Sponsor an Engraved Brick or Paver
We are delighted that you are interested in sponsoring an engraved brick to be placed in Chinese American Memorial at the historic Congressional Cemetery. Each 4” X 8” brick can be dedicated to individuals, families and clans, villages, or associations. In addition, sponsors can load images and short narratives in an interactive web site maintained by the 1882 Foundation as an index to the bricks and an archive of mini histories. Sponsorships are deductible. The Foundation reserves the right to reject inappropriate engravings.
» Please download the “Memorial Engraved Brick Sponsorship” PDF flyer (4 pages) with detailed information about how to become a sponsor, payment options and inscription guidelines.
General Sponsorship Information
Names of individuals, family and friends, or associations can be engraved on 4” X 8” bricks and embedded into the Chinese American Memorial. They can be in English text or traditional or simplified Chinese characters, and a corresponding digital entry (including photos) will be added to an interactive data base maintained by the 1882 Foundation. Names of ancestral districts in China can be engraved in traditional Chinese characters on 12” x 12” pavers at the center of the memorial.
Brick sponsorships provide a steady income to maintain the site and support commemorative events. They also finance interpretive signage and a digital archive of the stories behind the names engraved on the bricks.
Adding bricks (identifying stories and individuals from around the country) gives the memorial a dynamic quality as was the Chinese American experience throughout America’s history and continuing today –the red bricks representing individuals and their contributions joined together as a community, and the inner pavers reminding visitors of the traditions, geography, and history that gave the community its character.
The benches are places to rest as did the hundreds of migrants who struggled for better lives and who were laid briefly at this location before their bones were returned to China. The memorial is a place of contemplation in full view of all the peoples who surrounding the site also contributed to the American nation. The red-barked and white flowers of the crepe myrtle that thrives between the benches and the Gingko Tree (an ancient tree from China) add a sense of new and firm roots and shady comfort for the visitors.