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Chicago Chinese History
Chicago History
The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Chicago in the 1870s, long after the other Chinese had settled in California, Oregon and Washington. It began with the completion of the transcontinental railroad which recruited Chinese as almost 80% of its work force. When the last railroad track was laid in 1869 and work came to an end. Chinese population began to disperse to the mid-western and eastern states from the Pacific Coast where they originally concentrated.
But the anti-Chinese sentiment along the Pacific Coast was the most potent factor that sparred the Chinese immigrants advancing eastward. The prejudice against the Chinese intensified in the 1861's when economic conditions in America took a turn for the worse. The depression forced many laborers out of work. And because Chinese were a small, but visible minority, they became easy target for persecution and humiliation. There were many anti-Chinese riots in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The legal system was also discriminated against them: A law passed in 1863 inadvertently encouraged acts of violence against the Chinese by forbidding them to testify against white men in court.
It was under such circumstances that some ambitious and restless young men began to venture away to other places. Same of them arrived in Chicago. Though the first official report of Chinese in Chicago could be traced in 1870 census report, little was known about these settlers except they were residing in Morgan county of Southern Illinois. Mr. T C. Moy arrived in Chicago in 1878 was always considered to be the first Chinese pioneer in the city. When he found the Chicagoan more agreeable to Chinese than the people on the Pacific Coast, he settled down and wrote to his friends and relatives, urging them to join him. they responded positively and over 80 joined him in just one year, 1878. And although Chinese in Chicago suffered the same restricted immigration laws and had the same man and woman ratio (100:1) as in other parts of America in 1870-1920, the Chinese population in Chicago grew steadily. By 1890, there were 567 Chinese in the city. They took up unobtrusive occupations, mainly opening laundry and restaurants. In 1900, there were 430 laundry and 167 restaurants, all operated by Chinese.
The largest influx of Chinese came in 1950s and 1960s, a time when communist took over mainland China in 1948 and when more lenient immigration law was practiced. Improved Chinese - American relation helped spur this immigration surge also. During these two decades the Chinese population in Chicago doubled itself from 7,000 to 14,000. By 1970, Chicago ranked fourth in Chinese population in America.
The first Chinese community was built around the Van Buren and Clark Streets. In 1905, due to the ill-treatment of Chinese in California, there was a boycott of American trade in China. When news came to Chicago, the presence of Chinese arouse hostile feelings and suspicion. Landlord raised the rent of houses occupied by Chinese to such a significant rate that most occupants could not afford to pay. About half of the entire Chinese population in Chicago was forced to move south to Cermak and Wentworth Avenue, an Italian and Croatian neighborhood. It was made possible by a series of 10-year leases on buildings which were contracted through the H.O Stone Company by members of The On Leong Businessmen's Association. Cermak Road and Wentworth Avenue soon became The hub of the Chinatown. But after the Chinese had settled in the vicinity, some major city projects were taken place in this area. Extension of Cermak Road for the 1933 World抯 Fair cut the housing in half. Construction of the Dan Ryan and Stevenson Expressways in the 1950's halved its size again. Even more housing was demolished in 1969 after the state announced the construction of the Franklin Street extension of the Dan Ryan, a project that never materialized.
The large influx of Chinese to Chicago in 1960s aggravated the housing problem. Some Chinese forced the Chinatown Redevelopment Association, aiming at buying land for public housing. They faced many problems in the beginning, including shortage of funding and willingness of buyers. Some banks had no confidence in lending money to Chinese. This was due to racial discrimination and money lenders did not know enough Chinese to tell if they were good risks or not. Besides, the building site, 24th Street arid Wentworth, was already outside the Chinese community at that time, and therefore not welcomed by buyers. Though these problems were eventually solved the houses built were sold much below market prices.
The present South Chinatown consists of 8 blocks, bounded by Cermak Road, the railway embankment, East at Wentworth and south at 26th Street. The ever present problem of overcrowding lead to further expansion. Affordable housing in the area is limited. The two public housing projects, Archer Courts within Chinatown itself, and the Amour Square in the peripheral area are mainly occupied by African American and are avoided by most Chinese because of the racial stigma.
Because of the restriction of geographical boundaries, the expressways and the railroad embankment, the Chinese are dispersing southwards of 26th Street into the Bridgeport area in recent years, buying homes and starting business there.
