Timelines – Tucson

Tucson’s Early Chinese: 1870s to 1916

• 1864: 1^st anti-miscegenation law passed in Arizona. Aimed at blacks, it forbad marriage between white and non-white people including the Chinese. Mexicans at this time were considered “white.”
  • However, Chinese men married Mexican women in the Catholic Church or traveled to New Mexico or Mexico to marry. For example:
    • Hi Wo and Emeteria Morena married in 1900 and had a grocery in Benson.
    • Lee Hop & Mary Trujillo married in 1933. They had a grocery in Tucson.

• 1880:
  • Tucson’s Chinese population was about 144, almost all of whom were men over the age of 16.
  • Chinese build the Southern Pacific Railroad through Southern Arizona.
    • January: Forward crews arrive in Tucson.
    • March: The railroad arrives in Tucson.
    • June: A work crew of 851 Chinese are enumerated for the census on the Cienega Creek in what is now eastern Pima County. It is likely there were more Chinese railroad crews working ahead of the main crew as well as behind the main crew. These crews would have been in isolated parts of the county and were not enumerated for the census.

1888: A work crew of 1200 Chinese returns to the Cienega Creek to re-lay track and build berms to keep the creek from washing out the tracks.

1893: In the January 21, 1893, Arizona Citizen an article about a new petition was published.  The petition wanted to “set aside a certain portion of the City of Tucson to be designated as ‘Chinatown,’ and compel all Chinamen to remove to such quarter as you may designate hereafter to reside and carry on business of whatever nature in the boundary limits of such quarters only.” On April 4, 1893, the Arizona Daily Star reported that City Attorney Satterwhite had declared that the act of creating a Chinatown was unconstitutional and the City Council decided that the Chinese could stay where there were and conduct business.

Abt. 1900: As soon as the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, illegal immigration started. By 1900 it shifted to the U.S. Mexican border.

• It first began at the border with Canada.
  • The smuggling of opium was already taking place across the Canadian border. The medical grade of opium could be imported without a tariff into the U.S., however, the lower grade of opium used for smoking was subject to tariffs. The cheaper opium came into Canada, was smuggled across the border, then was sold for a higher profit in the U.S. These established smuggling routes were then used to bring the Chinese into the U.S.
• As the northern border became more difficult to navigate, the southern border became more and more active. By early in the 20^th century, the southern border had become a major entry point for Chinese smuggling.
  • Our relationship with Mexico was not as cordial as it was with Canada, which led to increased policing along the border by the Chinese Inspectors. (The Chinese Inspectors became Immigration Agents in 1913.)
    • On September 3, 1907, the Tucson Citizen reports “More Inspectors to Patrol the Line: Diseased Immigrants Pour into Mexico and Would Come to this Country.”
  • The Chinese came into west coast Mexican ports like Guaymas and were smuggled into the U.S. using the railroad system along the border from southern California to El Paso, TX. 
  • The turmoil caused by the Mexican Revolution (1910 – 1920) and the elimination of steamship travel between Mexico and China in 1920, ended the cross-border smuggling.

• 1911:  As per the article in the Tucson Citizen, November 2, 1911, the Hop Sing Tong Company is incorporated by Don Chun Wo, Yee Dack, Wing You, Low Chuck, Low Wing Chew and Ah Mag. It is one of the first companies incorporated by the Tucson Chinese. This company will purchase what was originally known as the Welisch Block, after Jewish merchant Theodore Welisch, it formed the heart Tucson’s Chinese community for decades. 

More Important Chinese Tucsonans of the Early Period

• The first important Chinese Tucsonan was Chan Tin Wo. He was the first Tucson Chinese businessman who was not only well known in the Chinese community, but in the city of Tucson. This successful Chinese merchant became the role model others to follow.
• Another important Chinese Tucsonan from this period was Chan Tin Wo’s nephew, Don Chun Wo. In 1895 he took over his uncle’s business on Main and Ott and became known as the mayor of “Chinatown.” Unfortunately, he was involved in a long-term battle with Tucson Mayor Heney after the 1905 city gambling ordinance (Ordinance 194) was passed.  In the late 1920s he moved to Casa Grande, AZ where he started another business.

The Classic Age of Tucson’s Chinese Markets: 1916 – late 1960s

• 1916-1917 Punitive Expedition in Mexico: On March 9, 1916 Pancho Villa’s army attacked Columbus, New Mexico. In response, the United States sent General John Pershing and a contingent of Buffalo Soldiers into the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. The Expedition was supplied by the Chinese merchants living in Chihuahua. When Pershing left Mexico, he took these Chinese, known as Pershing’s Chinese, with him out of Mexico, into the United States. They were settled by the government in Columbus, New Mexico. In 1921 Public Law No. 29 was signed, giving them permanent residency in the U.S., a rare exception to Exclusion. One of these Chinese, Lee Wee Kwan, became a merchant in Tucson.

