Welcome back. Im excited to talk to you today because so many of us as americans grew up learning about the history of immigration to ellis island. Its often told is a very uplifting and romantic story where immigrants become americans. Not many of us know the history of immigration through angel island. This is in San Francisco. Its an important site for not only what happens back then in the early 20 century, because it is timely today. When we kick up any newspaper we see headlines like this. Does anyone know what some of these headlines are referring to . Right. This would halt their deportation. This is a controversial action right now. They believe that this executive action exceeds the president s of authority. We know that this is just the latest in our nations immigration debate. There doesnt seem to be an end in sight. How do we consider this immigration debate with what we have been talking about recently . Immigration through ellis island . That story of european immigrants coming to new york passing through ellis island certainly there were examinations, there were physicals. There was some detention, but it was primarily pretty shortlived and most immigrants were admitted pretty easily into the country. Not only that, but this story has taken on a myth of its own. It is the bedrock of this idea that the u. S. Is a nation of immigrants. How do we reconcile this great immigration debate that is going on today and then this idea that we are a nation of immigrants . I think one of the ways that we can think about this constituted complicated history of immigration is through looking at immigration through angel island. Because we know that not all immigrants were welcomed into the country. Not all immigrants were able to achieve their american dreams. But rather, we picked and sifted and chose which immigrants to let in and which immigrants to let out. To keep out. Many times, this really was dependent upon an immigrants race, ethnicity, gender, class this idea of who is fit to become a citizen and who is not. This is the history that is best exemplified through immigration through angel island. This is in the San Francisco bay. It is the other island in the San Francisco bay that is now california state park. So, the immigration station on angel island was open from 1910 until 1940. We primarily think about it as an entry point for immigrants from china and japan. Two thirds of the immigrants who did come through angel island were from those two countries. As you can see, there are over 80 countries represented for the immigration stream that came through angel island according to our research. It ranged from places like denmark, French Indochina to south africa, spain, switzerland. There were people who came south from canada and north from south america. This is a photograph of the Administration Building on angel island. When immigrants would dock, they would land on a. Would land on a pier and go up this and this is the first site they would see. There are three entrances here. Racial segregation was the order of the day. There was an entrance for employees, for whites, and for asians. Within that Administration Building, there were separate waiting areas as well. At all times, the different groups were segregated from each other through this Administration Building. So, when we compare to ellis island, ellis island is primarily enforcing laws that relate to immigrants from europe. It is in new york and most of the immigrants coming over are coming from the atlantic. Angel island is situated in San Francisco. It is primarily enforcing laws that are targeting asia and asian immigrants and the laws are very, very different. While ellis island is an mostly processing center, angel island is a place of interrogation, health examinations, and detention. This history is not as wellknown, but it is important because it helped shape our modern immigration system. Lets take a look at who these agent immigrants were. When we think about this great era of immigration, there are two great eras of immigration. One is the one we are living in today and the other is around the turn of the century from 18301930. There are 35 Million Immigrants who come during this century of migration. The vast majority are from europe. This is about one Million Immigrants from asia and another one million come from latin america. In the big picture, this is just a drop in the bucket, right . One million out of 35 million who are coming. It is pretty diverse. There are about 450,000 chinese, the largest group. There is also 380,000 japanese. 150,000 filipinos. 70009000 koreans and south asians. South asia is the term that was used to describe immigrants from india, pakistan, and then was d and bond withangladesh. Remember, theres only one million of them but asia and immigration helps to ignite some of our most divisive immigration debates. Who were these immigrants . The chinese they are like the european immigrants that we study. They are mostly young, male laborers. They want to come to the u. S. They think their stay is temporary, they will make money, return home. That is why they come alone, even if they are married. They tend to leave their wives and children behind. Over the years, they decide eventually that they would like to stay in the u. S. So they start calling for their family members. Similarly, the japanese are also male laborers. Remember, this is a time when immigrants are needed for their labor. It is for railroad building, agricultural work, Light Industry in the streets. Japanese are also male laborers. They are more educated than some of the other agent immigrants because of education in japan. They also come thinking they will stay only temporarily but over time, again, like the chinese, they decide the u. S. Is worth settling down in and they start calling for their wives to come as well. By world war ii, the japaneseamerican population is such that there is really a great proportion of usborn children. This is very different from the other groups. The immigrants you are coming from south asia are really extremely diverse. There is a mixture of hindus muslims, but primarily they are from one area which is presentday india and pakistan. There are both male laborers but increasingly, there are a lot of students coming over. One of the things that makes this group pretty unique is that this is a time of intense indian nationalism and the immigrants coming over are very much a part of the nationalist movement. Koreans are a small group because it japan has colonized korea by this time. Japan is very much controlling who goes in and who leaves the country. Only a small number of koreans are coming over to the u. S. Primarily to the west coast and hawaii. They also are coming for work but more so than other groups. They really see themselves as refugees. Similarly to the russian jews we were studying last week. They are fleeing japanese colonialism. Korean language was banned newspapers were banned. There was a lot of surveillance. They see themselves as refugees fleeing their homeland. Potentially, staying away for a long time. They