“The Chinese Must Go!” was the rallying cry of White American laborers in the 1800s who blamed Chinese immigrants for job scarcity and low wages. Growing anti-Asian sentiment culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was the first federal law to explicitly suspend immigration based on nationality. For more than…
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LEW MOY v. UNITED STATES
Lew Moy v. the United States (1916) was a landmark Supreme Court case that shaped immigration enforcement at the Texas-Mexico border. Lew Moy was a Chinese merchant who attempted to enter the United States during the era of Chinese exclusion laws. Despite his status as a merchant – a class that was…
Charley Sing
Historic Oakland Cemetery is “the final resting place of some of Dallas’ most noted citizens and veterans including civil war veterans.” It is also the burial site of Charley Sing, Dallas’ first Chinese butcher, who died in 1909. According to a Dallas Morning News piece written by Truman Pouncey in 1937, “A host…
Joy Inn
In an August 1984 edition of “Taste of the Town,” D Magazine referred to Joy Inn as “possibly the most popular Chinese restaurant in Dallas,” saying, “this place can seat a regiment and still serve a meal in record time if you say you’re in a hurry. Don’t stray too far from…
Dragonflies of Dallas
Dragonflies of Dallas was a social and support group for gay Asians, Pacific Islanders (APIs), and friends in the Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex. Their goal was “to bring together gay APIs in a friendly, supportive, and non-judgmental setting.” They strove to promote awareness, visibility, and acceptance of gay API sexuality. Dragonflies of Dallas was founded by…
Oriental Cafe
The Oriental Cafe was located in Downtown Dallas at 1112 Main St. at Murphy. They served both Chinese and American-style food (including southern fried chicken). Bob Jen Kin, who “rose from night cook to part owner of the Oriental Cafe,” died at the age of 51 in July 1949. He was a…
East Dallas Community and Market Garden
The East Dallas Community and Market Garden, a project of Gardeners in Community Development (GICD), is the oldest community garden in North Texas. It is located in an area that was once referred to as “Little Asia” where an estimated 10,000 Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in the 1980s. GICD trains and…
Rachmad Tjachyadi (Wén Hàn Zhāng)
Member Spotlight: Rachmad Tjachyadi (Wén Hàn Zhāng) Chinese (Hakka and Cantonese) Born in Jakarta, Indonesia on June 25 (or the 28th day of the 5th month in Chinese Lunar Year) “I am currently between 40 and death (quoting a line from a showtune) I came to the US in 1995 and to…
Sunny Ma Lov
Dallas Police Officer Sunny Ma Lov was the city’s only Cambodian police officer when he died at age 39 in November of 1990. He was struck and killed by a car as he was putting down flares to warn motorists of an accident on North Central Expressway. He was a community service…
Voices of SMU: Astrud Villareal
Voices of SMU preserves the experiences of Black, Latinx, South/East Asian, and LGBTQ+ alums at SMU Dr. Astrud Villareal (Class of 2010) was interviewed by Valeria Reynosa on September 28, 2020 via Zoom, an internet-based video conferencing software. She spent her childhood and part of her teenage years living in Taytay, Philippines….
Voices of SMU: Alexis Nguyen
Voices of SMU preserves the experiences of Black, Latinx, South/East Asian, and LGBTQ+ alums at SMU Alexis Nguyen (Class of 2017) was interviewed by Nia Kamau in the Oral History Studio of Fondren Library at Southern Methodist University on July 15, 2019. Ms. Nguyen discusses her childhood in Texas. From an early…
Voices of SMU: Asad Rahman
Voices of SMU preserves the experiences of Black, Latinx, South/East Asian, and LGBTQ+ alums at SMU Asad Rahman (Class of 2003, J.D. 2006) was interviewed by David Hu via the Zoom internet-based video conferencing software on June 29, 2020. Mr. Rahman was born in New York City, but his family quickly moved…
Benjamin (Benny) Franklin Ogata
Benjamin (Benny) Franklin Ogata was born on January 17, 1925, in Dallas, Texas. His father, Harry, was a commercial artist and initially worked for the Lewis Sign Company in Dallas before starting his own company – Ogata Art Studio. Benny registered for the draft on his 18th birthday, January 17, 1943 and…
Veteran’s Day
Editor’s Note: This essay was originally written for publication on Veteran’s Day This day means a lot to so many people. It is a day to honor those who served this country, both in the past and present. It is a day that we feel immense pride in being American, in living…
China Clipper Cafe
David Joe opened the “China Clipper Cafe” on McKinney Avenue in 1938. He was part of a second wave of Chinese immigrants to arrive in Dallas in the 1930s, following the demise of the local Klan in 1925. During this time, there were between 10-30 Chinese people who were the owners and…
Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian descent to fly to space. She was a crewmember on board Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 and perished tragically during her second space flight on February 1, 2003 when the Columbia broke apart during re-entry. She became a hero to people of Indian descent…