Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation records

Collection

Identifier: Mss-097

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection documents the activities of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advances civic harmony by way of the Chinese Reconciliation Park on Schuster Parkway along Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington. The collection consists of meeting minutes, correspondence, bylaws, news clippings, event flyers, photographs, and other documents created by or related to the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation. Topics discussed in the materials include the expulsion of Chinese citizens from Tacoma in 1885, the development of Chinese Reconciliation Park, and the day-to-day administrative activities of the Foundation.

Dates

Creation: 1992-2009, 2022

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Archives & Special Collections, University of Puget Sound, provides access to its collections to support educational, personal, and non-commercial use. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law. Copyright laws protect published as well as unpublished materials. It is the user's responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or any other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise disseminating materials found in the collections. Physical property rights reside with the Archives & Special Collections, University of Puget Sound. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, please consult the Archives & Special Collections.

Biographical / Historical

On November 3, 1885, a group of 500 white Tacoma residents gathered the city’s population of approximately 200 Chinese citizens and expelled them from the city by train and wagon. Within days, members of the Tacoma community had burned the city’s Chinatown to the ground. The expulsion of Chinese citizens from Tacoma marked the culmination of years of anti-Chinese sentiment, bolstered by an economic downturn during which Chinese workers were positioned as scapegoats. Many prominent Tacoma citizens, including the Mayor, supported the Chinese expulsion. Expelling citizens in this manner became known as “The Tacoma Method.”

The Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation (CRPF) was established in 1992. In 1993, Tacoma City Council officially acknowledged the 1885 expulsion and voiced support for the development of a park to memorialize the event and aid in reconciliation. The CRPF worked to develop the park, which broke ground in 2005 and opened to the public in 2010.

Extent

0.63 Linear Feet (2 boxes (one full and one half-sized))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection documents the activities of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 1992. The foundation, in partnership with the City of Tacoma, was instrumental in the development of Tacoma's Chinese Reconciliation Park, located at 1741 North Schuster Parkway. The park is a critical component of the community-led reconciliation process intended to acknowledge the 1885 expulsion of Tacoma's Chinese citizens led by the Mayor and community leaders of that time, to express Tacoma's commitment to end racism and hatred, and to promote a peaceful, multicultural community.