Another major move from Clark & Van Buren occurred in 1970s. When the first Chinatown was razed to make way for the development of a State detention Center. The relocation was headed by Hip Sing Tong. The Argyle & Broadway area, north side of Chicago, was selected to be the location of the north Chinatown because transportation is easily accessible and land was inexpensive. Entrepreneur Jimmy Wong and his associates bought 60% of the properties on both sides of Argyle Street and tried to provide financial help to those who would like to start business there. But this North Chinatown, though flourishing, never attained the prominence of the South Chinatown. At present, the Argyle area is known more for its Southeast Asians and Chinese who come mainly from Vietnam. It is often called The "Small Saigon"
The Chinatown that most people are familiar with is still the one at Wentworth and Cermak. It is a port of reception for immigrants from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, at least at their initial stage of adjustment. immigrants in South Chinatown undergoes a process of replacement. New comers come and stay with their extended families or on their own in Chinatown for help, security and protection. But once they develop better mastery of the English language and when they are familiar with life in the city, they will move out to the suburb for a better quality of life. However, they are continuously replaced by other new comers.
The Chinatown in Chicago is successful in meeting the needs of these early immigrants. The dozen or more family associations were the social glue and surrogate families in the early days. They offered food, housing and employment information to new arrivals. But these associations are less active now in helping new immigrants as the number of new comers is greater and their needs are more complicated. Even the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association began offering social service programs in recent years, including a government funded lunch program for the elderly and training class for clerical work.
So the traditional associations have given way to more professional ones. While the problems of the older generations remain, the younger generations are addressing community problems of unemployment, juvenile delinquency, health care and housing shortages. The Chinese American Social Services League which was established in 1978 offered more professional services to these basic needs.
The 40 restaurants and a few Chinese grocery stores, food processing factories along Wentworth and Cermak offer the major job opportunities for many Chinese immigrants. But there are not enough jobs provided in Chinatown itself so many people are transported by vans or cars to work in restaurants in the suburbs.
For long-time Chinese Americans, Chinatown is a cultural identification and heritage. They will come for Chinese groceries, Chinese food and Chinese publications.
To the larger community, it is a tourist attraction. It served as an introduction to the Chinese culture and cuisine to other residents of the city.
The south Chinatown is lacking space for growth because of its physical restrictions, the expressways and the railway embankment form natural tour boundaries. Another drawback of this community is that it has hardly any amenities. Save for a small gym in the Protestant church at Wentworth Avenue there is no movie house or recreational facilities in the heart of the South Chinatown. The only public school in the area is outdated and students are mainly blacks. Chinese who can afford the school fee will send their children to the Catholic private schools in the area or to public schools in the Bridgeport neighborhood.
The shortage of quality housing has forced many young families and professionals to turn to other areas for residential properties. The Bridgeport and the Brighton Park neighborhood, just south and south west of Chinatown, now accommodate a large number of Chinese. Others are spreading over the suburbs or Chicagoland area.
Those who fight for the scare housing are the new immigrants and the elderly. According to the Chinese American Service League (CASL), 70% of the Chinatown residents are new immigrants. The 1990 Census tract also revealed 40.6%. of Chinatown households are having elderly over 65 years of age and CASL Statistics indicate 90% of the elderly population is economically disadvantaged.
The present South Chinatown, therefore, is desperately in need of affordable housing not only for the new immigrants, the elderly, but also for the average.
To alleviate this severe housing shortage, a large scale development plan, the Chinatown Square is designed by the Chinese American Development Corporation on part of the Santa Fe Railroad just north of Cermak Road. When completed, it will be a large commercial and residential complex of 32 acres.
To meet the community need and to revitalize Chinatown, 160 townhouse units, 150 low-rise condominiums and 120 senior citizen dwellings will be established in Phase II after a retail center is completed in Phase I.
The developer hope to attract this group of young Chinese American families and professionals to return to the Chinatown community by offering a location and lifestyle that they can respond. The developer has also given serious thought to amenities and inducements. Haines School, the only elementry public school in the area, was demolished in 1992 to make room for a new bulding to accomodate the ever-expanding local residents. Also planned are parks, malls, and recreational facilities.