come as a families. One of the other things that makes them unique or different from other asian immigrants groups is that they are often christian because of the role of u. S. Missionaries in korea at this time. It is a Diverse Group of people coming. The last group are filipinos. They are coming as male laborers but again, what makes them unique is that they are coming as a totally different immigrant status and not as an immigrant status. The philippines have been colonized by the u. S. When they migrate, they migrate as u. S. Nationals. This is a different legal category. They are not subjected to immigration laws, which is important. It is every other immigrant group they can come without interrogations and inspections. They have seen themselves as americans. They have grown up with american culture, teachers, believing about the glory and riches of america. They believe they are coming to another part of the country, that they are already americans. But, they are unequal in status. U. S. Nationals allows them to migrate but they are not citizens. They cannot vote. When they come, they often face a lot of surprising antiasian sentiments. When they come, they set in motion the reaction that americans have to them it sets in motion some of the most divisive immigration debates we have ever had in this country. This may be surprising to many people because today, when we talk about asianamericans, we talk about the popular understandings that they are on the rise. What is the stereotypes of asianamericans . They are smart. What else . They are a particular type of minority. Do you remember the term . They are the model minority. Prof. Lee what does that mean . Out of all marginalized groups, they are exemplary and constitute a narrative that the rest of marginalized people should subscribe to. Prof. Lee so they can succeed they can achieve economic, academic success and they do sell on their on without government programs. Asianamericans are the model minority. That is the stereotypes today. It may be surprising in the early 20th century, they were considered not only undesirable immigrants but also foreigners to such a degree that the u. S. Wanted to not only reduce their numbers but exclude them altogether. Historians describe this power of antiasian sentiment with this quote. The presence of asians on american soil highlighted fundamental cleavages. Meaning they were the first noneuropean immigrant group to come in such great numbers. They came at a time that there was class tensions, changing race relations, this was postcivil war, post reconstruction. These ideas about what does it mean to be an american, to be free, to be a worker, what rights do we have . And what is the role of the u. S. In the world . All of these things are ripe with all of these massive changes in american society. Some of the ways that antiasia n sentiment plays out is through prejudice, bias, prejudgment , economic discrimination, political disenfranchisement. Remember the nationalization act that said only free white persons can become citizens . Already, agent immigrants are barred from becoming natural citizens. Physical violence. Immigration exclusion, which is what we will be talking about mostly today. Social segregation. You cannot join certain clubs, live in areas. During world war ii, incarceration. The Mass Relocation and incarceration of japanese americans. What did this look like in person . What did this look like in reality and on the ground . This is a cartoon from 1881 in San Francisco. It is from a magazine called the lost. I am going to ask you to tell me what you see. What is this cartoon telling us about what americans think about chinese immigration at this time . Yes. Well, it appears to be a sort of a reaction to what is perceived as overwhelming numbers of chinese immigrants and it is macabre of the statue of liberty but it is this image of conquest because it is standing on a skull. It is clearly a chinese man due to the long braid. It is definitely this sort of era image of new york. Prof. Lee good. What is the title of the cartoon . A statue for our harbor. Prof. Lee right. In San Francisco as opposed to new york. In new york, they have a statue of liberty welcoming european immigrants. In San Francisco, this is what our statue would be if we allow chinese immigration to come without restrictions. A couple things that jeremy just mentioned. We can recognize this as a chinese male. He has this long hairstyle. This hairstyle was mandated by an empire, but in the u. S. It , became a sign of femininity, exotic , sub humanness. He is wearing robes. They are very tattered. This is not the classical greek figure. It has no dignity. He is standing on a skull, meaning that he is bringing ruin. Does anyone see what he is holding in his left hand . Joy. And opium pipe . Prof. Lee yes. Another symbol of the vice of chinese immigration. They are bringing drugs and immorality. There is rioting emanating from the writing emanating from the ring around his head. Can you see what that is . It is hard to see from the middle. The bottom right is filth. What else . Immorality. Prof. Lee good. Up on top . Disease. Prof. Lee disease. We are reading right to left as the chinese would. This one says ruin. Can anyone point out those last two . Ruin to white labor. Prof. Lee right. So, chinese immigration is bringing filth, immorality disease to white labor. It is catastrophic to San Francisco, to california. The foundation of the statue is crumbling. The ships coming are capsizing. The moon has slanted eyes and the moon in the background has slanted eyes. This is the future of california, the future of the u. S. This is not an outlier. This is not a far right or far left or extreme example about this antiimmigrant sentiment. This is one of the most well respected, well read illustrated magazines in the late 19th century. What is the effect of some of this popular sentiment . One is through violence. There are countless episodes of the chinese being driven out literally with mobs driving them out of small towns like eureka california as well as big cities like tacoma and seattle. This is an illustration of one of the wellknown incidents, the massacre of chinese at rock springs, wyoming in september, 1885. It happened around a mining incident. Some of the white workers and Chinese Workers were debating whether they wanted to go on strike. The white workers went on strike, the chinese decided not to and the white workers drove them out after inflicting massive violence on this group. There are about 28 who are killed. 15 wounded and hundreds are driven out into the outlying areas. This is some of the sentiment that is shaping chinese immigration but one of the really fascinating aspects of this history is remember how diverse all those agent immigrants groups were . 