AIISF Newsletter / March 2026
Asian women and children seated on benches in a long, wire enclosed pen at the Angel Island Immigration Station. There is an American charity worker sitting with them. Source: Library of Congress
A Message From AIISF’s Executive Director
Dear AIISF Friends and Family,
This Women’s History Month, we lift up the experiences of women who were processed or detained on Angel Island. We also celebrate the long list of female leaders who have been involved in preserving the Angel Island Immigration Station.
We don’t know exactly how many women were held on Angel Island, but we do know that they faced many barriers immigrating to the US. The Page Act of 1875, one of our nation’s first restrictive immigration laws, was passed to prevent immigration by Chinese women. It was a precursor to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the numerous laws that followed. With few career opportunities available to them at the time, women often faced greater difficulty in gaining admittance to the country.
We know from historical accounts about the hardships women endured while detained on Angel Island, including the invasive medical exams and intensive interrogations. Access to fresh air and the outdoors was also severely limited for women and girls. They only had access to a small, encaged walkway on the administration building’s roof. Once a week, they were allowed to walk —under guard— around the grounds.
Women wrote poetry expressing the emotional toll of detention on Angel Island. Unfortunately, when the administration building burned down in 1940, the women’s inscriptions were lost.
But what has not been lost is the recognition and appreciation that throughout AIISF’s 40+ year history, women have held important and integral roles as board members or staff. Thank you to Darlene Chiu Bryant, Win Chang, Anne Chen, Claudine Cheng, Kathy Ko Chin, Nobuko Saito Cleary, Erika Gee, Elizabeth Goldstein, Daphne Kwok, Erika Lee, Genny Lim, Felicia Lowe, Rosemarie Nahm, Irene Yee Riley, Katherine Toy, Kathy Turner, Gerrye Wong, Connie Young Yu, Dien Yuen, the late Judy Yung, and so many others who continue to support AIISF today.
Today, we are fortunate to have Sameen Piracha as Vice President, Stephanie Isaacson as Treasurer, Natalie Huen as Secretary as well as board members Elena Antonetti, Paurvi Bhatt, Natalie Huen, and Madhuri Jha. On staff, we benefit from the leadership and service of AIISF's Director of Education Danielle Wetmore and Administrative Coordinator Emma Kwok. We appreciate the trusted and collegial relationship with Angel Island State Park staff at the immigration station including Mikaela Garduno, Casey Dexter-Lee, Cynthia Pu, Crystal Saephan, Colleen Shannon, and Amy Tanner.
Let’s remember the important yet often overlooked histories of women; their current-day contributions and experiences; and the need for continued collective commitment towards gender equity.
With gratitude,
Edward Tepporn
Executive Director
15th Annual Immigrant Heritage Awards Reception
April 25 | 5 - 7 pm
Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square
Click here to learn more
Join us for an elevated evening on the top floor of the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square featuring:
Guest musical performances
Tasting stations
Open beer and wine bar
Awards ceremony for this year's honorees
Come to our annual fundraiser and support AIISF's preservation work, programs, and operations throughout the year!
Pathways to Immigration Special Campaign
Through our Pathways to Immigration Special Campaign, you can commemorate your own immigration journey, honor your family’s immigrant heritage, or show your allyship with immigrant communities.
Whether you or your family came through Angel Island or elsewhere and whether you arrived in the US decades ago or days ago, we welcome your name and your support.
Upcoming Events
"Facing the Moon”: Del Sol Quartet and SF Poet Laureate Genny Lim
March 14 | 12 - 1 pm
Detention Barracks Museum
Click here to learn more
Our line-up of second-Saturday activities begins with a live performance by Del Sol Quartet and poet Genny Lim, amplifying the experience of the Chinese diaspora on Angel Island through excerpts from “Facing the Moon.”
Shuttle rides to the Immigration Station will be available. The performance will be included in your $5 admission to the museum. RSVP on our website if you plan to come!
