Artists Interpret the Angel Island experience
One of the most gratifying developments this year has been the creative works celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Angel Island Immigration Station. Earlier this year, composer Chen Yi's choral work, "Passages," was performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus with visual accompaniment by filmmaker Felicia Lowe. The following are special presentations you won't want to miss.September 15, 16, and 17 - 7:30 p.m. Paper Angels, a play by Genny Lim, directed by Victoria Linchong. A Direct Arts production to be performed at Portsmouth Square, San Francisco.
This production of Lim's 1982 play will incorporate a two-piece traditional Chinese music ensemble and 12 actors including Obie Award winner Jojo Gonzalez. It is part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival and admission is free. For more information, go to http://www.sffringe.org/fringe10/10/paper.html.
The producers are still raising funds to bring the cast to San Francisco. You can make a donation at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/34801238/paper-angels-in-san-francisco.
September 24 and 25 - 8 p.m.; Sept. 26 - 2:30 p.m. - "Passages: For Lee Ping To," an Asian Improv aRts presentation of Lenora Lee's multi-media dance performance at Dance Mission Theater, 3316 - 24th St. (at Mission Street), in San Francisco.
Inspired by Lee's grandmother's detention at the Immigration Station in 1940, the work includes video sequences by media designer Olivia Ting, music by Frances Wong, and a reading by poet/playwright Genny Lim. A short excerpt of this work was performed at the Immigration Station on July 31 and you can see a short clip of that performance at www.aiisf.org/media. You can also see an excellent short video by James Q. Chan in which Lenora Lee explains the origins of the dance piece along with rehearsal footage. Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/AsianImprovaRts#p/a/u/O/Fw32WJLZMoE to learn more about the production.
Tickets are $14 in advance at Brown Paper Tickets or $20 at the door. The event is co-sponsored by AIISF and the Chinese Historical Society of America.
Other upcoming events:
October 24, 3 p.m. -"World Premiere: Angel Voices: Rhapsody on Angel Island Poetry by pianist /composer Jon Jang at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The works features poet Genny Lim and a chamber jazz ensemble comprised of pipa (Chinese lute), woodwinds and a rhythm section. The presentation is part of the San Francisco Jazz Festival. Tickets are $30. The premium general admission will be $50 and feature a pre-concert talk by Jon Jang.
November 7 - 5 p.m. - GenRyu Arts 15th Anniversary Concert, "Tsuki No Usagi," will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Angel Island Immigration Station. The concert will feature the core ensemble as well as guest arts Hideko Nakajima (shamisen, accordion and voice), Tastu Aoki (taiko, shamisen, acoustic bass) and master shamisen artist from Japan Chizuru Kineya. The concert will be at BRAVA Theater, 2781 24th St., San Francisco.
A Perspective on Immigration Reform
With the passage of national health care reform completed, many immigrant advocates are urging Congress to revive efforts for comprehensive immigration reform. Their hopes were boosted on April 10, 2010 as the U.S. Senate majority leader, Harry Reid told a cheering crowd of 6,000 people, "We're going to come back; we're going to have comprehensive immigration reform now." Congress returned from spring recess on April 12.Inspired by Angel Island
The poems that were carved on the walls of the Immigration Station by Chinese immigrants continue to move people. Those poignant, angry, reflective and visceral expressions are universal declarations of the human spirit In the coming months, we will share some recently translated poems written by Japanese immigrants to Angel Island. Written both by men and women, these poems were sent to Bay Area Japanese newspapers from 1910 to 1930.
As part of the celebration of the Immigration Station’s 100th anniversary in 2010, we will publish the works of contemporary poets who have been inspired by the Angel Island poems. Nancy Hom and Leon Sun are artists and community activists as well as poets. We are pleased to share their work with you.
If you would like to submit poetry to be posted on our website, please write to
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Interview of Stephen Louie, Chinese Interpreter
Interview of Stephen Louie
Chinese Interpreter, 1949 to 1954, US Immigration Office, San Francisco
By Jim Huen
Chinese Interpreter, 1949 to 1954, US Immigration Office, San Francisco
By Jim Huen
Angel Island Immigration Station operated from 1910 to late 1940 when a fire closed the Station. The U.S. Immigration office then moved to a temporary location in San Francisco at 801 Silver Avenue and operated there until 1944 when a new permanent immigration facility was built and opened at 630 Sansome Street. It was also known as the U.S. Appraisers Building, housing other federal agencies. This facility is still an active immigration office under its current name United States Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Department of Homeland Security. Little has been written about these two San Francisco immigration facilities.In our continuing effort to document and record the Chinese immigration experience to America, AIISF was fortunate to interview the last known living Chinese interpreter Stephen Louie who worked full time at the Sansome Street facility for five years, from 1949 to 1954. In October 2009, Mr. Louie agreed to be interviewed about his work experiences there. Here are Mr. Louie’s recollections as he remembers them in his own words.
2008 eNewsletter
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