{"id":25969,"date":"2025-10-27T20:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T20:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/25969\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T20:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T20:43:13","slug":"san-jose-youth-keep-chinese-american-heritage-alive-at-history-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/25969\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose youth keep Chinese American heritage alive at History Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school and college students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.<\/p>\n

Anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. has a familiar ring to Connie Young Yu, a Chinese-American author and historian. Her family has roots in San Jose\u2019s Market Street Chinatown, one of five Chinatowns in the city\u2019s history and a community that was destroyed by arson fueled by anti-Asian fervor.<\/p>\n

The Geary Act, passed in 1892, required Chinese laborers in the U.S. to carry photo passports. Until it was repealed in 1943, authorities could stop them at any time to ask to see their identification, and people without documentation could be detained, jailed, or even deported.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chinese really felt segregated,\u201d said Yu. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing parallels between history and what\u2019s happening now with ICE and the threat to birthright citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Built<\/p>\n

Built in 1991 on Phelan Avenue in History Park, the Chinese American History Museum is a replica of the Ng Shing Gung, which once served as a hostel, community center, and Chinese school in San Jose\u2019s historic Heinlenville Chinatown. Photographed in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A first-floor display in the museum features photos, memorabilia, and calligraphy books from the Heinlenville Chinese School in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"Visitors<\/p>\n

Visitors rest on a bench on the first floor of the museum, surrounded by exhibits featuring Chinatown artifacts in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An exhibit on the second floor of the museum highlights San Jose\u2019s Sing Kee, the first Chinese American soldier to receive a U.S. military decoration for his service during World War I in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"Students<\/p>\n

Students of San Jose\u2019s Heinlenville Chinese School, including John C. Young (middle row, second to the left), pose for a photo in front of the Ng Shing Gung in 1923. (Courtesy History San Jose)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The original altar and statues of the Five Gods from the Ng Shing Gung are now displayed on the museum\u2019s second floor in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic). (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The exhibit \u201cLocal Heroes: Chinese Americans in WWII\u201d, which opened on Aug. 16 and runs through January 4, 2026, highlights the contributions of Chinese Americans from the Bay Area in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"Artifacts<\/p>\n

Artifacts and drawings from the Woolen Mills Chinatown are displayed on the museum\u2019s first floor. It was one of San Jose\u2019s five historic Chinatown communities that was established by immigrants working as ranchers, farmers, and small business owners in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A brightly-painted lion head, which is part of a traditional lion dance costume used during Lunar New Year performances, is displayed in a case on the museum\u2019s first floor in the Chinese American History Museum in History Park in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 9<\/p>\n

Built in 1991 on Phelan Avenue in History Park, the Chinese American History Museum is a replica of the Ng Shing Gung, which once served as a hostel, community center, and Chinese school in San Jose\u2019s historic Heinlenville Chinatown. Photographed in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025. (Sophie Luo\/Mosaic)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

That reality is being felt by Chinese American youth in the South Bay who want to honor their community\u2019s history by getting involved with the Chinese American History Museum.<\/p>\n

Tucked into the trees of San Jose\u2019s History Park, the museum is home to historical photos and artifacts that tell the story of early Chinese immigrants who settled in the Santa Clara Valley, working as ranchers, laborers and builders on the Transcontinental Railroad.<\/p>\n

Today, this history is being preserved through students and young community members who volunteer with the museum or come to learn about the past.<\/p>\n

The building is a replica of Ng Shing Gung, or the Temple of Five Gods, which was built in the Heinlenville Chinatown in 1887 and served as a hostel, community center and Chinese school.<\/p>\n

Heinlenville, which was built after the Market Street Chinatown was burned down, flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, until the land was sold to the city and buildings were razed in the 1930s. Heinlenville is located near today\u2019s Japantown neighborhood at Sixth and Jackson streets. Today, the Chinese population in San Jose is over 230,000.<\/p>\n

The echoes of the past are not lost to younger community members, such as Nina Chuang, a recent San Jose State graduate who minored in Asian American studies and now works at the university to help bring more youth to the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for us to really think about the history of Asian Americans, dating back to the Chinese Exclusion Act, to ensure that history does not repeat itself,\u201d she said. The Chinese Exclusion Act, which was passed in 1882, barred Chinese laborers from entering the country and was the first U.S. law to prevent an entire national group from immigrating.<\/p>\n

Chuang first learned about the museum when she visited it to do research for a project in college. It was part of her personal goal of visiting and learning about every Chinatown in the U.S. \u2014 a journey she documents on her Instagram account, @chinatown.nina.Jacey Shuieh, a sophomore at San Jose State, started interning at the museum a year ago, which she says has allowed her to engage in meaningful discussions with visitors.<\/p>\n

Many photographs and memorabilia in the museum\u2019s exhibits belonged to Yu\u2019s family members. The author of \u201cChinatown San Jose, USA,\u201d Yu said her father John C. Young was born in Heinlenville in 1912 and was raised in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my father\u2019s time, it was a very vibrant, safe community,\u201d she said, adding that everyone she has spoken with who grew up in Heinlenville said they had a wonderful childhood, although most of them dreaded going to Chinese school. \u201cI talked to one person who said that once, before the Chinese teacher came, all the students naughtily ran into the fields to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there was always a fear of the violence that existed on the outside. Yu\u2019s grandfather came to the Market Street Chinatown in 1881 and was there when it burned down in 1887.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather told his children and grandchildren that Chinatown is home base. When you leave, you don\u2019t know how safe you\u2019re going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chuang stresses the importance of youth in preserving history through such stories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis generation has the privilege of being able to use technology to do our own research,\u201d she said. \u201cWith social media making information more accessible than ever, cultural preservation has expanded beyond physical artifacts to include knowledge shared online.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also encourages students to sit down with their elders, ask them questions and learn from them.<\/p>\n

At the Ng Shing Gung, these stories are passed down across generations, ensuring that history continues to be remembered.<\/p>\n

Sophie Luo is a member of the class of 2027 at Irvington High School in Fremont.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school and college…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,418,181,23,88,90,89,198,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-25969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-bay-area","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-history","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-san-jose","14":"tag-san-jose-headlines","15":"tag-san-jose-news","16":"tag-santa-clara-county","17":"tag-south-bay"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}