Annotated Bibliography

Emma Grunberg

Primary Sources

“Anti-Chinese Riots at Seattle.” Harper’s Weekly, 6 March 1886, p.157

I was interested in seeing how often the Anti-Chinese Riots were mentioned in the papers and what the papers’ opinions of the riots were. I looked up all the articles I could find, and this was one of them. It describes the riots briefly and in a negative light.

“Benefits of the Chinese Exodus.” Tacoma News, February 1886.

This source revealed to me the reasons that many working white men felt justified the expulsion. The article details all these reasons and describes how Tacoma is better off without the Chinese.

Tacoma, Washington. Washington State Historical Society. Chinese in the Pacific Northwest Collection.

This collection contained many valuable sources, such as pictures that brought the story to life, and the original copy of the Sentiments of the Ministerial Union of Tacoma, which describes how the Tacoma clergy felt about the Chinese Question. It also included cartoons and newspaper articles.

Tacoma, Washington. Tacoma Community College. Chinese in the United States Collection.

At TCC I found many exciting documents: for instance, the original minutes of city council meetings headed by Mayor Weisbach, and a telegraph from Watson C. Squire outlining me his position better than any secondary source could. All of the sources were gathered together by Lorraine Barker Hildebrand, author of “Straw Hats, Sandals and Steel: The Story of the Chinese in Washington State.” They include photographs, many newspaper articles, and material not only about the Chinese in Tacoma but about the Chinese in the United States.　　

“The Chinese Must Go.” Advertisement, W. G. Rowland & Co. Tacoma Daily Ledger, 4 October 1885.

This source is an advertisement for W. G. Rowland & Co., a general store. It says that if the Chinese are employed, they cannot go, and urges people to fire their Chinese workers. It made me realize that if a store thought that having a negative advertisement in the paper about the Chinese would increase profits, the desire for the Chinese to go must have been deeply engrained in the minds of some of the readers.

“Gone: Two Hundred Chinese Leave the City.” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 5 November 1885, p.2

This news article was included in the leading Tacoma newspaper at the time. It gave me a primary view of the expulsion, although it was unashamedly anti-Chinese. It also allowed me to realize how idealistic and proud the newspaper was of the expulsion and how this account of the expulsion was so contradictory to the testimony of a Chinese merchant—and the New York Times.

“John and Tacoma.” The Argus (Seattle), 21 December 1895.

This source is righteous in its condemnation of the expulsion of the Chinese from Tacoma. It ridicules the amount of time and effort that the Tacomans have spent on the “Chinese question.” Knowing the fierce rivalry between Seattle and Tacoma, however, and having read the negative comments concerning Tacoma under the heading “Editorial Notes” in the Argus, this source could be biased.

“Let Him Preach to Empty Benches.” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 13 October 1885.

This article is an attack on the credibility of Reverend McFarland, who spoke against the expulsion of the Chinese. It gave me a clear picture of what the “full publicity” threat that the anti-Chinese promised actually was. I included it in my paper to show the lengths to which the anti-Chinese were prepared to go to stop people from listening to their opponents.

Pan, Theresa C. President, Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation. Personal Interview. 22 April 2001.

The Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation is organizing a building and park to be built in Tacoma commemorating the expulsion and providing a facility for Chinese and multicultural events and exhibits. I talked to Ms. Pan, its president, about the Chinese community in Tacoma today, about their feelings toward the expulsion, and about why it is important to remember the expulsion today. She also had a possible reason for why we currently cannot locate descendants of the Chinese that were expelled from Tacoma. Theresa Pan was a link to the Chinese community in Tacoma. I used two quotes from the interview in my paper.

“Protecting the Chinese.” New York Times, 9 November 1885, p. 1

This article describes the expulsion in a much more violent tone than the Daily Ledger. I quote: “The United States will be able to prove that the Chinese were dragged…cuffed and kicked, punched, beaten with clubs…” Which version of the story is true is an easy question to answer: neither of them were relating the story with accuracy. The article was also certain in it’s prediction of the United States, or prosecution, winning the case, although the defendants eventually won.

“Protection of the Chinese.” The New York Times, 10 November 1885, p. 4

Looking to see the reaction of East-Coast papers to the expulsion, I read this article, which scorns the Tacomans. “Such outrages…race prejudice and hate…” It was easy to see the New York Times attitude toward the small, insignificant, darkly anarchist-run city called Tacoma somewhere on the opposite coast.

Seattle, Washington. University of Washington. Watson C Squire papers.

The papers in this University of Washington collection gave me an idea of how Governor Squire responded to both the Tacoma and Seattle riots. For instance, Squire issued a proclamation as a stern warning to all persons planning to participate in the Seattle riots. Also, letters addressed to the governor gave me valuable 1^st-person accounts of the Tacoma riots.

“The Murderers and Robbers.” Tacoma Daily Ledger. November, 1885

The article describes the New York papers’ unfavorable reaction to the expulsion, which answers one of my research questions about the reaction of the media on the Eastern Coast. The New York papers, in fact, looked with disdain upon the city supposedly run by rebellious “murderers and robbers.” Both the Ledger and the New York Herald, however, could be exaggerating, as none of the Chinese were murdered, though all were robbed and two died of exposure to wind and rain.

Transcript of Trial #1878, United States of America v.s. R. J. Weisbach etc.

This was the actual transcript of the trial of the key organizers of the expulsion. The defendants were let off because “the facts alleged in said indictment are insufficient to constitute any crime or offense against the laws of the United States…”. The full trial, probably over a hundred pages long, gave me a peek at how the frontier justice system really works, although I had to plough through pages of technical detail. It was clear to me that the defendants were indeed guilty and the jury biased. 　

