Thursday, November 13, 2008
Soy sauce jug with original clay stopper.
The first Chinese man, Hop Kee, came to Tucson in either 1873 or 1874. Over the next few years a trickle of other immigrants moved to the community- mostly men, a handful of women, and a few boys. They worked in several restaurants, serving American-style food to the many single Anglo and Mexican men moving to Tucson in search of economic opportunities. The local newspapers looked suspiciously at the Chinese, sometimes printing humorous stories about their attempts to speak English or commenting upon their lack of assimilation.
Four Seasons pattern bowl, made by Chen.
The Southern Pacific Railroad was constructed through Tucson in early 1880, running eastward from Yuma on its way to El Paso. Over a thousand Chinese men leveled the ground, built the berm, and laid tracks for the railroad. Southern Pacific hired them because they were hard-working, dependable, and demanded less wages than Mexican or Anglo workers.
Opium pipe made in Guangzhou by someone named Lim.
Once the railroad reached Tucson, about 400 men remained behind. They took up jobs in restaurants as cooks and waiters, opened stores, worked in the homes of the wealthy as private servants, grew produce that they sold door-to-door, or washed clothes along the irrigation canals west of town.
Broken bone opium pipe cleaner marked "JAPAN."
The influx of Chinese alarmed people throughout the United States, but particularly in western States. The Chinese men worked for less money and sent money back to China to their families instead of circulating it in local economies. They maintained their traditional culture- eating exotic, imported foods; smoking opium; wore Chinese clothing and hairstyles; participated in noisy, exhuberant celebrations at Chinese New Years or at funerals. Tensions between Mexican-Americans and the Chinese were particularly acute- both were at the bottom of the economic ladder, struggling to succeed. Violence was common between these groups, often taking place in the Chinese-owned general stores that the Mexican population relied upon for groceries, the Mexicans resenting the economic power they perceived the Chinese to have.
Four glass medicine bottles made by the "Hall of Longevity" firm. These contained "nose smoking" medicines that were held up to the nose and sniffed.
Life was not easy for the Chinese immigrants who came to Tucson. They worked hard, mostly obeyed the laws, paid their taxes, a few became naturalized citizens and voted. And yet these men were constantly discriminated against.
Bean cake jar marked, in Chinese characters, "Greater San Francisco" and "Abundance [the factory name]."
By the 1920s, there were several small compounds in downtown Tucson where aging, single Chinese men lived. The last died in the 1950s or 1960s, any dreams they had had of having wives and families dashed by the miscegenation and immigration laws passed by the Federal and Arizona state governments.
Perhaps I am greedy, but I do not want to wait 97 years (the length of time between the start and end of miscegenation laws ) for gay marriage to be legalized.
Isn't it strange how history repeats itself?
The artifacts are from a Chinese laundry that operated in the early 1900s in downtown Tucson. I had the characters translated by a Chinese historian today.