202 7488000 never the less, one this idea of chinese immigrants as being a threat to the u. S. A class threat, a racial threat, and economic threat it became attached to other immigrant groups as well. The newspapers would say chinese excluded but now we have a japanese problem. Or, now the hindus are coming. They kept on calling them another invasion. It kind of got a little ridiculous because there was the second is the attic asiatic invasion and the second and it became this typology that was framing the threat of asia and immigration. It had very real consequences. On the left is a newspaper clipping from the york times New York Times in 1907. This is more troubling, i think. This is a private letter that was sent to a townsman in california. It was collected and archived at the uc berkeley archives. This is from the 1930s. A threat to expel the filipinos or they would inflict violence on the town. Japanese immigration perhaps invoked a more broadscale and Even International concern will which was called the yellow peril. One element was the familiar refrain japanese immigrants were racially inferior, they were taking away jobs, they were mixing with whites. The second aspect more unique to japan and japans rising power in the world. They are an empire. They defeated russia in 1904. They have colonized korea. There is this idea of an agent asian empire that is infusing that antijapanese sentiment with even greater force. They are even more of a danger because those japanese emigrant farmers picking your strawberries may be the first advance guard from a colonizing japan. This was the rhetoric in the 1920s and 30s. Japanese immigrants in california, hawaii, oregon, and washington were soldiers in disguise and would be ready to do this. Anyone recognize the artist . Dr. Seuss. What does this say . What does this mean to you . 1942. That day is significant. There is an element of malfeasance and premeditation with the coming of the japanese. The cartoon implies they have some sort of connection with the government of their country of origin and their willing to act on the desires of that government should they be called to do so. Prof. Lee how so . What are they going to do . Blow up something. The little boxes they are carrying say tnt so it is assumed they will do some sort of damage. Prof. Lee what about the ways in which they are drawn, the number of them . There are a number of them in a variety of different cloaks. In a different clothing but all of the faces are the same and that perpetuates the stereotype that all asians look the same. It also speaks to the stereotype that the japanese act as a unit. They are uniform and that only contributes to this militarizing portrayal of the japanese. Prof. Lee good. Remember the statue for our harbor . What was the chinese guy wearing . Was he wearing typical western dress . He was wearing really tattered robes. Prof. Lee yes. He was wearing robes. Either you could read it as he is wearing classical greek robes like the statue of liberty but they got tattered or chinese robes. These japanese immigrants are wearing western suits. They are assimilated to a degree. They are westernized to a degree, which makes them even more of a threat because you cannot tell that they are really the enemy within. You cannot tell they are not loyal but in fact, deep down inside, they are just waiting for the signal from home. They are up and down the Pacific Coast. It is almost like a homing beacon. The signal from home is coming. This guy is looking across the pacific waiting for it. Pearl harbor has come and now it is time to cause even more damage from within. There are various different types of antiasian sentiments. All of them at their root describe asian immigrants as not american, always asian. Immigrants that are dangerous and cannot be assimilated. Dangersous for several different reasons, but for the japanese, it is about national security. Then we know that by 1942, japaneseamericans up and down the west coast are forcibly removed. There are Exclusion Orders posted at every street corner. They are ordering anyone with japanese ancestry to remove themselves. They are barred from living in those areas. And to assemble at various Different Assembly centers where they will be incarcerated for the duration of the war at several camps throughout the u. S. This is one of the ways in which this asia and immigration story ends. Before we get to that, we want to consider the other aspects. The other paths. That path was barring new immigrants from coming over. You have been reading a lot about chinese exclusion. The first act being passed in 1882. What are some of the things that this act does . The name kind of says it all right . But not everything. Who is excluded . All chinese immigrants aside from anyone who is a merchant or the children of a nativeborn citizen. Prof. Lee good. Some are excluded but there are certain provisions. The main group excluded are chinese laborers. At the very beginning, the exclusion act just says for 10 years. It is like an incremental step. Chinese laborers are excluded but there are exempt classes. Teachers, students, travelers, merchants, and diplomats. It is not only racially based, it is classbased. It is those who want to learn about the u. S. , it is those who want to visit the u. S. And spend money here, it is those two are who are engaged in international trade. Again, u. S. China relationships, and economic trade, and of course, diplomats. Those who are the bulk, the vast majority of chinese, laborers, are barred. It is important because this is the very first time in u. S. History that we bar a Group Wholesale based on race. Remember when we were talking about the irish immigration and the anticatholic movement and how even the know Nothing Party that had a National Platform they never went so far as to advocate for restriction. They wanted longer times for nationalization. They never said we are going to close the gates. This time, the u. S. Does do that. And it doesnt just last for 10 years. It gets renewed in 1892 and it is made permanent in 1904. It isnt until 50 years ago that we banned discrimination in immigration law. It lasted a long time and has a lot of repercussions. The chinese exclusion act is the First Step Towards closing the gates to asian immigration but it would not be the last. This is the irony. Chinese laborers are barred but this is a time when 32 million europeans are still coming over and labor is still needed. As soon as chinese exclusion has passed, japanese immigration increases because they are still needed in the farms and plantations. Again, that familiar pattern of antiasian sentiment kicks into gear and by 1908, we also prohibit japanese laborers. We do not dare call this a japanese exclusion act because we dont want to bother japan. Japan we think of as an equal nation and we pressure through our diplomatic channels to have a diplomatic agreement be reached. We call it a gentlemans agreement as if it was mutually agreed upon by two equal nations. Japanese laborers are prohibited by 1908. You barred japanese laborers the immigration from south asia starts to increase. The u. S. Feels like it has another Immigration Crisis on hand so the 1970s immigration act decides to take a little more of a drastic approach and basically draws an entire red line throughout all of asia and calls it the barred zone. Its aim is that prohibiting south asians. There were only 8000 coming but still, this law institutes these new restrictions. The 1924 immigration act also has a blanket exclusion. The one group not covered under this zone is japan. Even though laborers were barred , others were not. Students were coming over but especially women. 