CLowman SCA Paper: Our First Chinese

“Our First Chinese”

Potential Archaeology of Chinese Communities at Stanford University

Christopher Lowman, UC Berkeley

Research Questions

• How was cultural identity negotiated in a hybrid cultural context? – (In what way did members of the community “mash up” cultural

practices?)

• How did the community relate to other communities in the area? – (Is there evidence of trade, social networks, or responses to material

availability?)

Timeline

• 1869: Completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

• 1876: Leland Stanford purchases land for the Palo Alto Stock Farm. 1/3 of employees are Chinese.

• 1882: First Exclusion Act severely limits Chinese immigration.

• 1885: Construction of Stanford University begins. A Chinese work force constructs some of the first streets.

• 1887: Market Street Chinatown in San José is burned.

• 1891: Stanford University opens. All cooks are Chinese.

• 1892: Second Exclusion Act. Anti-Chinese sentiments published in Palo Alto soon after.

• 1900: Far fewer Chinese employees are at Stanford than ever before.

Doumen County (formerly Huangliang Du Administrative Region)

Chinese America: History & Perspectives 1998

Working on the Stanford Residence

Ah Wing in 1905, Memoir from 1906 Gardener working on carpet flower bed, Stanford Residence 1888

Palo Alto Historical ArchivesStanford University Archives

Types of Work

Vegetable Seller on Alvarado Row, c. 1890s

- Housekeeping- (private residences, boarding

houses, fraternities)

- Stock Farm Employees- (horses, barley)

- Construction- (roads)

- Fruit and Vegetable Growers- (strawberries, lettuce)

- Cooks- (residence halls, fraternities)

- Janitors- (residence halls)

Stanford University Archives

Stock Farm

Vegetable Grounds with Boarding House, “China House,” 1880

Detail of Stanford Residence Map featuring a “China Camp”, 1879

Stanford University Archives

Stanford University Archives

Residences and Fraternities

Faculty and Student Housing, 1915

Obituary for Lund Bing Moy, c. 1925

History San José

Stanford University Archives

Neighboring Communities: Palo Alto and Mayfield

Mok Wo is refused a restaurant license, 1905

Mayfield, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map 1884

Northridge Map Library

Palo Alto Historical Archives

Neighboring Communities: Mountain View

Chinese Camp on C.C. Morse Seed Ranch, photographed 1940s-1960s but likely dating

much earlier

Yuen Lung Store on View Street, 1879-1946

Mountain View Public Library

History San José

Neighboring Communities: San José

Jue Mon Get and Friend, San José c. 1910s

“Chinese Sam” at the Quicksilver Mining

Company, before 1889

History San José

History San José

Next Steps

- Community Consultation: Contact with

Descendants and Stakeholder Community

- Sites Need to be Recorded: Digitizing records, Land

Survey, and GIS

- Follow-up on additional sites: Peter Coutts, Searsville, Jasper

Ridge

Stanford University Archives

Thank you—

Barb VossLaurie WilkieLaura JonesJun SunseriHistory San JoséStanford University ArchivesPalo Alto Historical ArchivesNorthridge Map Libraryclassmates from Anthro 227