Hands on History
March 14 | 12 - 3:30 pm
Angel Island Immigration Station
Click here to learn more
Hands on History returns March 14! Make art while learning about Angel Island.
If you're attending "Facing the Moon," join us after the show!
Watch our social media for more details, coming soon!
Summer Tour Times
Get ready! Angel Island State Park's summer tour slots (for July through early September 2026) will open in mid-March!
Virtual Field Trips
Virtual programs for middle and high schools with block schedules will also be available from July to early September.
For more information about virtual field trips, please email Angel Island State Park at tours.angelisland@parks.ca.gov.
Community Events
There is No Angel on Angel Island: Joanna Tam
December 5, 2025—March 7, 2026 | Wednesdays - Saturdays, 1-6 pm
Mills Gallery (551 Tremont Street, Boston, MA)
Click here to learn more
See Joanna Tam's photographic exhibition, There is No Angel on Angel Island, at the Boston Center for the Arts, featuring photographs taken at the Angel Island Immigration Station. This project is part of Tam’s larger body of work, Visibility Studies, which unpacks the meaning of hypervisibility, invisibility, and safety for folx whose identities do not align with societal norms.
Bay Windows: Illuminating Immigrant Women's Perspectives
December 11, 2025 - March 11, 2026
Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco's Design Store (41 Ross Alley)
Click here to learn more
Check out Bay Windows, an art project led by Christine Wong Yap, engaging 15 multigenerational, working-class, immigrant, Chinese and Latinx women. Each woman identified social or political themes, collaborated on a design, and made a paper cut, which Christine transformed into lanterns.
All 15 lanterns are displayed through March 2026 in San Francisco’s Chinatown and Mission District.
JAM 50th Anniversary & Women's History Month Exhibit
March 22 | 6 - 7:30 pm
Studio Gen, Japan Center East Mall, Suite 505, San Francisco
Click here to register
Celebrate Women's History Month with at Studio Gen on March 22. View an exhibit featuring works by women artists in the Japantown & Media Workshop of the 1970s-1980s, in recognition of JAM's 50th Anniversary. The event will include an Artist Talk featuring artists Stephanie Lowe and Nancy Hom, moderated by educator and artist, Katie Quan. Attendance is free with registration.
Oakland Ballet Company's Angel Island
May 8-9 | 7:30 pm (Saturday) and 2:30 pm (Sunday)
Herbst Theatre San Francisco
Click here to purchase tickets
The Oakland Ballet Company along with the Del Sol Quartet and the Volti singers conducted by Robert Geary is proud to present this profoundly poignant, but also inspiring interpretation of Angel Island by composer Huang Ruo. Angel Island portrays the anguish and aspiration experienced by hundreds of Chinese immigrants detained on Angel Island Immigration Station in the decades between 1910 and 1940.
Choreographed by AAPI artists Natasha Adorlee, Phil Chan, Lawrence Chen, Elaine Kudo, Ashley Thopiah, and Wei Wang this work is an informative, impressionistic, sadly relevant, but ultimately uplifting tribute to the fortitude of the human spirit. It is a heartfelt collaboration by a singular group of extraordinary artists, not to be missed.
Community Resources
Islamic Scholarship Fund
The Islamic Scholarship Fund strives to increase representation in media and politics in order to improve public opinion and public policy. It empowers students and professionals through academic scholarships, film grants, mentorships, internships and fellowships.
The 2026 ISF Scholarship Application is now open until March 31, 2026, at 11:59 pm. This opportunity is for students in an ISF-supported field who will be pursuing their studies as full-time students during the 2026–2027 academic year.
AIISF is a small (but mighty) nonprofit that has worked tirelessly for the past 42 years to preserve the buildings at Angel Island and to elevate the stories of immigrants. Our ability to continue these preservation efforts and to continue to offer free or low-cost programs is dependent on the support of community members like you. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to AIISF.