Restoration

In time, Angel Island began to recede into memory like fog in the bay. The traumatic experiences the Chinese community had faced there were rarely if ever mentioned to future generations, until 1970, shortly before the scheduled destruction of the barracks. At this time, a California State Park Ranger, Alexander Weiss, rediscovered the poetry on the walls of the abandoned barracks. Ranger Weiss contacted Professor George Araki of San Francisco State College and photographer Mak Takahashi; together they photographed the walls of the barracks. Sparked by the discovery, Bay Area Asian Americans, spearheaded by Paul Chow, formed the Angel Island Immigration Station Historical Advisory Committee (AIISHAC). This organization studied how best to preserve the station for historical interpretation.

In July 1976, their hard work came to fruition as the state legislature appropriated $250,000 to restore and preserve the barracks as a state monument. In 1983, the barracks opened to the public and members of AIISHAC created the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) to continue preservation and educational efforts regarding the site. AIISF is the non-profit partner of California State Parks and the National Park Service in the work to restore the historic immigration station at Angel Island. AIISF’s mission includes both the preservation of the site and education about the role of Pacific Rim immigration in U.S. history.

In 1997, the Angel Island Immigration Station was declared a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service. In 1999, Save America’s Treasures, a project of the National Trust and the White House Millennium Council, adopted Angel Island Immigration Station as one of its Official Projects, providing $500,000 for the preservation of the precious Chinese poems carved into the barracks walls. In March 2000, California voters passed a state bond measure that set aside $15 million specifically for restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station.

The Angel Island Immigration Station continues to be a part of America’s story. The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation hopes to bring its history to light and to make its lessons part of our national dialogue about the complicated intersection of race, immigration and the American identity.