The Chinese Historical Society of America announced a program to mark the 125th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
An exhibit of historical artifacts and documents surrounding the Exclusion Act's debate will run at several locations throughout San Francisco. CHSA will also hold a panel discussion and reception featuring UC Davis Professor Bill Ong Hing, former UC Berkeley Professor Donald Ungar and historian Connie Young Yu, who will explore the historical significance of the Act and its ramifications for today's immigration and civil liberties debates. Finally, CHSA's own Charlie Chin will perform a one-man play about the efforts of pioneer community activist/newspaper editor Dr. Ng Poon Chew who vehemently crusaded against the racist legislation.
CHSA is the oldest and largest organization dedicated to the study, documentation and dissemination of Chinese American history. Conceived in San Francisco in 1962, it is the foremost such society on Chinese American history in North America. (Source: AsianWeek, May 04, 2007).