Same as Our Countrymen

"Quite a large number of the Celestials have arrived among us of late, enticed thither by the golden romance that has filled the world. Scarcely a ship arrives that does not bring an increase of this worthy integer of our population. The China boys will yet vote at the same polls, study at the same schools and bow at the same altar as our countrymen."

-- Daily Alta California, May 12, 1852; Quoted by Y.C. Hong, "A Brief History of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance," 1953

 
Geary Act registration certificate, required for all people of Chinese descent.  Like most early certificates, this one is dated 1894, two years after the Geary Act, indicating Ben Wong was likely part of the mass civil disobedience protesting the racial profiling.
CHSA, Courtesy Dr. Walter M. F. Wong

 

 

 

 

    ©Chinese Historical Society of America. Exhibit Microsite Powered by Content Connie. Design by Big Blue Ox.