From Confinement to Community: A Chinese Family History Uncovered

Rotarian Darryl Stow introduced the featured speaker, Connie Young Yu.  Connie is a well known historian and author.  Her presentation will focus on her maternal grandmother and her paternal grandfather.  Connie is a third generation Californian, Vice President of the Akoni Foundation, and a board member of the Chinese Historical Society.

Connie's presentation, “From Confinement to Community – a family history uncovered” begins in 1861 in San Francisco at the beginning of the Civil War.  Connie showed photos of Chinatown, which was next to St. Mary’s Church.  San Francisco was pro-union and Union Square was named in support of the Union during the Civil War.  Fear of Chinese immigrants was rampant during this poor economic time as labor organizations feared for their jobs.  This was depicted with an 1870 cartoon warning of the “yellow peril”.  Chinatowns were destroyed during this time period. The Exclusion Act was approved in 1882.  This act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the US market and provided no opportunity for citizenship.

During this tumultuous time, Connie’s great-grandfather was brought over to work on the railroads.  He then opened a store. He was able to write in English. Her grandfather was born in the United States in 1873.  Connie displayed a photo of her grandfather and grandmother in 1904.  She had gathered family history from oral interviews and from a search of the federal archives.

by Cupertino Rotarian Mark Long

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