170,000 Chinese immigrants who were processed, interrogated, or detained at the U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island between 1910 and 1940, Within These Walls serves as a meditation on healing, resilience, and compassion. 

Following acclaimed performances by Lenora Lee Dance at the Angel Island Immigration Station in 2017 and 2019, the work is being re-staged at UC Berkeley with a cast of 14 students. The production is presented in conjunction with A Year On Angel Island, a series of events, exhibitions, and courses sponsored by Berkeley Arts+Design and Future Histories Lab.

Get tickets for $10–18 at tdps.link/bdp23. Friends of AIISF can use promo code RESILIENCE for $5 off tickets (2 max per order). Enter the code in the top-right corner before adding tickets to your cart. Discounts will be applied at checkout.