Moreover, the city development also influence the original plan of the Chinatown Square. The planned extension to the McCormick Place has profound impact on this Chinatown Square. The addition will expand this large exhibition complex all the way to Michigan, which is only 4 blocks away from the site of Chinatown Square. That announcement of McCormick Place Redevelopment leads to much soliciting, asking CADC for information about commercial offices. Businessmen showed such great interest that the CADC add a trade exposition center, office space and a hotel to the previous plan. And there are negotiations to introduce a shuttle bus service to connect the traffic between the two sites as well.
The progress of the development is painfully slow. One of the problems the developers had to handle at the beginning was an environmental hazard. When the site was surveyed PCB pollution and other toxins were found. A dispute then arose over whether the development or Sante Fe should pay for the cleanup. But further environmental analysis revealed that the pollutant content was not as high as it was so CADC has to pay 400,000 to remove it so as to start construction work as soon as possible.
An adhoc Advisory Committee is also formed to work with the Park District to design a park, adjacent to Chinatown Square, for Chinatown. The present Chinatown is gradually trying to get rid of the every-man-for-himself image Civic leaders realized the importance of get support and resource from outside in order to revitalize Chinatown.
There is, in general, more active participation and representation in all local, city, state and federal programs affecting Chinatown. And some of them learn that they have to be more politically motivated and involved, and gradually emerge as contributors and campaigners.
More city and federal support can be seen in large scale projects. As in the case of Chinatown Square, the city of Chicago contributed $7.2 million in grant money and offered to build needed streets, sewers and sidewalks. The government is making available another $2 million and in the form of low-interest loan.
The South Chinatown is an one-industry town. It is over-dependent on the restaurant business. The acute competition is further aggravated by the lack of coordination and coordination among restaurant owners - Some of them even lower prices to attract customers.
The construction of the Chinatown Parking Lot was an educational process for businessmen in Chinatown to realize the importance of coordination. The urgent need to provide parking space for customers eventually put restaurateurs together to work for a common goal.
The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, which is formed as a result of the Chinatown parking, plays an important role as a coordinator and also educator. It tries to address immediate needs like securing other customer parking facilities in the area, community education like conducting surveys and street sanitation program; marketing of Chinatown in conventions and ensure participation in government activities affecting Chinatown.
Effort has been made to publicize the image of Chicago by sending Miss Friendship Ambassador overseas.
Since the Chinese American Service League (CASL) was established in 1978, it has offered more professional social services to people in Chinatown. The family associations have become less active than before. To help new immigrants to adapt life in a new country, CASL offered more than 4,000 people each year with its English training program job counseling and placement, immigration processing and a day-care center to release new immigrant parents so that both husband and wife can both work to support the family.
After some in-house needs assessment, CASL hopes to design programs to meet the complex needs of the elderly, some of the areas being explored are opening an aged home and to provide recreational activities.
Although the street gang problem in Chinatown is not so serious when compared to other Chinatowns in United States or when compared to other neighborhood in Chicago, the social leaders in Chinatown still express much concerns. The Ghost Shadow incident, which involved the gang抯 extortion attempts on Chinatown merchants and gang leader being gunned down eventually still arouse much fear among people in Chinatown.
The CASL perceived this as part of their mission to start a youth program and a new youth center was established in 1990 at S. Canal Street. Recreational programs have been designed to direct youths to do something constructive. An out-reach program was also implemented last year to help border-line cases.
There is a Hot-line for people to call and use Chinese to report crime.
The Chinese Dragon Athletic Association has also expanded its program to cultural activities such as performing the traditional Chinese lion dance on festive occasions.
The common vision of civic leaders about Chinatown is a revitalized Chinatown. Civic leaders hope it would become a community with voice and with more visibility.
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That it could influence the main stream leadership to take into consideration the needs and concern of Chinatown in its decision making.
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That it could attract more foreign investment and develop alternate industries other than restaurant business. More labor intensive industries could be established to provide job opportunities.
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That more large development projects could offer affordable housing, for ownership or for rent, for the elderly the new immigrants and the average.
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That the modern housing and amenities available would attract middle class as well as professionals to return to Chinatown and make it their home.
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That the people living in Chinatown would no long stay at the survival level. They could upgrade their quality of life.
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That tertiary education would become basic and subjects perused would no longer confined to commercial or mechanical subject but area of aesthetics, especially those related to Chinese culture, should be explored.
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That more unified activities could be promoted among social leaders who would be ready to put aside their political preference and self Interest. More community leaders would emerge to work for the well being of this community.
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That the Chinatown could become part of the mainstream community and yet retain its Chinese culture and heritage.
