Ellis Island was built to process people in, and Angel Island to keep them out. Between 1910 and 1940, Chinese arrivals in San Francisco Bay were held for weeks, months and in one case more than two years, while Europeans cleared in hours. They faced interrogations about the steps to a house or the direction a village well faced, and carved classical Chinese poetry into the barracks, found in 1970 by a park ranger.
Who's who
- Alexander Weiss+1 more episodeState park ranger who found the carved poems in 1970
- George ArakiProfessor who documented the walls with a photographer
- Him Mark LaiHistorian who translated and published the poems
- Genny LimPoet who co-edited the 1980 Island anthology
- Judy YungScholar who co-edited the Island anthology
- Katharine MaurerMethodist deaconess nicknamed the Angel of Angel Island
- Kong Din QuongLongest documented detainee, about 756 days
- Quok SheeDetainee held about 600 days who fought through federal court
Where it happens
- Angel Island, San Francisco Bay+1 more episodeImmigration station that held Chinese arrivals 1910-1940
- China Cove, Angel IslandSite of the station opened in 1910
- San Francisco, California+12 more episodesCity whose destroyed records opened the paper son era
Timeline
- April 1906San Francisco earthquake destroys birth and immigration records
- January 1910Angel Island Immigration Station opens
- 1916-1918Quok Shee detained about 600 days
- August 1940Fire destroys the administration building; station closes
- May 1970Ranger Weiss finds poems carved on the barracks walls
- 1980Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island published
Still debated
Claims that a million immigrants passed through Angel Island overstate it: figures are about 550,000 arrivals through the port and about 300,000 detained on the island, roughly 100,000 of them Chinese.
