The Chinese Historical Society of America (; abbreviated CHSA) is the oldest and largest archive and history center documenting the

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

experience in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is based in the

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

neighborhood of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Exhibitions

Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco

The CHSA Museum features the set of twelve ''Gum Shan'' () paintings by Jake Lee which were originally commissioned for a private dining room in

Johnny Kan Johnny Kan (1906–1972) was a Chinese American restaurateur in Chinatown, San Francisco, ca 1950–1970. He was the owner of Johnny Kan's restaurant, which opened in 1953, and published a book on Cantonese cuisine, ''Eight Immortal Flavors'', whic ...

's eponymous restaurant, which opened in 1959. The museum also has on permanent display the large mural '' One Hundred Years: History of the Chinese in America'' by

James Leong James Chan Leong (November 27, 1929 – April 15, 2011) was an influential Chinese American artist from San Francisco, California who used his paintings to convey his struggles and revelations with racial identity. Early life Leong was born on ...

, commissioned for the Ping Yuen Housing Project in the early 1950s.

History

The CHSA was conceived in the fall of 1962 and incorporated on January 5, 1963, founded by Thomas W. Chinn, C.H. Kwock, Chingwah Lee, H.K. Wong, and Thomas W.S. Wu D.D.S. The five challenged the accepted history that excluded the contribution of Chinese immigrants to building California and the West Coast. The first permanent headquarters for the CHSA were a small building on Adler Place, which also was used as a museum. 0146 YWCA (41556218662)

Chinatown YWCA

In 1916, the first Chinatown YWCA branch was established in a former saloon at Stockton and Sacramento; the San Francisco YWCA passed a resolution in October 1929 to build a new facility on three adjacent lots bounded by Joice, Clay, and Powell. Noted architect

Julia Morgan Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...

was contracted to design the now-historic building, and after consultation with Chinese-Americans, included cultural elements from Chinese arts and crafts. The building housed the Chinatown branch of the YWCA from 1932 until it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake; the board of the YWCA decided to sell the building to the CHSA in 1996 with the help of Supervisor

Tom Hsieh Thomas Kuo Shyang Hsieh (November 17, 1931 – March 5, 2023) was a Chinese-born American politician, architect, and vineyard owner. He was San Francisco's third supervisor of Asian ancestry when he was appointed to the San Francisco Board of Sup ...

and Mayor Willie Brown. In November 2001 the CHSA relocated and opened the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum and Learning Center in the Chinatown

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

building. The

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

awarded the CHSA its National Preservation Honor Award in 2004 for its work restoring and retrofitting the 1932 building, nicknamed the "Lantern on the Hill". In 2005, CHSA received another award from the

California Heritage Council California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

for its restoration of the YWCA building .

References

External links

Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
Chinese-American museums in California Chinatown, San Francisco Historical society museums in California Museums in San Francisco Organizations based in San Francisco Museums established in 1963 San Francisco Designated Landmarks Julia Morgan buildings {{China-stub

Exhibitions

History

Chinatown YWCA

See also

References

External links