1924 immigration act is to close those loopholes on japanese immigration. Then the last group left are filipinos. The only way to bar filipinos from coming to the country is ironically by granting the philippines independence because the philippines is a colony. You cannot ban a colonial subject from going to one part of the empire to another. We have this really odd coalition of filipino nationalists eager for independence and antiasian exclusiveness. They come together and decide this is how we can achieve our goals. We will grant nominal independence to the philippines and by doing that, they will no longer be u. S. Nationals but instead, they will be aliens. They will be foreigners immigrants. They will then be subjected to immigration laws. You go from really largescale immigration from the philippines to a quota that only gives them 50 slots per year. These are the laws. The u. S. Has a problem. These laws are transformative. We have never done this before. We are not sure how to enforce immigration laws. For example, with the 1882 chinese exclusion act, we passed this law in may, ships are coming to San Francisco and the immigration officials who are really Customs Officials who have just been told in addition to counting the barrels of cotton that are coming on that ship, youre also supposed to enforce these new laws. These officials are throwing their hands up and kind of saying what what are these laws and what do you want us to do with them . Lets take the case of chinese merchants. They can still come. A ship load of immigrants comes to the bay. Customs officials goes to the ship. Which one are laborers and which are merchants . How do they determine . This is the beginning of immigration documents, immigration interrogation. What happens if the case is really complicated. Witnesses are probably not waiting. You probably have to send someone to get them and this takes time. Very soon after these laws are passed, the u. S. Government realizes we dont really know what we are doing just get. Prof. Lee just yet we have. We have these immigrants come in these examinations are taking longer than we thought. We have nowhere to put them. At the beginning, they kept them on the ships. The ship captain would say its all well and good that you are using my ship as a detention center, but i have to go back. I am was scheduled to go back across the pacific to pick up more passengers. They would move them to another ship and observers talk about the San Francisco bay having these ships in the bay that are basically immigrant detention centers. To solve this problem, there was a small detention shed they get built in the 1890s. It is crowded him it is a fire hazard, it is also not escape proof. The government allocates money to build into island immigration system on island, hard to get to, hard to leave and they call it the ellis island of the west. Some of the newspapers from that time are talking about how it is this beautiful resort and immigrants will be so lucky to spend days under the palm trees that these stations have. But we know that did not turn out to be the case. Here is another irony of this time. We have passed immigration laws but immigrants still keep coming. This is not unlike what our contemporary immigration pattern is. This is why we have an undocumented immigration system. Even though the gates have been built, immigrants still want to come to the u. S. So, there are several different reasons. We have to understand that during this time, there is a lot of stuff going on in china. Those push factors that we often talk about with immigration. There is civil unrest, famine, growing numbers of people, a population explosion like we were talking about with southern and eastern europe, and especially european and american powers are in china at this time. They are instituting unequal economic treaties, they are trying to gain more power, especially in this region that is just north of hong kong. By the time angel island opens up, it is 1910. The chinese have been coming for 60 years and families have become dependent on immigration as a form of economic survival. They are still dependent on migration to the u. S. How do they get around the law is the question for them. And, there is this revolution in transportation. The steamships are getting faster, they are bigger, and fares are cheaper. At the same time that the laws are being taxed, you have steamship agents go into countrysides saying i can get you there for this much and the business is still being drummed up. The irony again is that you have laws that are restricting one group but the u. S. Still needs immigrant labor and we know this because the millions of the europeans are still coming unrestricted. There are some chinese immigrant groups that we know can still come merchants, u. S. Citizens. The gate is not totally close. All of this leads up to the fact that chinese either try to come in through those restricted openings or they try to find other ways of coming in and this is why we call chinese immigrants the first undocumented immigrants. About 100,000 still come during the time angel island is open. 100,000 come through angel island during the 30 years it is open. This is an interview, an excerpt from one of the interviews you have in your book. He says the chinese were kind of forced to come. Would you mind reading this aloud for us . We didnt want to come in illegally but we were forced to because of the immigration laws. They picked on the chinese. If we told the truth, it didnt work. We had to take a crooked path. Prof. Lee what is the crooked path . What is the crooked path he is talking about . Was it paying for sons and daughters . Prof. Lee explain that for us. They would have a family friend or someone they knew that would tell immigration that they were family members and they had to provide a piece of paper. Prof. Lee they were sons or daughters only by paper and they were getting and under those exempt classes that still allowed the sons or children of a merchant or u. S. Citizen to come. Ok. Does anyone recognize this photo or can imagine . What is it . I really like this photo. Because of an order to pass interrogation of immigrants, they had to study their notes because they would go through extensive questioning with really difficult questions. In order to get a note to the immigrant, sometimes it would be smuggled to them into food like bananas. One of the stories also spoke about how the kitchen staff would help to pass notes because they would go into the city to get food and when they would come back, they would hand notes to wherever it belonged to. Prof. Lee they would provide the answers to some of the interrogations. I have seen notes crumpled up into peanuts. Also oranges. Think about your best efforts at