Chinatown in The Dalles between Washington and Court Streets, Flood of 1894, Wasco County Pioneer Association. #WCPA 26-27 courtesy the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.
Photo courtesy Wasco County Pinoeer Associaton/Columbia Gorge Discovery Center
Chinatown in The Dalles between Washington and Court Streets, Flood of 1894, Wasco County Pioneer Association. #WCPA 26-27 courtesy the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.
Photo courtesy Wasco County Pinoeer Associaton/Columbia Gorge Discovery Center
A new exhibit on the history of Chinese influence in The Dalles will be opening later this month at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum.
The exhibit tells the tale of the largely forgotten community of overseas Chinese immigrants who once populated First (Main) Street in The Dalles. “A Community Forgotten: Uncovering the Story of The Dalles Chinatown” will open Saturday, Jan. 28.
The Chinese came to The Dalles beginning in the 1850s on the heels of the gold rush, and the overseas Chinese community grew with the 1860s railroad expansion. Companies wanted to hire Chinese workers because they were well known for having an excellent work ethic. In the 1890s, Chinese laborers were hired to work in canneries and mills, including Seufert’s Cannery.
By the 1880s, The Dalles was a community dominated by Chinese merchandise stores that served a multitude of functions beyond just selling goods. The established residents as well as Chinese transients engaged in labor contracting and laundry work and provided social diversions, including gambling and opium consumption.
The exhibit describes some of the rich but largely forgotten history of the small Chinatown in The Dalles, bringing together stories found tucked away in archives and basements and artifacts from under a layer of pavement at the site of old Chinatown on First Street.
The exhibits seek to tell the story of a people who made a new home in a place very distant and different from their homeland; a people who experienced systemic and institutional racism, separation, and exclusion, but also found some degree of acceptance.
The exhibit curators, Kelly Molina, Eric Gleason, Jacqueline Cheung, Rick McClure and Marilyn Urness, will be on hand on for the opening, along with exhibit designers Chris Bolton and Kathy Purcell.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 28. Dinner, catered by Canton Wok of The Dalles, will be served at 6 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. program.
Cost for the dinner and program is $25; it’s $5 for the program only. Because seating is limited and reservations are required, tickets must be purchased by Jan. 25.
The exhibit is sponsored in part by C.H. Urness Motor Company of The Dalles, and will be on display throughout 2017.
For more information, call 541-296-8600, ext. 201, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily, or visit www.gorgediscovery.org.
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