Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain by Russell Freedman (review)

Impelled by poverty and political upheaval, particularly in the Pearl River Delta, and lured by the California gold mines and railroad construction opportunities of mid nineteenth-century America, thousands of Chinese workers sought their fortunes, if not permanent residence, in the United States. San Francisco became the main port of entry, and Angel Island, the city’s immigration station from 1910 through 1940, acquired the reputation of a portal designed as much to keep “undesirable” Chinese immigrants out as it was to welcome them. Angel Island and the concomitant story of Chinese Exclusion have recently received deserved attention within children’s literature, and Freedman offers here a brief but comprehensive overview of the station’s history. Background information on anti-Chinese actions by citizen groups and government policies not only documents the bigotry but also highlights resistance and protests within the Chinese community, which does not always find its way into other accounts. Moreover, Freedman also discusses other immigrants who passed through Angel Island with different experiences—Japanese picture brides in arranged marriages, Indian activists seeking independence from Britain, Korean activists rallying against Japanese colonial rule, Jews fleeing the Holocaust via temporary refuge in Singapore. Most spreads feature one or more photographs, slightly oversized text, and generous margins, making this an appealing selection for readers who find nonfiction daunting. Source notes and bibliography are included; the bound book will include an index.