Calgary author bringing Chinese Exclusion Act book to B.C. railway town<\/p>\n
Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, March 24, 2026<\/p>\n
A Calgary author who\u2019s researched the racist immigration laws the federal government imposed on China in the 20th century will visit Revelstoke to share her new book on how Chinese-Canadians navigated these challenges.<\/p>\n
The following Tuesday evening, April 7, Revelstoke Museum and Archives hosts Jacqueline Louie as she recites excerpts from Honouring the Gold Mountain Dreamers, which examines the 1923 Chinese Immigration Act\u2019s cascading impacts on the descendants of Chinese-Canadians in B.C. and Alberta.<\/p>\n
Also called the Chinese Exclusion Act, this legislation \u201cvirtually banned all immigration from China to Canada from 1923 to 1947,\u201d Louie told Black Press Media.<\/p>\n
According to community historian Catherine Clement, who curated The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act at Vancouver\u2019s Chinese Canadian Museum, \u201cthe Chinese Exclusion Act is a monumental chapter in this country\u2019s history, yet it is forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
READ: Revelstoke museum seeks help identifying Japanese-Canadians in new exhibit<\/a><\/p>\n Louie, a Prairie newspaper journalist, secured a 2023 City of Calgary grant to research the Chinese Immigration Act during its centennial year.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of our past, and it informs our present,\u201d she reasoned.<\/p>\n As a descendant of Chinese immigrants, Louie also had personal ties to the topic. One of her great-grandfathers may have initially visited Canada sometime in the 18oos, and her grandparents\u2019 families had moved there by the late century.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy would people come so far away from their home to Canada?\u201d was a question Louie sought to answer when learning about other Chinese-Canadians\u2019 family history.<\/p>\n Only given a year to research and write her book, she engaged with historians and interviewed numerous Chinese-Canadian families, who she said all had strong ties to B.C. The chapters cover everything from early Chinese martial arts culture in Canada to resilient tales of Chinese-Canadians finding opportunities to ascend from Chinatown ghettos and the legal discrimination these citizens faced.<\/p>\n \u201cEven kids born in Canada had to have immigration certificates that said, \u2018Does not establish legal status in Canada,\u2019\u201d Louie reported.<\/p>\n Though she noted it\u2019s a heavy topic, and Chinese immigrants are just one of many minority groups that contributed to Canada\u2019s early growth and success, Louie hopes her book can shed light on their stories that continue into the present.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted it to be something (readers) would come away feeling good about,\u201d she reflected. \u201cI hope people would come away just with awareness of the commonality of anybody. Everybody I talked to said they were very proud to be Canadian.\u201d<\/p>\n Alongside Louie, Revelstoke Museum curator Cathy English will present on April 7 on how Chinese workers instrumentally contributed to the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) through B.C.<\/p>\n