March 17, 1901
My name is Sen (short for Senyayuhou) Ching Yung. I was 22 years old when I left my home town. Gold was discovered in the United States in 1848. As many others before me, I decided to try my luck at finding gold in the states. I migrated to a state called California. Just like thousands of Chinese men had done before me, I wanted to live out the “American dream.”
When I first arrived in 1949, there were many others like me. I was hoping to “strike it rich.” The belief was that there was gold and fortunes to be made if you seized the opportunity. I was residing in San Francisco at the time. One man I met on the ship had planned on moving to Vancouver, I believe, which is also in California. I never saw this man again, but after only a few years of constant mining, it became clear that my dreams were very distant and not anywhere near the future.
Having left my wife and daughter behind, I wanted to make enough money to either make it back home or send for them. I began doing labor-type work. I worked on railroads, flumes, canals, etc. Work was very hard to find for us Chinese men. We were not well-liked by the Americans and hostility came in many forms. The Southern white men often turned violent towards us and continued to drive us out of the mines. Many Chinese men were killed by mob attacks, most by white agricultural workers and employers alike. Even the employers that provided jobs to us were at risk.
We were taking jobs that no one else wanted to take. We worked as peddlers, farmers, fisherman, storekeepers, and cooks. We took the harder more laborious jobs. Some men were not as lucky as I. They did not give up on their quest for gold until it was too late, until there were no jobs left to take. This caused even more hostility as the white men blamed the economy and lack of jobs on us. They would call us “rice eaters” when we were passing by on the street.. Many of the Chinese men that could not find work elsewhere became “houseboys” and... [continues]
My name is Sen (short for Senyayuhou) Ching Yung. I was 22 years old when I left my home town. Gold was discovered in the United States in 1848. As many others before me, I decided to try my luck at finding gold in the states. I migrated to a state called California. Just like thousands of Chinese men had done before me, I wanted to live out the “American dream.”
When I first arrived in 1949, there were many others like me. I was hoping to “strike it rich.” The belief was that there was gold and fortunes to be made if you seized the opportunity. I was residing in San Francisco at the time. One man I met on the ship had planned on moving to Vancouver, I believe, which is also in California. I never saw this man again, but after only a few years of constant mining, it became clear that my dreams were very distant and not anywhere near the future.
Having left my wife and daughter behind, I wanted to make enough money to either make it back home or send for them. I began doing labor-type work. I worked on railroads, flumes, canals, etc. Work was very hard to find for us Chinese men. We were not well-liked by the Americans and hostility came in many forms. The Southern white men often turned violent towards us and continued to drive us out of the mines. Many Chinese men were killed by mob attacks, most by white agricultural workers and employers alike. Even the employers that provided jobs to us were at risk.
We were taking jobs that no one else wanted to take. We worked as peddlers, farmers, fisherman, storekeepers, and cooks. We took the harder more laborious jobs. Some men were not as lucky as I. They did not give up on their quest for gold until it was too late, until there were no jobs left to take. This caused even more hostility as the white men blamed the economy and lack of jobs on us. They would call us “rice eaters” when we were passing by on the street.. Many of the Chinese men that could not find work elsewhere became “houseboys” and... [continues]
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