• 1921: On March 13, 1921, the Tucson Citizen announces the formation of the second Chinese Chamber Commerce in “all continental America” in Tucson. They hire Louis G. Hummel, father of Tucson mayor Don Hummel, as their attorney. As one of their first acts, they post the first of many rewards for the murder of a Chinese grocer during a robbery. They moved their office to the Tong house in 1922.
• 1926: Tucson’s Chinese Evangelical Church is founded. The non-denominational church joined the Baptist church in 1976. It is now known as the Tucson Chinese Baptist Church.
  • The new church is the home to Tucson’s first Chinese school. The school is founded to teach local Chinese children to speak Chinese so that when they returned to China to visit relatives, they could tell them about the Christian religion. By the mid-1950s the school was at the Chinese Community Center on 6^th Street. Since 2005 it has been located at the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center.
• Early 1930s: In the early 1930s Mexico expels 70% of its Chinese community, most of the expulsions took place in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. According to Cárdenas García in his article “Inmigrantes chinos en tierra de revolucionarios. El caso de Sinaloa,” (Historia Mexicana, Vol. 73, Núm. 1 (289) julio-septiembre 2023) the peak Chinese population in Sonora was in 1910 when 4,486 people were enumerated for the census. By 1940 it was 92.
  • Chinese diplomats fail in their negotiations with the Mexican government.
  • The United States also negotiates with Mexico. They want to keep the Chinese Mexicans out of the United States.
    • On January 22, 1933 the Evening Star (Washington D.C.) reports “Deporting Chinese is Big US Burden: Huge Costs Revealed by Doak as Exodus from Mexico Continues” William M. Doak, the Secretary of Labor, felt that the expulsions over the last two years had been a “frightful problem” for the Department of Labor to handle.
• December 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor is bombed. By December 11, 1941, the United States was at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy. Tucson’s Chinese men serve their country.
• Early November 1942 – September 1945: Chinese Nationalist pilots, aka the Cadets, trained at Marana Airfield, now known as Pinal Air Park.
• December 17, 1943: Because China was an ally, America repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. However,
  • Only 105 Chinese visas were allowed each year.
  • Chinese nationals already in the country could apply for citizenship.
  • Those that did not apply for citizenship could still be prosecuted for illegal entry.
  • In my opinion, it wasn’t until the Immigration Act of 1965 was passed that the National Origins quota system was eliminated.
  • The curse of Exclusion is still felt by the American Chinese community.
    • Loss of family names.
    • Loss of the name of village of family origin in China.
• 1946: Wing F. Ong of Phoenix becomes the first Chinese immigrant in the United States to be elected to a state legislature. He served two terms in the Arizona House of Representatives and one term in the State Senate. When he died in 1977 it was reported in the New York Times.
• After World War II: After decades in Tucson, the Chee Kung Tong closes. The Ying On Merchant’s and Benevolent Association, which grew from Suey Ying Tong, acquired the compound on Main. The Ying On is still active and is now located in South Tucson.
• 1949: According to Lew Ling in The Chinese in North America, Tucson has 710 Chinese residents, 130 Chinese families and over 106 Chinese markets. This is the peak of Tucson’s Chinese markets.
• November 4, 1956: After four years of planning, the new Chinese Community Center opens at 221 E. 6^th Street in the former Rainbo Bread Bakery. It became the home for the Chinese school, the Chinese Confucian Church, and many social events over the years.
• 1959: Tucson residents Hank Oyama & Mary Ann Jordan went to court to become the first Asian/Anglo couple to legally marry in Arizona.
• Late 1960s: The Tong house and the area surrounding it in Barrio Viejo was torn down to build the Tucson Convention Center. This is the end of the classic center of Tucson’s Chinese community. 

More Important Chinese Tucsonans of the Classic Period

• In the early 1930s grocer John Kai delivered groceries to the residents of the area we now know as Marana. He saw opportunity and bought 4,000+ acres of land in the Avra Valley. In 1943 he married Mamie (How Suey Yow). They became a power couple who built their fortune with long term investments as they developed connections in Arizona’s political and business communities. John Kai was a member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Ying On Association, the Chinese Baptist Church and was an advisor on the Chinese Welfare Council. They owned cotton farms, land in the City of Tucson and even a motel in San Francisco. In 2000, the family donated $1,000,000 to support the building of the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center. In 2013 the Kai family donated the land for the Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery Marana.
• Esther Don Tang was born into a Chinese grocery family in Tucson in 1917. In 1955 she was named Tucson’s Woman of the Year. In 1966 she became the director of the Pio Decimo Center. From 1975 to 1984 she served on Pima Community College’s Board of Governors. In 1984 she was named to Tucson High School’s Badger Hall of Fame. In 1997 she was honored by Los Descendientes del Presidio de Tucson as La Doña de Tucson. In 1999 she officially welcomed President Bill Clinton to Tucson.
• Soleng Tom was born in China. He had multiple business ventures, including the Soleng Center in South Tucson, the Empire Market, and he also worked in real estate. He was involved in numerous organizations including the American Legion and the South Tucson Chamber of Commerce as well as many Chinese organizations. He was instrumental in opening the Chinese Community Center in 1956. He served on the Tucson Unified School District board from 1964 to 1980 and was the board president five times. Soleng Tom Elementary School, located on the east side, opened in 1988 and was named for him. 

The Modern Era: Early 1970s to Present

• 1975: Harry Gin is appointed as the first Chinese Judge of Pima County Superior Court, Division 14 by Governor Raul Castro. Judge Gin was born in Tucson to the family that ran the Gin Soo Dung & Co. grocery, located at 3^rd Ave. & 17^th St. He served in World War II, graduated from the University of Arizona, then graduated from Harvard Law School. He passed his Arizona bar exam in 1952 and practiced civil law in Tucson before moving on to the court. He died in 2011.
• Late 1970s: Tucson becomes Sister Cities with Taichung, Taiwan.
•  Mid 1990s:  Although, the Tucson Chinese community was still using the community center on 6^th Street & 6^th Avenue, many in the Tucson Chinese community start to discuss building a new community center. Not only was the building outdated for the community’s needs, but there was also concern about asbestos contamination because of the building’s prior life as a bakery.