“An Uprising of the People.” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 13 October 1885

“An Uprising of the People” spells out the reasons for the Chinese expulsion. It also provides a rebuttal of the Portland Oregonian’s disapproval of the proceedings.

“What London Talks About.” New York Times, 12 November 1885, p. 2

Reading this short article made me realize how widespread news of the expulsion really was. As Watson C. Squire, Territorial Governor, said in his Message and Report to the Legislature, talking of the riots, “stirring events…have attracted the attention of almost the entire world to…our territory.”

Secondary Sources

Chan, Sucheng, ed. Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, 1882-1943. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991.

This book is a series of chapters written by different scholars covering aspects of Chinese life under the exclusion period starting in 1882. I learned about Chinese literary life, the Chinese contribution to American law, the Chinatowns, and other topics providing good historical perspective for my paper.

Chin, Art. Golden Tassels: A history of the Chinese in Washington, 1857-1992. Art Chin, 1992.

This source covers all of Chinese history in Washington State. I used it, however, mainly for the section on the Chinese roots and why they came to the United States in the first place.　

The Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation Brochure. (Tacoma, April 1996)

I quoted this brochure at the end of my paper to illustrate the new “Tacoma Method” of reconciliation.　

Daniels, Roger. Asian America: Chinese and Japanese in the United States since 1850. Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1988.

This source, written by a leading scholar of Asian American history, covers Chinese history in three sections: The Coming of the Chinese, The Anti-Chinese Movement, and Chinese America:1880-1941. It taught me much about Chinese American history.

Daniels, Roger, ed. Anti-Chinese Violence in North America. New York: Arno Press, 1978.

Anti-Chinese Violence in North America is a series of articles including ones on Wyoming, Massachusetts, California, Seattle, and Tacoma. Reading these articles, I learned about anti-Chinese outbreaks in other parts of the U.S.A. and how they differed from the expulsion in Tacoma. It gave me historical perspective about how the Tacoma expulsion fit in with other anti-Chinese riots and massacres.

Fagin, Joe R. Racial and Ethnic Relations. 3^rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall, 1989. Chapter Two, “Adaptation and Conflict: Racial and Ethnic Relations in Theoretical Perspective.”

This source describes the meeting of cultures and their reactions to each other using social stratification. It enhanced my knowledge of the actual theoretical framework to understand race relations and different levels of dominance.

Hildebrand, Lorraine Barker. Straw Hats, Sandals and Steel: The Chinese in Washington State. Tacoma: The Washington State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1977.

Lorraine Hildebrand’s book was well-written and easy to read. It gave me perspective on the Chinese in Eastern and Western Washington as well as supplying some interesting photographs.

Hunt, Herbert. History of Tacoma. Chicago: J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916.

The chapter on the Chinese expulsion gave me a clear introduction to the facts of my topic and outlined for me the forces in Tacoma which drove the Chinese out. Possibly, though, Herbert Hunt is a little biased against the Chinese.

Lee, Rose Hum. “A Century of Chinese and American Relations.” Phylon, XI (1950), p. 240-45.

This is an analysis of the contacts and relations between Chinese and American settlers. It looks at the events from the arrival of the Chinese to 1924 with a race-relations angle, as I do in my paper.

Lind, C.J. “The Chinese Must Go.” The News Tribune Sunday Magazine. 8 February 1976.

This article gave me background on the Seattle riots as well as revealing the information that two Chinese died of exposure to the elements during the Tacoma expulsion. It was also interesting to see that an article on the Chinese expulsions in Tacoma and Seattle were included in a special bicentennial feature of The News Tribune.

Locke, Gary. Private Communication. 8 February 2001.

In this letter, Gary Locke, the Governor of Washington State, describes his family’s journey in the Puget Sound area. I quoted a paragraph in my paper to illustrate that with time and education, his family could rise to the top of the government in Washington.

Morgan, Murray. Puget’s Sound. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1979.

This source was invaluable. It gave me an in-depth account of the expulsion that was not biased and revealed the backgrounds of many members of “Tacoma’s Twenty-Seven,” including Mayor Weisbach, their leader. The author, Murray Morgan, a reputable historian of the Puget Sound region, recounted anecdotes and sketched characters in a way that lends a humanity to the story that at first seemed a little distant to me.

Phelan, James D., “Why the Chinese should be excluded.” North American Review, Vol. 173, Nov. 1901, pp 663-676.

I was interested in reading a real scholarly article about why the Chinese should be excluded, as a contrast to the obvious bias of the Daily Ledger. This article clarified for me the anti-Chinese perspective. 　

Ritter, Ritter, Spector. Our Oriental Americans, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, 1965.

This book provided interesting statistics and background about early Chinese-American history

Rosenblum, Karen E. and Travis, Toni-Michelle C., eds., The Meaning of Difference. New York: McGraw Hill, 1996. Section 1, “Constructing Categories of Difference.”

This text provided me with a valuable framework for forming my thesis. It describes modern attitudes toward race and opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking about stratification.

Turner, Frederick Jackson. The Frontier in American History. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1921.

I read this source at the very beginning of my project, and his thesis provided a look at how important frontiers were to American history. My thesis explored the meaning of a frontier, and this book developed my understanding of what a frontier really is and what the stages of a frontier are.

White, Sid and Solberg, S. E., Editors. Peoples of Washington: Perspectives on Cultural Diversity. Pullman, Washington State University Press, 1989.

Peoples of Washington gave me valuable information about other ethnic groups in Washington and how they were treated, helping me answer my research question about whether the other minorities in Washington had experiences similar to that of the Chinese.