passing a test and these strategies. This is a government exhibit. Immigration officials found this banana and these notes and took a picture of it. You can see it all laid out. They sent it back to d. C. As proof of the conditions of chinese immigration at this time and the typewritten text says the admissibility of some chinese persons to the u. S. Is dependent upon the relationship to other chinese already resident in the country. One of the test of the relationship claims a comparison of the statements of the applicant and the allowed relatives separately on matters that would be Common Knowledge between them. The two interrogations of the applicant and the applicants relatives. They compare the questions and answers. The exhibits here illustrate one of the methods adopted by alleged relatives to coach information to applicants. Contemplated to make their testimony agree with that given by the alleged relatives. The chinese letters or wheere transmitted in a banana. Here is the letter on the left and on the right is literally a map of the village with every resident and detail of their shared village so they could answer the questions. These were transmitted in the banana as shown but the trick was discovered before the fruit was given to the applicant. So, this is some of the consequences of chinese immigration during the exclusion era. These interrogations, the coaching notes, and also things like this. This is a page taken out of an immigration officers log. Pages and pages of photographs and details of every immigrant in the city. Things like long bing is a cook. Apparently an interpreter changed his name. He is 50 years, five feet. No facial marks. You can imagine this immigration officer going up and down the street with his little log and keeping track of all the chinese immigrants in his town. They would mark left for china or returned and so forth. We have the beginning of surveillance on immigrant groups. New government crackdowns on undocumented immigration, new investigations of fraudulent immigration documents. We have strict and lengthy interrogations and examinations. We have come before the very first time, we are requiring immigrants to have on their persons at all times what we know today as green cards. For the very first time, we institute these for chinese immigrants. If you were found without these, you could be arrested and deported for not being in the country legally. Longer detentions. Immigration raids, arrests deportations. There are numerous raids in San Francisco, boston, around the country of immigration officers and local Police Looking for undocumented immigrants. I remember specifically looking through immigration files in the National Archives and coming across this poor guys record. He may or may not have come in with fraudulent papers but the immigration officials were convinced that he was hiding something so they had an immigration raid. He descended upon this Chinese Restaurant where he was working and the text of the report describes the immigration officers coming in through one door and watching him run out the back. He left behind his wallet, which the officers confiscated and put in his file. You can open it up. There is no money in their but you can open it up and it had his business cards, notes, photographs. You can imagine that he left in a hurry and the fear he had at that time. Immigration raids, arrests deportations. What chinese call living under the shadow of exclusion. Always fearing deportation always fearing they would be found out even if they or being tainted with illegality even if they were not. Consequences of the papers may have allowed them to enter the country but they had a lot of different consequences. Their fates were held in the hands of immigration officials at angel island. This is a photograph of them in the 1930s. You can pick out that there is one asia female employee. She was probably a matron in the womens barracks. Then, three asian interpreters. In the 1930s, m interpreters interpreters could be asian. When it began, it was against the law to hire anyone who was nonwhite even if the job was as an interpreter because it was believed that the asians would naturally collude with each other. You had a situation in the 1880s with the interpreters who were not asian, they were white trying to interpret very difficult languages and dialects. Some of them didnt know all of them very well. We have immigration officials and we have interviews. They detail that some were very fairminded. They felt it was a difficult situation, and tried to give the benefit of the doubt. We also know that many officials were hardened. Some were veterans of the antichinese movement. They felt it was their duty to keep the gates closed as tightly as possible. One of the first things that chinese immigrants had to face was the medical exam. What do you remember from the Family History, the interviews the poems . What are some of the things that former detainees spoke about in terms of the medical exam . They said it was very humiliating that they had to undress in front of everybody and they felt they were being pointed out, especially with the hookworms. They thought it was a disease made solely for chinese immigrants. Prof. Lee yes. The humiliation, this was not something usual in china. Not only naked in front of the doctor but in various forms of undress in a group. There were certain diseases deemed excludable. These are parasitic diseases. Remember run we were watching the film about ellis island. The diseases that all immigration officials were looking for were contagious diseases. These diseases that were being tested for on angel island were not just contagious diseases, but parasitic diseases like when you travel somewhere or drink water or Food Poisoning or other things. These parasitic diseases could be easily cured. They were not contagious. But they were used specifically to exclude immigrants, particularly from asia because these certain parasitic diseases were known to be especially prevalent in asia. You have the medical exams and then you have these interrogations. These interrogations could last a couple hours, a couple days, or longer. The typical amount was a few days. There are some files were if you count the number of questions , it numbers up to 1000 questions. This is a scan of one page of one interrogation and you can see it goes boom, boom, boom what is your name, where were. You born, how old are you . In this file, the singlespaced questions are about six pages. I want to do a little exercise with you. I am going to put these questions up and i want you to raise your hand if you think you can answer these questions. I want you to keep your hands up if you can keep on answering these questions but put them down as soon as you think you have reached a question that you probably cannot answer, that you dont have the true and detailed answer. Are you ready . All right. What is your name . Good. How old are you . What are your parents names and what are their ages . Easy so far. When where they married . Oh. [laughter] ok. Do you have any brothers or sisters . What are their names and ages . Ok. What is the name of your village . In this case, how about the name of your hometown . How many houses are on your street . Ok. Who lives in the third house on the left of your street and list all names and ages. Ok. Jeremy is getting into the country. Who is the oldest man in your village . Or home city. How many steps are there in your house . You are all out. No one is coming into the country. How many windows . Not only this, you would have to know the answer but then like your sister or father would also have to say the exact same thing. How many windows does your house have . How many clocks are in your house . How many chickens does your neighbor own . [laughter] what happens if one of them dies . How far is it from your village to the nearest hill . When were the windows put into your house . Ok. I need two volunteers. I want someone to be the harsh immigration official and someone to be the immigrant. Who wants to be my harsh immigration official . Ok, tyler will be the immigration official. Who will be phong . Someone sitting close to tyler. Great. You go first. You are the immigration official. Which direction does the front of your house face . West. Your alleged father has indicated that his house is in ho chung village of facing east. How do you explain that . My mother told me set the house faces west. Cannot you figure this matter out for yourself . I really do not know direction. How many rooms in all ourare there on the ground floor of your house . Three, i mean, there is a parlor, two bedrooms, and kitchen. There are five rooms downstairs. They are between the parlor in the kitchen. Do you wish us to understand you would forget how many bedrooms are in a house where you claim to have lived 17 years . Yes, i forgot about it. Did you visit the sar kai market with your father . No. Why not . If you really are his sons. Prof. Lee good job. Phong is under pressure. Maybe he this remembers misremembers, trips up, or changes. This is the exact record, the stenographer is noting costs or Something Like that. This is a typical backandforth. If i were him, i would be nervous. I would be scared and perhaps by the end of this, a little angry. We know from oral histories and others that these interrogations were terrifying. This is a quote some of you have read, law see low. This is a picture of her from her wedding. She was detained on angel island in 1922. She told interviewers that one woman was questioned all day and deported. They asked her about life in china, the chickens, the neighbors, and the direction the house faced. How would i know all that . I was scared. What this translated to, this long interrogation, the calling backandforth of witnesses and waiting for people to come from San Francisco or oakland or sometimes from the interior of idaho coming to San Francisco to give testimony. The intentions were quite long. This is what we have of the barracks, how they looked inside. Around 1910, extremely crowded conditions between 200300 men were housed there. Women were detained elsewhere, and the second floor of the Administration Building. On average, their stay was 23 weeks. They are let out for one hour a day, this is what they have. Your caot is your living space. This is a quote from lee you who was detained for three months. 20 months. They hired lawyers and they would take their cases up to court and play them all the way up to the supreme court. She talks about how she must have cried a bowl full of tears on angel island. How does this compare . Ellis island to angel island we know there are 12 million who come through ellis from it. Ellis island during its period of operation. 20 of all immigrant arrivals are detained. The women and children who are arriving to join their husbands. They need to wait until their husbands and fathers come and retrieve them. Or those who are being kept for contagious diseases, 20 are detained. But it is not too long. Detention time is 12 days on average. In the end, 90 are admitted. This is why we think of ellis island as more of a process center going through. The numbers are much different half a million come through angel island. The scale is quite different. But you see the differences right away with attention. With detention. 20 on ellis island, 60 of all immigrant arrivals are detained on angel island. Instead of counting Detention Times in days they count them in , weeks, months, years. The longest Detention Time is 756 days. 93 of chinese are admitted. That is much higher than one would expect. But, it is only after these long detentions, after really lengthy legal battles that are of course expensive, as well. We know so much about angel island because of these poems that have been preserved. This is the best preserved poem. The author must have carved it over and over again. And this one fits with many of the themes you have written about already. From now on, im departing far from this building. All of my fellow villagers are rejoicing with me. Dont say everything within his westernstyle. If it is built of jade, it is a cage. Immigration officials thought that the detainees were just writing graffiti on the walls. They would paint over and over and over. These two guys copied more than 100 poems into their notebooks in the 1930s. It is because of those poems that we have been able to preserve so many. Ive chosen three. I would like three volunteers to help us read these and also help us think about what they mean. So who is like to be the first one to read this poem . Yes. Thank you. There are tens of thousands of poems composed on these walls. They are all cries of complaints. Today, i read of this prison. I must remember that this chapter once existed. In my daily deeds, i must be frugal. Needless extravagance leads you to rent. All my compatriots should please be mindful. Once you have some small gains, return home early. Erika lee thank you. So what are some of the messages here . Theres a couple at least. Yes. I concentrated on this poem within my response and compared it to house she lows experience. It reflects that this chapter once existed, which i think is really contradicting to most of the immigrants experiences at angel island because it was so detrimental. I am sure it is something that you would want to forget. This is where it definitely to me had this humility where it is something that she came out of a very strong and this is a chapter that i need to remember because it is going to help me be a strong woman and provide for myself and my family in such a difficult era of the United States. But that was interesting. Erika lee even though it might be an experience that they would like to forget that the multitude of these expressions on these walls, the tens of thousands of homes, the complaints and sadness that i must and we must remember that this chapter once existed. What about the second half in my daily needs i must be frugal . Once you have some small gains return home early. What does this immigrant plan . Yes, tyler. It maybe referencing the extravagance of american lifestyle in contrast to this persons