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It also echoes similar communities across the United States. Immigrants, through hard work and resilience, established a foothold and survived in a society rife with prejudice and exclusion, providing invaluable contributions to the city's economy and cultural fabric.
-- Jason D.
Little Masters Club Volunteer
People from all backgrounds came to the American west to seek their fortune during the California gold rush, including many Chinese immigrants. At the peak of the Gold Rush in 1852, twenty thousand Chinese residents immigrated to California—nearly 30% of all immigration into the state that year. Soon, new gold discoveries in British Columbia and Washington drew many California miners to the Northwest.
During this time, the economy and population of the West Coast were growing rapidly, but the region was still isolated from more developed areas on the East coast. To improve the transportation of passengers and goods, construction began on America’s first transcontinental railroad in 1863. Travel by rail was quicker, safer and less expensive; but construction created a massive need for labor.
It's estimated that as many as twenty thousand Chinese immigrants were responsible for most of the heavy manual labor, despite low wages and extremely dangerous working conditions.
Similarly, the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroad lines helped connect Washington state to the rest of the country. As much as two-thirds of the workforce for the Northern Pacific Railway are estimated to have been Chinese . And, in 1889, the railroad came to Redmond with the Seattle Lakeshore and Eastern Railway Company.
Chinese Labor for Seattle Lakeshore and Eastern Railway was supplied by the Wa Chong Company of Seattle. The Wa Chong Company operated as a retail and import business, as well as a labor contractor.
Their advertisements promised, "Contractors, Mill Owners, and others requiring Chinese help will be furnished at short notice"
Daily Intelligencer, 01 Dec. 1880.
Throughout the state, Chinese immigrants were contracted to work in a wide variety of jobs, from hop farms to lumber mills. In the 1880s, economic instability intensified the resentment of those who believed that these laborers were undercutting wages and taking their jobs.
These tensions came to a head in Seattle in 1886. From February 6th through February 9th, rioters attempted to forcibly expel Chinese residents from the city. Though there are no known similar events in Redmond’s history, Redmond resident William H. White served as a U.S. Attorney at the time. He took action to stop rioters, and pursued their prosecution.
"The only thing I see in the street I see from my window. I see Mr. William H. White. He was United States Attorney then. He says to the mob, 'as long I am prosecuting attorney in this city, you people have to get back to Tacoma.' He fight hard. On account of that they didn't drive all the Chinaman out of Seattle. But they did in Tacoma." -- Woo Gen
Survey of Race Relations [27-183], University of Chicago, July 1924.
Several Seattle rioters were arrested, and they were ultimately prosecuted by William H. White.
William H. White's signature is one of three on this letter to President Grover Cleveland, requesting U.S. troops to bring order following the riots.
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, PNW00177
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This anti-Chinese sentiment was not isolated to Washington.
In 1882, the federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned Chinese labor immigration and stayed in place for more than 60 years.
This law was a landmark moment in American history, marking the first time a federal law explicitly restricted immigration based on ethnicity. The act also stipulated that any Chinese immigrants leaving the United States were required to obtain certifications to re-enter, and effectively stripped Chinese residents of the right to apply for citizenship.
The act was repealed in 1943, during World War II. However, an annual quota of around 105 visas remained, severely limiting the number of Chinese immigrants permitted into the U.S.
This national original based quota system, with various modifications, lasted until Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1965, which shifted towards a system that gives priority to relatives and children of U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, professionals or other individuals with specialized skills, and refugees.
However, it's important to note that even those who managed to navigate this complex and hostile system of restrictions faced other challenges .
Alien Land Bill:
On March 8, 1921, Washington Governor Louis F. Hart signed the Alien Land Bill, barring non-white immigrants from buying, owning, or leasing land in the state, and mandating the confiscation of any lands purchased before or after passage of the act without compensation.
In 1923, the statute was amended to assume than any land held in the name of an minor child was held in trust for the parent, closing a loophole in the law that had previously allowed immigrant families to own land under the name of their U.S. born children.
This 1921 bill was not fully, formally repealed until 1967.
Racially Restrictive Covenants:
Racially Restrictive Covenants were legally binding agreements written into property deeds that could prohibit or limit the sale, lease, and occupation of a property to individuals of specific races, ethnicities, or religions.
These covenants were used to segregate residential neighborhoods, particularly in the first half of the 20th century.
The Supreme Court declared racially restrictive covenants unconstitutional in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948), and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 declared them illegal and unenforceable. However, the discriminatory language is still embedded in many older property deeds.
Despite the extreme danger, many Chinese chose to stay, strengthening their communities through civil action and fighting for their civil rights. Although the Exclusion Act was not fully repealed until 1943, the resilience of the Chinese-American community in Washington laid the foundation for future generations to prosper.
-- Jason D.
Little Masters Club Volunteer
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