Seattle-based writer, activist to discuss history of Chinese-Americans in Washington

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The Jefferson County Historical Society’s First Friday Speaker Series will wrap up with a deep-dive into the history of the Chinese and Chinese-American community in Washington state with a lecture by Seattle-based activist, writer, and historian Doug Chin.

Chin and his brother, Art, co-wrote “Up Hill: The Settlement and Diffusion of Chinese in Seattle, Washington” in 1973, a well-known reference book for Chinese history in the region.

Chin will provide an introductory lecture for interested parties to learn the unvarnished truth about early Chinese immigration, racial tension, and activism in Jefferson County and beyond.

The speaker event will be available to attend in-person with limited spots starting at 7 p.m. Friday, April 1 at the Northwest Maritime Center; the program will be available to watch online, as well.

Chin grew up in Seattle in the 1940s and ’50s before serving in the U.S. military in the early 1960s. Afterwards, he moved to the San Francisco Bay area, where he soon became politically-active.

As a student at San Francisco State University and a member of the East Bay Chinese Youth Council, Chin was involved in Asian and developing-world student activism in the late ’60s to advocate for minority rights and ethnic studies programs.

Chin returned to Seattle around 1970 and quickly became involved in local Asian-American youth activism, particularly around the preservation of the Seattle Chinatown-International District. In his work for the Washington State Department of Health and as a district coordinator for the International District in the Department of Neighborhoods, Chin focused his attention on providing human services to the diverse population of the district.

He’s probably best known for his writing on Chinese and Chinese-American studies. During the 1970s, Chin wrote regularly for Seattle’s activist press groups, starting at Asian Family Affair, then No Separate Peace, and the International Examiner, where he wrote for a number of years.

In 2001, Chin wrote “Seattle’s International District: The Making of a Pan-Asian American Community,” and in 2013 co-authored “Chinese in Washington State” with his brother.

This program will be hosted in-person with limited attendance and proof of vaccination required. It’s also offered virtually via livestream from the Northwest Maritime Center. A recording of the program will be made available to registered attendees post-event.

The First Friday Speaker Series is supported by the Northwest Maritime Center.

Tickets are available at simpletix.com/e/april-first-friday-speaker-series-chinese-tickets-102509.

Suggested donations are $10. To learn more about the historical society or the First Friday Speaker Series, go to www.jchsmuseum.org.

The 2022 Spring First Friday Speaker Series has celebrated Chinese-American voices from within the Port Townsend community and beyond. Through the lens of multi-disciplinary art, film, and academic research, speakers share their perspectives on historical and contemporary experiences of Chinese and Chinese-American peoples in Jefferson County and Washington state.