homeland back in asia. And his plan may be to probably to return once they can establish themselves and make some money. Erika lee so not to stay, but to return. And probably that this experience on angel island has helped them convince themselves that the United States is not a welcoming place. Someone to earn enough, return home early. So who would like to read this one . Thank you. Imprisoned in the welding building day after day, my freedom without, how can i bear to talk about it . I look to see who is happy, but they only sit quietly. Im anxious and depressed and cannot falsely. The days are long and the bottle constantly empty. My sad mood even so is not spelled. The nights are long and a pillow cold. Who can pity my loneliness . After experiencing such loneliness and sorrow, why not return home and learn to plow the fields . Erika lee thank you. What are some of the messages here in the first stanza . Yes. Angel island was very bleak. Just the environment and along the tensions in this environment caused a lot of its detainees to become emotionally depressed and probably chronically depressed judging by the accounts of suicide. And many questioned why they came in the first place. Erika lee that goes right into the second stanza, too. After expanding such loneliness and sorrow, why not just give up and learn to plow the fields . Coming with lots of hope to be United States, this experience changing them and causing this loneliness despair so much so that they cannot bear to talk about it and just really questioning why they came to the United States in the first place. Ok. Last poem. Last volunteer. I clasped hands and parting with my brothers and classmates. It is of the mouth i hasten to cross the american ocean. How was i to know that the western barbarians had lost their hearts and reason . With a hundred kinds of oppressive laws, they mistreat us chinese. It is still not enough after being interrogated and investigated several times. We also have to have our tests examine while naked. Our countrymen suffer this treatment all because our countrys power cannot yet expand. If there comes a day and that china will be united, i will surely put out the heart and bowels of the western barbarians. Erika lee a little bit more complicated than the other ones. A little bit more passionate. What are some of the messages here . Yes. It illustrates immigration as a necessary process. It definitely gives sentiment to this notion that immigrants come as a necessity and that they did not choose to come simply for fun. And he references political instability in his country as to why they are here. Erika lee political instability and global inequality, right . Our countrymen suffer this treatment all because our countrys power cannot yet expand. One of the things that i think is interesting about this one, first of all, is it is more pointedly angry resentful, and threatening of violence that many of the others. And it explicitly hits, elites in this case, the chinese against the socalled western barbarians. It is very important that these are all poems that have been recovered from the mens barracks. We do know that they are male. He is using that term barbarian because that is what they had been called themselves. That is what the americans were calling chinese uncivilized barbarians. By putting this back on the americans, it is even more pointed. And then this last line if there comes a day when china will be united, i will surely cut out the heart and bowels of the western barbarians. Quite a strong statement there. The history of immigration and angel island has one chapter ending in 1940 when a Fire Destroys the Administration Building. This is where all the interrogations happened and the barracks of the womens detainees would be. For the next 30 years, the place is abandoned and is actually scheduled to be demolished. And this is what the mens barracks looked like in the 1970s. In many ways, it was history that was lost. It was lost because detainees themselves did not want to remember it. They identified this area this period of immigration in their lives as being under a shadow of exclusion. They do not talk about their experiences even to their own families. There are many Family History is that you have ride where the children are saying, we were told never to use our real name. Or i didnt even know that it was not my real name until x y ansley. X,y and z. That talked about whenever he brought up the word angel island to his family he would just hear shh, dont talk about it. In the 1960s, immigration history was not yet a recognizable field. The immigrant was not yet studied. And this history was not well preserved. But through the efforts of Many Community activists and discoveries, we first were able to discover and preserve the poems because a california state park ranger found these poems when he was going through the barracks. He told his professor about it biology professor, whose mother happened to be a detailing detainee on angel island. And that professor told other faculty and students at sf states newly created asianamerican department. They were inspired to study the poems, observe them, and do the oral history. The three authors of the book that you are reading were not professional historians. Him mark lai was an engineer. Genny lim was a librarian and judy yung conducted oral histories for the poems. This is what the bud both looked like in the 1980s. Policy houses and not want to publish it. So they self published it. 35 years ago. And what they found was that this history of preserving and recovering this history served as a type of catharsis for the chineseamerican community. It openly and these dark these dark openly aired these dark secrets. It was not their fault. It was part of a larger history a larger pattern of dissemination. It helped to legitimize the angel island experience. And it allowed immigrants and detainees to feel like they did not have to be ashamed anymore. So judy yung talks about how in this early period of the 1970s that she would find people to interview and it would politely say, no, inky, i dont want to talk about it. Now theyre so many people who want to tell judy their stories that she cannot keep up with them. And has become a whole new type of experience. It is not just for the chineseamerican community, but it has been recognized as important for all americans. So in 1998 angel island immigration station became a National Historic landmark. The rationale behind that comes from the Community Organization that helped to put this movement forward. And they said in the proposal, the angel island immigration station presents the first, the only and the best opportunity to fully interpret the history of asian immigration to the United States. This is our plymouth rock, our valley forge, our alamo, our statue of liberty, our Lincoln Memorial all rolled into one. In the same way that ellis island has been enshrined as a National Monument to commemorate european immigration to guide america, angel island should be recognized and declared a National Historic landmark. This is the photograph