Chinese in the Richmond

Chinese in the Richmond

Did you grow up in Chinatown and move to the Richmond District? Maybe visited relatives during holidays, or came west for fun in the fog? 

We want to hear your stories!

Chinese in the Richmond is a collaboration between the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) and Western Neighborhoods Project (WNP) that explores the migration of families from Chinatown to the Richmond District, illuminating the lives of Chinese Americans on the west side of San Francisco from the community’s point of view. 

By weaving together recorded oral history interviews with primary resources, Chinese in the Richmond will produce a traveling interpretive exhibition and programming as well as an archive of bilingual transcripts available to future researchers. It will also serve as a critical companion to the CHSA exhibition Chinese in the Sunset by completing a narrative path of westward migration, which first brought families to the Richmond on their way to the Sunset. 

Be a part of history! Complete the contact form below to tell us what you’d like to contribute (photographs, mementos, stories) to this project.

Image Credits: 

Images top: (Center-Right) C: Unidentified woman on parapet with Great Highway and Ocean Beach in the distance, outer Richmond, July 1939. Courtesy: Private Collection, Western Neighborhoods Project wnp27.1611. R: Clement Street at 16th Avenue, Inner Richmond, postcard, 1914. Western Neighborhoods Project wnp27.0857. Images Bottom: (L-R) L: Looking south towards Ocean Beach and Kelly’s Cove from Point Lobos Avenue, 1973. Photo: Unknown. Courtesy: David Gallagher, Photographer: Unknown. Western Neighborhoods Project wnp12.00714. C: Balboa Theatre, showing ‘Wild in the Street’ and “President’s Analyst”, Sugar Bowl bakery, Rosa Linda mexican restaurant, and Heine’s Hardware 1968. Courtesy: Jack Tillmany Collection, Photographer: Unknown, Western Neighborhoods Project  wnp67.0007. R: Man in front of the Beach Chalet, Golden Gate Park, 1957. Courtesy of David Gallagher, Photographer: Unknown, Collection: Lee Family. Western Neighborhoods Project  wnp12.0111.