Searching for Salem's Early Chinese Community

Did Salem, Oregon, have a Chinatown during the late 1800s? In this research article, Kimberli Fitzgerald, Kirsten Straus, and Kylie Pine document their three-year investigation to answer to this question. The authors worked with a local advisory committee, including historians, members of Salem’s Chinese community, and representatives from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the Hoy Yin Association, Friends of the Salem Pioneer Cemetery, and Willamette University. Collectively, the group learned that Salem had a thriving Chinatown for many years that included community leader George Lai Sun and several prominent families. An archaeological team also uncovered a funerary table in Salem’s Pioneer Cemetery, one of very few physical remnants of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century community. Together, the project committee and today’s Salem Chinese community reinstated the funerary table's use in the annual Qingming festival.

《探寻塞勒姆早期华人社区》

俄勒冈州塞勒姆在十九世纪末有唐人街吗？在这篇研究文章中，Kimberli Fitzgerald、Kirsten Straus 和 Kylie Pine 记录了他们为解答这一问题而开展的三年调查。作者联合当地咨询委员会，包括历史学家、塞勒姆华人社区的成员，以及来自中华会馆 (Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association)、海宴同乡会 (Hoy Yin Association)、塞勒姆先锋公墓之友 (Friends of the Salem Pioneer Cemetery) 和威拉米特大学的代表。这一团体调研并了解到，塞勒姆曾有过繁盛多年的唐人街，社区领袖 George Lai Sun 和多个显赫家族都是唐人街的一份子。考古小组还在塞勒姆先锋公墓发现了一张祭台，这是十九世纪末至二十世纪初社区留存的为数不多的实物遗迹之一。项目委员会联合如今的塞勒姆华人社区，恢复了每年清明祭扫使用祭台的传统。