Immigration and Civil Rights: 1965 and Beyond – October 1, 2015 Event

Immigration & Civil Rights:  1965 and Beyond – October 1, 2015 event by Roberta L. Chew The third in our series commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Immigration & Nationality Act and the Civil Rights Movement.  Moving from the past to the present, we focused on the civil rights movement of the 1960s, showing clips from three documentary films which depicted aspects of the turbulent social change of the times. Freedom Rider documents the six-month campaign in 1961 when a group of black and…

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Janelle Wong Opens Black History Museum and 1882 Foundation Event

50th Anniversary of the 1965 Immigration & Nationality Act and the Civil Rights Movement by Roberta L. Chew The 1882 Foundation, Alexandria’s Black History Museum and the City of Alexandria came together for a unique collaboration exploring the impact of and synergy between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and landmark legislation passed in 1965 – notably, the Immigration and Nationality Act.  This law in particular  – over the 50 years since its passage, has transformed the American landscape demographically, bringing more Asians and…

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Lives of Color: 1850-1900 – A Panel Discussion with the National Park Service

“Lives of Color:  1850-1900” - A Panel Discussion with the National Park Service by Roberta L. Chew The second event held on September 29, 2015 of our series commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1965 Immigration & Nationality Act and the Civil Rights Movement featured participants from the National Park Service.  The masthead on our 1882 Foundation website and 1882 Symposium Facebook page features two Chinese men who fought in the American Civil War, Joseph Pierce (left) and an elderly Edward Day Cohota (center).  The…

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A Nation of Nations

Books and Ideas: A Nation of Nations: A Great American Immigration Story Check out Jay Roberts’s blog post for his first look at longtime NPR journalist Tom Gjelten’s new book, A Nation of Nations:  A Great American Immigration Story.  Go to:  http://jay.typepad.com/william_jay/2015/09/a-nation-of-nations-.html  Passed 50 years ago, the 1965 Nationality Act allowed people to immigrate to the United States from around the globe who previously had been unwelcomed.  Gjelten details the history of anti-Chinese legislation and restrictions on Chinese immigration in particular. One of the last…

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December 17: A Date to Remember

December 17: A Date to Remember December 17 should be a day of remembrance and celebration.  This was the date that the Chinese exclusion laws were repealed in 1943, sixty years after the 1882 act barred Chinese from immigrating to the United States or becoming American citizens.  Congress took this action primarily as a war tactic.  It had very little to do with Congress recognizing it had wrongly targeted the Chinese or wanted them to be included in the American community.  President Roosevelt’s signing statement…

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1882 Foundation Recognized in China

 1882 Foundation Recognized in China  The 1882 Foundation was among eight organizations from around the world to receive awards for their work promoting the history and culture of Overseas Chinese.  Other organizations included language, social services and community entities from Australia, Japan, Italy, and Malaysia.   The Chinese American Citizen Alliance’s Pedro Chan was also recognized for his work promoting the history of the WWII Flying Tigers. The awards culminated a symposium on the preservation of Chinese culture organized by the Zhigong Party, Guangdong University of…

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