The yellowing old photos show a sprightly young woman of 18 taking a sea voyage to San Francisco. It could be any vacation photo from 1940. But the smiling face and sea breezes belie the harrowing journey taken by Jewish refugee Eva Schott.

She and her family fled Berlin in 1940, among the last Jews able to leave Nazi Germany. They took a train through the USSR and China, and then sailed on an ocean liner from Yokohama to the U.S. immigration station on Angel Island.

While historians have explored the long and often unjust treatment of Japanese and Chinese on Angel Island, much less is known about the thousands of Russians, Eastern Europeans and Jews who came to the U.S. via Asia. Angel Island immigration records show some 500 Jews arrived on ships from Japan and China from 1939-40.

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Through his hard work and commitment to striving for the best in education, David Campos is now a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 9.  Yet, Mr. Campos came from humble beginnings. The following  article examines David’s life and journey from Guatemala to America as an undocumented immigrant and explores how his experiences shaped his views as Supervisor today.

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Internationally acclaimed actress/director Joan Chen (Chen Gong) immigrated to the U.S. at age 19 in 1981.  In this special article for AIISF, Joan Chen tells journalist William Wong about her years as a student in the U.S. and her early career as a Hollywood actress before her breakthrough in the Academy-award winning film, The Last Emperor.

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One hundred years after the Immigration Station opened, we are still uncovering bits and pieces of the Angel Island story.  The following poem, “A Night at the Immigration Station” by Choi Kyung Sik was found by researchers Charles Egan, a professor at San Francisco State University, and his assistant Jikyung Hwang as they went through back issues of the San Francisco-based Shinhan Minbo newspaper. Mr. Choi’s poem was published on April 25, 1925, and this English translation is by Jikyung Hwang and Charles Egan.

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Sanja Curgus was born in what is now known as Sarajevo, Bosnia. When she was born it was actually referred to as Yugoslavia, but due to a series of conflicts Yugoslavia was dismantled into several different independent countries. Her family came to this country in 1987. The plan was to only stay in the United States for one year. At the time Sanja was nine years old and her parents were in their early 30's. The family left what is now known as Bosnia and moved to Bellingham Washington because her farther was offered a visiting professorship at Western Washington University, but the family never moved back to Bosnia.

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Pham Kim Phuong, who came to the U.S. as a child in April 1975 when Saigon fell to the Communists, recounts her journey back to Vietnam.  In an emotional turn of events, she revisits her home town and finds long-lost relatives who have kept her memory alive despite years of separation.

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The following narrative was culled from previous interviews conducted with Mr. Der (including two interviews by UC Davis Pacific Regional Humanities Center’s Phong Chau in November 2004, and Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s Executive Director Eddie Wong in June 2010).

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Gong Bow Gwun, later known as Hew Din, came over from China as Ow Luen in 1912 on the SS Manchuria, which docked in San Francisco on August 15, 1912. He received his Certificate of Identity on September 7, 1912 after three weeks on Angel Island. Like many Chinese immigrants trying to come over during the Chinese Exclusion Acts, he came over as a son of a native born American citizen, which if true would mean he was immigrating legally. His paper father was from Namhoi, in Guangdong Province; in reality, he was from a village called Lok Cheung in the Fah Yuen district, now known as Huadu or Hua Xian.

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Dong Kingman, the internationally renowned artist, was born in Oakland Chinatown on March 31, 1911. When he was five years old, his father sold his clothing store and moved the family to Hong Kong. When he was 18 years old, his father decided to send the children back to the United States.

The following chapter, “Arrived But Not Landed,” taken from Dong Kingman’s autobiography, Paint the Yellow Tiger, describes his experience at the Angel Island Immigration Station.

We wish to thank Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. for allowing us to use this chapter.

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Eliseo Felipe, a 100 year-old retired serviceman, shares his journey to the United States and his pride in becoming an American.

At the age of seven, Eliseo learned to work on the fields to support his family in the Philippines. He immigrated to the United States in 1933 where he met his brother and uncles who worked on the farms in Salinas, California.

Over the years Eliseo held many jobs across California, working as a farmer, bellman, and eventually a serviceman for the United States Army.

Currently, Eliseo is retired and tends to his garden at his house in Salinas, CA. He recently celebrated his 100th Birthday with his wife, four children, and grandchildren.

This film was Produced by Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.

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Jimmy Ning Fong (aka Fong Mee Ning) of Sacramento, California thinks his Angel Island experience did not have much of an effect on him.  He can recall it well and likes to start with the day he first left his home in China. 

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