Reflection
Emily (Yeni) Yi
2024
Our group of history lovers, in tennis shoes and with backpacks full of snacks, set sail on July 24 to gather stories of the million or so immigrants who passed through Angel Island from 1910 to 1940. Though the exact number is often contested, sources cite anywhere from half-a-million to a million individuals processed. [1] [2] The larger figure reflects a broader scope of those who entered the U.S. — those detained temporarily, those held and denied, family members held in facilities, and even those returning citizens processed multiple times. Immigration procedures varied for those with and without privilege, and this number highlights how Angel Island served as both an immigration inspection and detention facility for international arrivals beyond just new immigrants. [3]
It was a short but beautiful coastal hike up to the Angel Island Immigration Museum (AIIM); I couldn’t help but wonder if those detained could enjoy the idyllic view. The site-specific Hospital Exhibits resided in the former hospital, and the intentional housing of its immigrant stories in the very spaces they walked through was powerful. The exhibition flow was also well executed: I walked somberly through Under the Microscope, gently took on the multi-generational grief of In the Shadows, and triumphed with the heroes of Opening Doors. Ending the experience with the story of Sammy Lee — the first Asian American to win gold at the 1948 London Olympics — and his Olympic gold medals, along with his trainees’ gold medals was a solid anchor to adjust to the present as we stepped back out into the sunlight to have lunch by the Bell. [4]
After lunch, we began our guided tour of the Detention Barracks. One of our group, Erin, had specially requested Walter as our guide due to his breadth of knowledge of not just Angel Island but of the Bay Area as a whole. He was a fantastic storyteller, braiding history with his collected stories and anecdotes of his wife’s family on Angel Island. We walked through empty, skeletal rooms to see the remnants of poems, words, and graffiti etched into the walls over the decades. (Exploring the engraved lettering, I learned, was not a kinesthetic learning opportunity — the guide warned us that the characteristic green under layers of paint was lead-based, and I sheepishly stopped tracing the walls with my fingers.)
Later rooms had models of beds and items staged to look lived-in, with belongings crammed onto beds stacked on top of each other in the tight quarters. Each detainee had only the space above their beds for storing their belongings; if they were lucky enough to be on the bottom bunk, they had the space under their beds. The transgenerational ghosts lingering in these unsavory conditions sent goosebumps up my arm. The fact that Angel Island was designed to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act was reinforced by the photos displaying dozens of people separated by gender stripped and crammed around a single medical examiner; it was known for its notoriously lengthy detentions that aimed to deter Asian Immigration to the U.S. [5]
We wrapped up the day soaking up the rest of the sun and ruminated on our experiences on the ferry back to San Francisco, where Russ Lowe shared his father’s stories on Angel Island through a series of incredible documents. Russ had been traveling to China to map his father’s stories and unravel the intricate thread of Paper Sons and real families for the past several decades — flipping through the copies of his father’s paperwork, looking at photos of him, and seeing Russ in his spitting image as living history, was an awe-inspiring conclusion to the day.
I am filled with both lingering grief and deep gratitude for the way the day was facilitated; weaving emotions and real-life accounts into historical narratives brought Angel Island to life in a way I’d never experienced before. It was my first time on the Island, and definitely not my last — I hope to bring my students to the space to wrap themselves in the complex tapestry of emotions and weigh the dialogical push and pull of the past and the present into the future.
References
Emily (Yeni) Yi
2024
Our group of history lovers, in tennis shoes and with backpacks full of snacks, set sail on July 24 to gather stories of the million or so immigrants who passed through Angel Island from 1910 to 1940. Though the exact number is often contested, sources cite anywhere from half-a-million to a million individuals processed. [1] [2] The larger figure reflects a broader scope of those who entered the U.S. — those detained temporarily, those held and denied, family members held in facilities, and even those returning citizens processed multiple times. Immigration procedures varied for those with and without privilege, and this number highlights how Angel Island served as both an immigration inspection and detention facility for international arrivals beyond just new immigrants. [3]
It was a short but beautiful coastal hike up to the Angel Island Immigration Museum (AIIM); I couldn’t help but wonder if those detained could enjoy the idyllic view. The site-specific Hospital Exhibits resided in the former hospital, and the intentional housing of its immigrant stories in the very spaces they walked through was powerful. The exhibition flow was also well executed: I walked somberly through Under the Microscope, gently took on the multi-generational grief of In the Shadows, and triumphed with the heroes of Opening Doors. Ending the experience with the story of Sammy Lee — the first Asian American to win gold at the 1948 London Olympics — and his Olympic gold medals, along with his trainees’ gold medals was a solid anchor to adjust to the present as we stepped back out into the sunlight to have lunch by the Bell. [4]
After lunch, we began our guided tour of the Detention Barracks. One of our group, Erin, had specially requested Walter as our guide due to his breadth of knowledge of not just Angel Island but of the Bay Area as a whole. He was a fantastic storyteller, braiding history with his collected stories and anecdotes of his wife’s family on Angel Island. We walked through empty, skeletal rooms to see the remnants of poems, words, and graffiti etched into the walls over the decades. (Exploring the engraved lettering, I learned, was not a kinesthetic learning opportunity — the guide warned us that the characteristic green under layers of paint was lead-based, and I sheepishly stopped tracing the walls with my fingers.)
Later rooms had models of beds and items staged to look lived-in, with belongings crammed onto beds stacked on top of each other in the tight quarters. Each detainee had only the space above their beds for storing their belongings; if they were lucky enough to be on the bottom bunk, they had the space under their beds. The transgenerational ghosts lingering in these unsavory conditions sent goosebumps up my arm. The fact that Angel Island was designed to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act was reinforced by the photos displaying dozens of people separated by gender stripped and crammed around a single medical examiner; it was known for its notoriously lengthy detentions that aimed to deter Asian Immigration to the U.S. [5]
We wrapped up the day soaking up the rest of the sun and ruminated on our experiences on the ferry back to San Francisco, where Russ Lowe shared his father’s stories on Angel Island through a series of incredible documents. Russ had been traveling to China to map his father’s stories and unravel the intricate thread of Paper Sons and real families for the past several decades — flipping through the copies of his father’s paperwork, looking at photos of him, and seeing Russ in his spitting image as living history, was an awe-inspiring conclusion to the day.
I am filled with both lingering grief and deep gratitude for the way the day was facilitated; weaving emotions and real-life accounts into historical narratives brought Angel Island to life in a way I’d never experienced before. It was my first time on the Island, and definitely not my last — I hope to bring my students to the space to wrap themselves in the complex tapestry of emotions and weigh the dialogical push and pull of the past and the present into the future.
References
- Barde, R., Greene, W., & Nealand, D. (2003). The EARS have it: A web search tool for investigation case files from the Chinese Exclusion Era. Fall 2003, Vol. 35, No. 3.
- Rafael, A. (2020, June 23). The history of Angel Island: A gateway for Asian American immigrants. Time. https://time.com/5954114/angel-island-aapi-immigration-history/
- National Park Service. (n.d.). U.S. Immigration Station, Angel Island. U.S. Department of the Interior. https://www.nps.gov/places/u-s-immigration-station-angel-island.htm
- Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. (n.d.). AIISF: Opening doors. Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. https://www.aiisf.org/aiimopeningdoors
- Lee, E., & Yung, J. (2010). Angel Island: Immigrant gateway to America. Oxford University Press.