1850-1900 | 1901-1950 | 1951-2000 | 2001-Present
1901-1950
1901: San Francisco’s New Chinese Phone Company Opens
1901: November 22, Chinese Exclusion Convention—convenes to create a list of reasons to exclude Chinese Immigrants
1902: Chinese Exclusion Acts extends for an additional 10 years
1902: San Francisco politicians attempts to move Chinatown
1904: Chinese Exclusion Act made indefinite
1905: Section 60 of California’s Civil Code amended to forbid the marriage between Whites and those of the Mongolian Race
1905: May 14, Asiatic Exclusion League forms in San Francisco. The Asiatic Exclusion League was a racist organization, originally established by 67 labor unions, aimed at stopping the entry of those of Asian ancestry to the United States. Their goal included spreading anti Asian propaganda and influencing legislation to restrict Asian immigration. Those who were specifically targeted were the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. The Asiatic Exclusion League was in large part responsible for pushing the San Francisco Board of Education to segregate Asian school children.
1906: Earthquake hits in San Francisco destroying all municipal records including the documentation of immigrants leading to the existence of “paper sons” and increasing the numbers of Chinese immigrants
1910: Angel Island Immigration Station opens its doors to the process and deportation of Asian Immigrants
1913: California passes act that prohibits the buying and owning of land or leasing it for longer than three years by “aliens ineligible to citizenship”
1914-1918: Some Chinese served in the U.S. Armed Forces and returned as heroes during World War I
1917: Immigration Law defines a geographic “barred zone” from which no immigrants from Asia can arrive
1920: Initiative in California ballot plugs up loopholes in the 1913 alien land law
1922: Cable Act is imposed pronouncing the revocation of citizenship of any American female who marries an “alien ineligible to citizenship”. The Cable Act allowed American women who married foreign men to retain their U.S. citizenship only if they married “aliens eligible for naturalization”. At the time of the Act, Asians were ineligible for naturalization which granted the Cable Act the power to strip the citizenship of women who marries Asian aliens.
1923: Porterfield vs. Webb upholds constitutionality of California’s alien land law
1923: Frick vs. Webb forbids “aliens ineligible to citizenship” from owning stocks in corporations formed for farming
1924: Asian Exclusion Act of 1924 denies entry to virtually all Asians
1930s: Congress passes act allowing the admission of Chinese wives of American citizens married before May 26, 1924
1931: Cable Act is amended declaring American born females who have lost their citizenship by marrying “aliens ineligible to citizenship” cannot be denied the right of naturalization at a later date
1935: Public Law 162 grants the right to apply for U.S. citizenship through naturalization to several hundred Asian veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I
1938: 150 Chinese women garment workers strike for three months against the National Dollar stores
1943: Congress repeals all exclusion laws through the Magnuson Act also known as the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943. The Act was passed and implemented as a result of China becoming a welcome ally to the United States during World War II. The Act allows Chinese immigration for the first time since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The quota was established at 105 Chinese per year. The quota was determined by the Immigration Act of 1924 which set immigration from an accepted country at 2% of the number of people from that nationality who were already living in the United States in 1890. It also permitted the Chinese already residing in the United States to obtain naturalization. This was the first time since the Naturalization Act of 1790 that any Asians were permitted to become naturalized.
1945: The War Brides Act enacted to allow the spouses and children of United States war military personnel to enter the U.S. after World War II. The law temporarily lifted the ban on Asian immigration set by the Immigration Act of 1924.
1946: Wing F. Ong is elected to the Arizona House of Representatives as the first Chinese American to serve in state legislature
1947: Chinese American veterans are allowed to bring brides to the U.S. after an amendment to the 1945 War Brides Act
1949: U.S. breaks off diplomatic ties with newly formed People’s Republic of China
1949: 5,000 highly educated Chinese in the U.S. are granted refugee status after China established a Communist government
