Angel Island Gets Revamped
September 29, 2006
"My experience of visiting Angel Island Immigration Station for the first time was moving and memorable because of my family connections to the place, and it actually made me wonder if I could ever do anything to help bring the story to light,” said Dan Quan, whose father was detained there in 1925.
Now, Quan has that chance as architect of exhibits, which will be installed both inside and outside at the Immigration Station.
The site has been closed to the public since Aug. 2005 for a $50 million renovation and preservation project.
Quan has come up with the concept of The Interrogation Table, an outdoor exhibit that will be placed where actual interrogations took place. It is an interpretive sculpture that will be made of granite and features a large table with embedded messages in it. There will be a place for an immigration officer, a translator and the detainee. Viewers can sit on either side of the table to read the messages, and depending on where they sit, get the viewpoint of the person sitting in that seat.
Transcripts of questions and answers will be shown, along with stories and quotes from employees, detainees or witnesses, said Quan.
“We want people to really understand what it was truly like to come through the Immigration Station and to have gone through medical exams, and to be asked questions about really minute details,” said Daphne Kwok, executive director of the Angel Island Foundation. “We must all be very cognizant of our nation and its immigration laws, so these discriminatory practices will never happen again.”
The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation will be bringing a collection of renovation progress photos to their annual benefit dinner and silent auction on Sept. 29, at the Far East Café in San Francisco Chinatown.
The Honorable Leon Panetta, former President Clinton’s White House Chief of Staff and founder and director of the Panetta Institute, will be the keynote speaker. Panetta is also a member of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future.
The Angel Island Immigration Center from 1910 to 1940, processed 175,000 newcomers each year. The Immigration Station was closed in 1940, after a fire in the mess hall spread throughout the administration building.
The work to renovate the historic site has been separated into three phases.
“The goal is to restore Angel Island Immigration Station, improving the visitor’s experience while preserving and enhancing the site’s unique historical qualities,” said Kwok.
When completed in the summer of 2007, the $15 million Phase 1 will restore the detention barracks, famous for the poetry inscribed on its walls.
Quan said inside the barracks, historically furnished rooms will give visitors a feeling for the cramped quarters. Another feature will be lighting, which was non-existent given the previous condition of the barracks.
“Lighting of the poetry will allow visitors to discover the enormous effort put forth by the Chinese to document their experiences,” said Quan. “Lighting the walls will also reveal other ethnic groups who passed through Angel Island.”
AIISF is currently raising money for the second phase of their project, which will begin this fall. This $16 million project restores the hospital used to treat immigrants. The hospital will be the primary facility used to discuss and interpret the cultural and historic importance and implications of immigrants processed through the Port of San Francisco.
The final phase will be to rehabilitate the power house, which will serve as a main visitor’s center and mule barn, which will serve as a secondary visitor’s center.
Though the Immigration Station has temporarily been closed, the AIISF has continued educating the public about the history of Angel Island. They frequently host lectures, workshops and outreach programs.
“I hope that when people learn about what happened at the station, that they will be empowered to reclaim their own family history,” said Erika Gee, director of education.
“When people think of immigration to the U.S., they usually think of Ellis Island and the European immigrants, what about people from the Pacific side?” said Kwok. “Though Angel Island is similar to Ellis Island, we want people to learn about the broader Pacific immigration and Angel Island as a Pacific Gateway for immigrants.”
1775
Lt. Juan Manuel de Ayala brought his ship, the San Carlos, into San Francisco Bay, and anchored it in what is now Ayala Cove.
1882
With the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, America had limited immigration on the basis of nationality or race for the first time.
1906
The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire destroyed municipal records, which created an opportunity for the city’s Chinese residents to claim that they were born in the U.S.
1910
Immigration Station on Angel Island opened, processing mostly Asian immigrants, serving a similar role to Ellis Island for European immigrants.
1943
Congress finally repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act since China was a WWII ally, ending 61 years of exclusion. While the repeal finally allowed Chinese to become naturalized citizens, it continued to limit immigration from China to only 105 people a year until 1965.
1963
Angel Island established as a state park and the California Department of Parks.
1970
Shortly before the scheduled destruction of the barracks, California State Park Ranger Alexander Weiss rediscovered the poetry on the walls of the abandoned barracks.
1983
Members of Angel Island Immigration Station Historical Advisory Committee created the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation to continue preservation and educational efforts.
1990s
Approximately 1 million people visit Angel Island Immigration station each year.
1997
The National Park Service declared the Angel Island Immigration Station a national historic landmark.
1999
Save America’s Treasures adopted Angel Island Immigration Station, providing $500,000 for the preservation of the precious Chinese poems carved into the barracks walls.
2000
In March, California voters passed a state bond measure that set aside $15 million specifically for restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station.
2005
The Immigration Station site was closed to the public in Aug. 2005 for a $15 million renovation project. Phase 1 of the work is expected to be complete by summer of 2007.
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