About

Oakland Chinatown is over 150 years old with generations of Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants calling this place home.

Throughout its history, residents have constantly been threatened by displacement yet have remained mostly resilient with the community's long history of advocacy. It’s full of stories about the neighborhood as a communal place of refuge, innovation, and deep cultural vibrancy.

The oral history project began in 2006 when many elders in Chinatown expressed the need to pass on their stories of community resilience to future generations. During that first phase, trained high school youth conducted 12 interviews with Chinatown elders which have been archived at the Oakland Public Library, and now digitally here. Subsequent phases have focused on key community anchors, including Lincoln School, the Madison Park community, and the Asian Branch Library.

A digital memory map grounds our crowd-sourced collection with a focus on people's stories about community places. With its roots in Oakland Chinatown, the project also spans beyond the neighborhood to AAPI communities throughout Oakland, East Bay, and Bay Area.

While each of our collected stories are unique, Chinatown’s destiny is shared by all. That is why this intergenerational storytelling project is so important to our community. I hope you learn to love Oakland Chinatown like our team and our elders do, and be a part of ensuring its survival for generations to come.


Contact Info

A project of the Oakland Asian Cultural Center

For more info, contact Roy at rcoacc@gmail.com