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That there would be a little crime as possible in Chinatown and there would be adequate services to meet different community needs.
History
- No one is sure when Native Americans first lived in the Chicago region, but evidence can be traced back to 1000 AD. By the late 1600s, there were many tribes in the region, the dominant one being the Potawatomi Indians. In 1673, Indians directed Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet and missionary Jacques Marquette to Lake Michigan via the Chicago River. The two learned that the Indians of the region called the area around the mouth of the river 'Checaugou,' after the wild garlic (some say onions) growing there.
After the Revolutionary War, the US increasingly focused attention on its vast western frontier. Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833, with a population of 340. Within three years, land speculation rocked the local real estate market; lots that had sold for US$33 in 1829 went for US$100,000. The boom was fueled by the start of construction on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, an inland waterway linking the Great Lakes to the Illinois River and thus to the Mississippi River and New Orleans. The swarms of laborers drawn by the canal construction swelled Chicago's population.
The canal opened in 1848, and commercial ships began to roam the Chicago River from the Caribbean to New York.. The city quickly became the hub of America's freight and passenger trains, a status it would hold for the next hundred years.
Like other northern cities, Chicago profited from the Civil War, which boosted business in its burgeoning steel and tool-making industries and provided plenty of freight for the railroads and canal. In 1865, the year the war ended, an event took place that would profoundly affect the city for the next hundred years: the Union Stockyards opened on the South Side, unifying distant meat operations scattered about the city. Chicago's rail network and the development of the iced refrigerator car meant that meat could be shipped east to New York, spurring the industry's consolidation. By the turn of the century, Chicago's population had swelled to almost two million.
In 1933, Ed Kelly became mayor. He strengthened the Democratic Party in the city, creating the legendary 'machine' that would control local politics for the next 50 years. Politicians doled out thousands of city jobs to people who worked hard to make sure their patrons were reelected. The zenith of the machine's power began with the election of Richard J Daley in 1955. Daley was reelected mayor five times before dying in office in 1976. With an uncanny understanding of machine politics, he dominated the city in a way no mayor had before or since.
In 1971, the last of the Chicago stockyards closed. Elsewhere in the city, factories and steel mills closed as companies moved to the suburbs or the southern US, where taxes and wages were lower. A decade of economic upheaval saw much of Chicago's industrial base erode. But two events happened in the 1970s that were harbingers of the city's future. The world's tallest building (at the time), the Sears Tower, opened in the Loop in 1974, beginning a development trend that would spur the creation of thousands of high-paying jobs in finance, law and other areas. And in 1975 the Water Tower Place shopping mall opened downtown and developers began to realize that the urban environment was an attraction in itself.
In the fall of 1982, a Who's Who of black Chicago gathered to propel Harold Washington, Chicago's first African American mayor, and a reformist, into office. Much of the political and social chaos that marked the years from 1983 to 1987 had ugly racial overtones, but at the heart of the conflict was the old guard refusing to cede any power or patronage to the reform-minded mayor. The irony is that when Washington died, seven months after he was reelected in 1987, he and his allies were just beginning to enjoy the same spoils of the machine they had once battled.
In 1989, Chicago elected as mayor Richard M Daley, the son of Richard J Daley. Like his father, Daley has an uncanny instinct for city politics. Unlike his father, he has shown much more political savvy in uniting disparate political forces. Daley has moved to solidify his control of the city in a way his father would have applauded, but in a much more enlightened manner. The parks are much cleaner and safer, and the schools - recently the worst in the nation are showing signs of marked improvement. A new generation of professionals is discovering the joys of urban living, among them Chicago's vibrant cultural and social scene. Billions of dollars in private investment have flowed to neighborhoods, and the city's diversified economic base enabled it to weather the recession of the early 1990s better than others in the US.
Famous Firsts in Chicago:
Chicago produced the first...
Steel frame skyscraper
Stainless steel building
Electric iron and cooking range
Pullman railroad car
Grain reaper
Reactor to produce electricity from atomic energy
Cafeteria
Window envelope
Co-educational public high school
Railroad sleeping car
The bifocal contact lens
The winding watch
Butterfinger and Baby Ruth candy bars
Caramel-chocolate turtles
The bowling tournament
Cracker Jacks
Schwinn Bicycles
Chicago's Sister Cities with China: Shanghai, Shenyang
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