1885 Chinese expulsion from Eureka

October 2026 October 2026 1885 Chinese expulsion from Eureka Eureka Chinatown 1885.jpg Eureka Chinatown 1885 Eureka, California February 7, 1885 Ethnic cleansing Eureka Chinese Eureka city government Sinophobia, racial discrimination 1885 Chinese expulsion from Eureka was an ethnic cleansing event that took place in Eureka, California on February 7, 1885.Carranco Lynwood 1961 Chinese Expulsion from Humboldt County. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3636420 Pacific Historical Review 30 4 329–340 JSTOR 10.2307/3636420 3636420 subscription Background Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States had been rising since mid-19th century. Numerous anti-Chinese riots broke out in the west, including California. The San Francisco riot of 1877 led to the formation of the Workingmen's Party of California that same year; its slogan "The Chinese must go!" served to further incite resentment toward Chinese immigrants. The growing sinophobia was reflected in 1882 when the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, ceasing Chinese immigration.https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=47 An act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to the Chinese May 6, 1882 General Records of the United States Government National Archive thumb|left|Eureka Chinatown laundry In the Humboldt Bay area, the logging industry drew Chinese laborers, who formed a Chinatown in Eureka around Fourth and E streets. By 1880 the Chinese population in Eureka was reported to be 96.https://www.theava.com/archives/10696 Island Of Strangers Yang Yang April 20, 2011 The Boontling Greeley Sheet Anderson Valley Advertiser Expulsion On the evening of February 6, 1885, around 6 pm, Eureka City Councilman David Kendall was caught in the crossfire of two rival Chinese gangs and killed. Two hundred feet from Chinatown was Centennial Hall (built a decade before to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence), where a crowd of over 600 whites gathered and decided to evict the Chinese.LaBelle Matthew https://chineseexpulsionhumboldt.weebly.com/the-expulsion.html The Expulsion of the Chinese from Humboldt County Next day, February 7, city resolutions were passed stipulating that "all Chinamen be expelled from the city and that none be allowed to return."https://books.google.com/books?id=koQalf4HiZ4C&q=Eureka Driven out: the forgotten war against Chinese Americans Pfaelzer Jean 400 University of California Press August 2008 9780520256941 A Committee of Fifteen organized the systemic deportation of virtually all 480 Chinese residents aboard two steamships to San Francisco; only a few Chinese managed to stay within the county.http://www.clarkemuseum.org/immigration-expulsion-homecoming.html Immigration, Expulsion, Homecoming The Legacy of the Chinese Expulsion in Humboldt County Clarke Historical Museum Amazingly, no fatalities occurred during the expulsion, but Chinatown was demolished, with nothing left behind. To this day, there are few Asians in Humboldt County.Easthouse, K. February 27, 2003 The Chinese Expulsion http://www.northcoastjournal.com/022703/cover0227.html North Coast Journal Aftermath thumb|right|Workingmen's Party of California ticket, 1879 This "peaceful" method of expelling Chinese was touted as The Eureka Method (or Eureka Plan), and served as a model for Chinese expulsions in other California cities, including Crescent City (1885), Arcata (1886), Ferndale (1906), as well as other towns along the west coast such as Tacoma, Washington (1885). In 1886 the San Francisco Chinese Six Companies sued the city of Eureka in Wing Hing vs. Eureka, demanding reparations and financial compensation as a consequence of the expulsion, but the case was dropped since the Chinese could not own land, they had lost no property.https://longreads.com/2019/02/18/i-saw-my-countrymen-marched-out-of-tacoma/ I Saw My Countrymen Marched Out of Tacoma Lanzendorfer Joy February 2019 Longreads The same year, the city hosted its largest anti-Chinese mass meeting to date, packing Centennial Hall and featuring such speakers as former state senator Pierce H. Ryan and future governor James Gillett.DOOMED! https://www.newspapers.com/image/1168985295/?terms=%22P.%20H.%20Ryan%22%20%22J.%20N.%20Gillett%22 16 November 2025 Daily Humboldt Standard 8 February 1886 Eureka In 1890, the Humboldt County business directory boasted it is "The Only County in the State Containing No Chinamen".https://kymkemp.com/2020/10/23/odd-old-news-the-1906-chinese-expulsion/ ODD OLD NEWS: THE 1906 CHINESE EXPULSION Kemp Kym October 23, 2020https://www.downtownbrown.com/pages/books/306676/lillie-e-hamm/history-and-business-directory-of-humboldt-county-descriptive-of-the-natural-resources History and Business Directory of Humboldt County Descriptive of the Natural Resources, Delightful Climate, Picturesque Scenery, Beautiful Homes. The Only County in the State Containing No Chinamen Hamm Lillie E. November 1890 Downtown Brown Books Exclusion of Chinese and other Asians in Eureka continued well into the 20th century. In 1941, the Eureka City Council revised its charter:Oliner Samual P. Krause Jerrald D. 2001 RACIAL AND ETHNIC ATTITUDES IN RURAL AMERICA: Focus on Humboldt County, California. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23263404 Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 26 1/2 11–55 23263404 Sec. 190 No Chinese shall ever be employed, either directly or indirectly on any work of the city, or in the performance of any contract or sub-contract of the city, except in punishment of a crime. Nor shall any provisions, supplies, materials, or articles of Chinese manufacture or production ever be use or purchased by or furnished to the city. This section was not removed from Eureka's charter until 1959.Perry Ronald J. May 2005 Wipe Out The Plague Spots: The Expulsion of the Chinese From Humboldt County http://humboldt-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/2148/33/Perry.pdf Humboldt State University 2023-04-20 2021-03-21 https://web.archive.org/web/20230420162158/https://humboldt-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/2148/33/Perry.pdf dead References Category:Eureka, California Category:1885 riots Category:1885 in California Category:Asian-American issues Category:Ethnic cleansing in the United States Category:Chinese-American history of California Category:February 1885 in the United States Category:Racially motivated violence against Chinese Americans in California Category:White American riots in the United States