of that signing at that ceremony in 1998. Though was a massive effort since then since then, there was a massive effort to restore the building. This was the mens detention barracks that has been fully restored and turned into a museum. On the footprint of where the Administration Building sat is now an open space, but exhibits like an interrogation table was photographed. You have restored the interior of the mens barracks as well. This is what it looks like at its reopening in 2009. And they are now documentaries that help to explain the preservation of poems, the preservation process, and the new discoveries that have been found. In the years since these efforts, there have been 200 poems that have been rediscovered. There has been hundreds of inscriptions in many different languages, including punjabi german english, spanish, japanese, and theres also been carvings illustrations that have also been restored. There has also been new research , a new addition of violence with new islands with new family histories and poems and a new book on angel island outlets at a broad range of immigration to the immigration station as well. So all of this has led to what some could interpret as a closing of the chapter on this history of angel island immigration. In 2012, a group of Community Activist lobbied for the passage of a statement of regret. In 2012, a statement of regret that congress regretted the chinese exclusion laws. The statement of regret acknowledged it is important that it is not an apology. It is a statement of regret. It acknowledges that the chinese exclusion act resulted in the persecution and political alienation of persons of chinese descent, unfairly limited their son civil rights, legitimize Racial Discrimination and induced trauma that are persist with the Chinese Community today. This is an important landmark event, a type of reconciliation this public acknowledgment that chinese exclusion happens, that it was detrimental, that it did not coincide with our political beliefs and this was an important event, an important transformation in the history. But i would also want to question whether it is really time to close that chapter. Does a simple statement of regret help us put it into the dustbin of history . Let us forget about what happened moveon on, think about other immigrants histories . What are the lessons of angel island today . There are Diverse Groups of immigrants that came to the immigration station. Not all them were detained. Not all of them might have had this experience is of wanting to cut out the bowels of the western barbarians, but many of them did. While he often point to ellis island and its celebratory history of immigration and are making of a nation of immigrants, i would argue that this other history, the starker history of immigration through angel island perhaps has even more residents with our contemporary world today. The poems describe frustration, disappointment ange resentmentr, of the immigration experience and it helps us confront discrimination and immigration laws. As we know, this is not a story that we can just safely leave to the early 20th century. These are two photos and headlines that were taken from the news just this past summer. One Central American refugees, many of them children or mothers were coming across the border United States for asylum, and for many weeks, we did not know what conditions these young immigrant detainees were being housed in. But a few weeks into it, we were able to find and get some sneak peeks some pictures. So this is just one photograph of the processing facility in brownsville, texas. It can be argued that we are in a current state of immigration detention crisis. So let me just read off a couple of numbers for you. In 2011, the department of Homeland Security held a recordbreaking 429,000 immigrants in over 250 facilities across the country. So 429,000 people, immigrants were detained in 2011. That translates into about 33,400 beds and da day. Advocates argue that a majority of these detentions are not actually necessary. Remember that detentions on ellis island were about one to two days. Detentions on angel island, as hard as they work, averaged in the two to three weeks. Today, incarceration periods range from 37 days to 10 monster we have 300,000 immigrants who were detained on angel island over the entire 30 year period. Compared to 2011 alone, 429,000 in one year. It has been 50 years since we passed comprehensive immigration reform. We are celebrating a recognizing or honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1955 immigration act. It is clear from some of the headlines that i showed at the very beginning that we are in a current debate over immigration about which there does not seem to be any easy solution. So how do we connect this to angel island then . I would argue that angel island represents the best and the worst of americas immigration history. There are many immigration histories, including my own, who can trace it back to angel island, who made it through the medication system Education System and celebrate the United States. For many others, that the tension experienced best nears this other side of immigration that we are also experiencing today. So i want to end by reading from the angel island immigration station foundation. This is the organization that dedicates itself to the preservation and education about immigration angel island and through the Pacific Coast in general. A collection preserves the rich stories of immigrants both through angel island and elsewhere and also does a lot of education and outreach. It says in their Mission Statement that angel island reminds us of the cop located history of immigration in america. It serves as a symbol of our willingness to learn from our past, to ensure that our nation keeps its promise of liberty and freedom. If you want to learn more, you can go to the angel island website. It has an amazing range of archives of immigrant voices many of which are based on the collection of family histories and poems in the book that we have read, but also there are more coming in every day. So thank you so much. That is it for today. We will see you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] youre watching American History tv. All weekend, every weekend on cspan3. To join us on the conversation like us on facebook at cspan history. Ratified in february 1815 the treaty of ghent brought an end to the war of 1812. Up next on American History tv park Ranger Jim Bailey at the fort mchenry National Monument and historic shrine discusses the history and importance of the treaty of ghent. He examines the origins of the war and how british and americans responded to the treaty. This halfhour event is hosted by the octagon museum, the same house and temporary executive mansion where president madison signed the treaty in february 1815. Jim bailey good afternoon. My name is Ranger Jim Bailey and i am a park ranger with the National Park service in baltimore. Come on in. At fort mchenry National Monument and historic shrine, the birthplace of our starspangled banner