Saturday, May 6
Chatham Square Library

On Saturday, May 6, we will screen Kenneth Eng’s documentary My Life in China. Eng writes: “My father fled the Cultural Revolution in 1966. After risking his life to get to America, he started our family in Boston. But when his restaurant went bankrupt and my mom got sick, he began to feel like he’d failed at the American Dream. A story of migration is passed down from father to son, as we retrace the precarious steps he took in search of a better life. Ultimately asking the question, what does it mean to be both Chinese and American?

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. (Formerly known as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the official name was changed in May 2009 with the signing of Proclamation 8369 by President Obama.) Though some form of this commemoration has existed since the late 1970s, it was finally declared a month-long celebration in 1992 when Congress passed Public Law 102-450. “The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.” (Source)

Chatham Square Library has been serving a predominantly Chinese population for nearly as long as its existence. The branch opened on November 2, 1903, and was the second branch after Yorkville to be constructed with funds from Carnegie’s 1901 gift to the city of New York. The circulating Chinese language collection has been available here since 1911. In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the library will host a film series which highlights the unique experiences of Chinese-Americans.