Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC, ) is an organization based in

Los Angeles Chinatown Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a reside ...

, California.

History

On November 1, 1975, the society held its founding meeting at Cathay Bank in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California. Its key attendees include Paul Louie, William Mason, and Paul De Falla. Its mission is as follows: *To bring together people with a mutual interest in the important history and historical role of Chinese and Chinese Americans in Southern California; *To pursue, preserve and communicate knowledge of this history; and *To promote the heritage of the Chinese and Chinese American community in support of a better appreciation of our rich, multi-cultural society. CHSSC is an active historical societies in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. There are monthly meetings, field trips, archive and library collections, oral history projects, scholarships, and publications. They purchased the site of their present building in Bernard Street in the mid 1990s, constructing a Chinatown Heritage & Visitors Center, which is open to the public.

Projects

CHSSC have published several books; ''Duty & Honor'' in 1998, celebrating Chinese American world war II veterans, and ''Portraits of Pride I'' (2004)' & ''II'' (2012), collections of the biographies of high achieving, yet little known Chinese Americans.

19th Century Chinese Memorial Shrine Preservation Project

In 1992 the society was able to purchase an 1880 shrine surrounded by 42 burial places in Evergreen Cemetery, which they restored. It is now a registered historic monument.

CHSSC Honorees

Each year the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California honors Chinese Americans who have made significant contributions to the greater Los Angeles community. They have included: * 2005 - Los Angeles Chinese American Pioneers in Law —

Betty Tom Chu Betty Tom Chu is an American lawyer, politician and banker. She is known for being the first Chinese-American woman to pass the bar admission of State Bar of California. She was also the first Chinese-American woman to be the chief executive of a ...

, Judge Rose Hom,

You Chung Hong You Chung Hong (Chinese: 洪耀宗 pinyin: Hóng Yàozōng) (May 4, 1898 – November 1977) was an American attorney and community leader who was the second Chinese American lawyer admitted to practice law in the state of California, having ...

(1898-1977), Judge Ronald S.W. Lew (Chinese name: 刘成威), Judge Jennifer Lum, Judge

Delbert Wong Delbert Wong (, May 17, 1920 – March 10, 2006) was the first judge in the continental United States of Chinese descent. Early life and education Delbert Wong was born in Hanford, California on May 17, 1920, and raised a short distance away in ...

, Debra Yang (Chinese: 楊黃金玉) * 2006 - Chinese American Actors — including

James Hong James Hong (; born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. He has worked in numerous productions in American media since the 1950s, portraying a variety of roles. With more than 650 film and television credits as of 20 ...

(Chinese: 吳漢章),

Nancy Kwan Nancy Kwan Ka-shen (; born May 19, 1939) is a Chinese-American actress, philanthropist, and former dancer. In addition to her personality and looks, her career was benefited by Hollywood's casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, especially in ...

(Chinese: 關家蒨),

Russell Wong Russell Wong (; born March 1, 1963) is an American actor of film and television. He was one of the first actors of Chinese descent to hold a leading role in a primetime American television series, portraying Jian-Wa with Chi Muoi Lo portraying ...

(Chinese: 王盛德)CHSSC 2006 Honorees
* 2007 - Los Angeles Chinese American Banking Pioneers —

Preston Martin Preston Martin (December 5, 1923 – May 30, 2007) was an American economist and banker who served as the 12th Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 1982 to 1986. Education Preston Martin graduated from the University of Southern California in ...

, F.Chow Chan, Cathay Bank (Chinese: 國泰銀行),

East West Bank East West Bank (), the primary subsidiary of East West Bancorp, Inc., is the largest publicly traded bank headquartered in Southern California, United States. It was founded in 1973 in Los Angeles to serve the Chinese American community in Sou ...

(Chinese: 華美銀行),

Far East National Bank Far East National Bank (FENB; ) was founded in 1974 by Henry Y. Hwang as the first federally chartered Asian American bank in the United States. FENB has over 600 employees and total assets exceeding US$1.7 billion. It became a wholly owned subsi ...

(Chinese:遠東國民銀行), First Public Savings,

General Bank Trust Savings A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

, Standard Bank,

Golden Security Bank Golden Security Bank was a bank headquartered in Rosemead, California Rosemead is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2021 census, it had a population of 50,245, currently dropping. Rosemead is part of a clust ...

(金安銀行),

Eastern International Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air L ...

The Continental Bank ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

* 2008 - Chinese American Associations — Arcadia Chinese Association, Chinese American Association of Walnut, Diamond Bar Chinese American Association, San Gabriel Valley Chinese American Cultural Association, San Fernando Valley Chinese Cultural Association, South Bay Chinese Woman's Association, South Coast Chinese Cultural Association, South Pasadena Chinese American Club, and Ventura County Chinese American Historical Society * 2009 - Celebrating Chinese Americans in Sports — Michael Chang (Chinese: 張德培), Tennis player;

Tiffany Chin Audrey Tiffany Chin (born October 3, 1967) is an American figure skating coach and former competitor. She is a two-time World bronze medalist (1985–1986), a two-time Skate America champion (1983, 1986), and the 1985 U.S. national champion. P ...

(Chinese: 陳婷婷), Olympian; Bob Chow, Olympian;

Norm Chow Norman Yew Heen Chow (born May 3, 1946) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Helvetic Guards in the European League of Football. He was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Ma ...

(Chinese: 周友賢), football Coach; Lawrence Hom, volleyball player; Cameron Inouye, WNBA Referee; Carol Jue, college basketball head coach;

Kim Ng Kimberly J. Ng (; born November 17, 1968) is an American executive in Major League Baseball. She is currently the general manager of the Miami Marlins and the highest-ranking female baseball executive. She is the first woman to serve as general ...

, Los Angeles Dodgers; Jon Soo Hoo, sports photographer;

Richard Tom Richard Wah Sung Tom (November 8, 1920 – February 20, 2007) was a 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 ...

, Olympian;

Charles B. Wang Charles B. Wang (; August 19, 1944 – October 21, 2018) was a Chinese-American businessman and philanthropist, who was a co-founder and CEO of Computer Associates International, Inc. (later renamed CA Technologies). He was a minority owner (and ...

(Chinese: 王嘉廉), Owner of New York Islanders Hockey Club;

Kevin Wong Kevin Kahn Wong (born September 12, 1972, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a retired professional beach volleyball player. He currently lives in Hawaii and runs a volleyball training program for youth. Personal life Wong graduated from the Punahou Sc ...

, volleyball player; Annie Yee, cheerleader; Chinese American Athletic Association; Chinatown Firecracker Run Committee. * 2019 -

Museum of Chinese in America The Museum of Chinese in America (; abbreviated MOCA) is a museum in New York City which exhibits Chinese American history. It is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education and cultural institution that presents the living history, heritage, culture, and d ...

— Participated in exhibit: Gatherings: Collecting and Documenting Chinese American History

References

External links