“We Built America,” an inspiring video short by Owen and Samuel Chin-Rust about how their great-great grandfather helped shape American history, is now available on our web page.  Owen and Samuel write, “When we learned that the original photo marking the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Point left out the Chinese workers, who…

Join us for a conversation with Julia Flynn Siler, author of “The White Devil’s Daughters: The Women Who Fought Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown”. The book is a revelatory history of the trafficking of young Asian girls that flourished in San Francisco during the first century of Chinese immigration (1848-1943) and the “safe house” on the…

Nearly all of us have made some progress on our family tree.  After you’ve gotten a couple of generations worth of names, a natural question would be “What am I going to do with this?”  You could keep it all in folders or boxes, or stick your tree and documents into a notebook, but that’s…

In our 2021 webinar, “Who Is Shee 氏?”, Zack Wilske and Marisa Louie Lee highlighted the less known experiences of women in immigration. These unknown, often nameless, women were left behind in China to shoulder family caregiving responsibilities, while their men/husbands worked overseas. This inspired our Chinese Family History member, Kitty Lew, to discover her…

To quote a wise and renowned Chinese American genealogist, Tony King, genealogy … “It’s about hearts, not charts.” The data—names, dates, places, etc—and charting are the solid groundings of genealogy, but are just the ‘skeleton’ that stories provide the ‘flesh’ to and for in family history. We take a closer look at what to do…

An estimated 18,000 – 20,000 Chinese Americans served during WW2, but researching their wartime and veteran stories presents some unique challenges. In a continuing segment, KB Barcomb’s presentation discusses strategies to leverage the ever-increasing availability of WW2 records and resources to further your research.  In 2022, KB Barcomb, a military researcher and social historian, took…

A Screening and Conversation with the Director 🎬 Immerse yourself in the remarkable tale of “My Life in China,” a poignant award winning documentary crafted by the filmmaker Kenneth Eng. Through the lens of personal discovery, this film chronicles the journey of one man’s connection to his roots, unveiling a tapestry of memories, struggles, and…

The Chinese Family History Group (CFHG) is proud to announce its collaboration with the Library of Congress to bring the Veterans History Project to Santa Monica and Alhambra. Andrew Huber (liaison specialist at the Library of Congress), who has presented to the CFHG before, will be actualizing his talk in-person at these interview events! The…

We started off our 2023 year with an unforgettable visit to The Huntington on April 08, 2023! Our paying Members had the opportunity to explore a specially selected, unparalleled collection of rare books, manuscripts, and photographs related to Chinese-American and Chinese in the Diaspora history. They were led by our expert curator, Li-Wei Yang, who…

Military researcher and social historian KB Barcomb will take you through the 14th Service Group, a Chinese American unit. KB Barcomb’s analysis focused on the unit’s lives and formation through their travels before deploying from the United States to the final destination of the China Burma India theater. As you research your family’s stories in…