Upcoming events.
Bored by normal history classes? Not this experience! Join MOCA for an engaging session on history as mystery. Learn how historians construct meaning from sources and piece together historical narratives from fragments of the past. Join special guest Mark T. Johnson, associate professor from the University of Notre Dame and author of book The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A
History of the Chinese Experience in Montana, and the MOCA team to investigate a mysterious source connected to Montana’s historic Chinese community and Chinese communities around the world. Intended for high school students, but open to the public. For details and to register, click here. Submerse yourself in Chinese American life in the late 1800s. Inspired by Mark T. Johnson’s book The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana, MOCA will host a performance evening of letters, stories, and narratives. In this performance, audience will have the opportunity to listen to the collection of letters from the family of a Chinese American laundry runner, De Quan, in the late 1800s in Butte,
Montana. A group of performers will guide the audience to envision De Quan’s life and share their perspectives on how the Chinese tradition has shaped the way of living for Chinese immigrants back to the 19th century and to the present day. The performance will be followed by an open discussion led by Professor Mark Johnson. Performance is conceived & directed by Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li, featuring Szuzska Beswick, Joanna Hu, and Charles Pang. For details and to register, click here. In light of recent waves of pandemic-fueled Anti-Asian hate and violence that have swept the nation, join MOCA, the Railroad Readers Workshop, and Associate Professor Mark T. Johnson in reflecting on Chinese
American resistance in the face of exclusion. Together, we’ll explore the impact of discriminatory exclusion-era legislation and the legacy of the rallying cry “The Chinese Must Go!” We’ll also highlight the ways in which Chinese Americans resisted, protested, and defied these policies. Click here for more details and to register! In light of recent waves of pandemic-fueled Anti-Asian hate and violence that have swept the nation,
join MOCA, the Railroad Readers Workshop, and Professor Mark T. Johnson in reflecting on Chinese American resistance in the face of exclusion. Together, we’ll explore the impact of discriminatory exclusion-era legislation and the legacy of the rallying cry “The Chinese Must Go!” We’ll also highlight the ways in which Chinese Americans resisted, protested, and defied these policies. Throughout
the day, educators will tour MOCA’s exhibitions, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America and Responses: Asian American Voices Resisting the Tides of Racism; unpack primary sources about the Chinese American experience; and participate in hands-on activities that encourage them to
consider how to uproot narratives of Asian American passivism in their classrooms. The afternoon will include a keynote conversation with Associate Professor Mark T. Johnson, author of The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana, who will share how Chinese Montanans fought for their rights, wielded agency in determined efforts to achieve their
goals, and resisted oppression through ingenuity and community mobilization. Participants will receive 5.5 CTLE hours. $20/participant. Coffee/tea and Chinese breakfast pastries included. Recommended for educators of students in grades 7–12. Bored by normal history classes? Not this experience! Join
MOCA for an engaging session on history as mystery. Learn how historians construct meaning from sources and piece together historical narratives from fragments of the past. Join special guest Mark T. Johnson, associate professor from the University of Notre Dame and author of book The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in
Montana, and the MOCA team to investigate a mysterious source connected to Montana’s historic Chinese community and Chinese communities around the world. For details and to register, click here. Nov. 17 is Ladies’ Night Out in downtown Great Falls. In conjunction with this event, the book
reading for that night will focus on the history of Chinese and Chinese American women in Montana. For various reasons, Chinese communities in Montana had very few Chinese or Chinese American women. The few Chinese women in the region suffered negative assumptions about their character from non-Chinese Montanans and experienced oppression within patriarchal Chinese cultural traditions. Despite these obstacles, several extraordinary Chinese women emerge in the documentary record, exhibiting a
strength of spirit that helped them carve out influential roles in Montana’s Chinese communities and beyond. Come to Cassiopeia Books in Great Falls to learn more about Montana’s Chinese history in general and the history of several extraordinary Chinese women connected with Montana. Partnering with the Last Chance Corral History Dinner Club, join us for dinner and a talk on Montana’s historic
Chinese communities. While the history of Chinese communities across the state will be discussed, specific focus on Helena’s significant Chinese presence will be the main focus of the talk. While people normally think of Helena and Butte when considering Montana’s historic Chinese community, there are interesting aspects of the Chinese experience across the state. Join Mark Johnson at The History Museum in Great Falls for a talk on how Chinese settlers were
received in central Montana, specifically, the difficulties they had in putting down roots in Great Falls. Book signing to follow the event. A visit with high school juniors at Seattle Prep who are studying American history, specifically the American West and immigration. The topic of the Chinese experience in Montana illuminates both of these topics and will serve as an inquiry-based approach for students to engage with primary sources and grapple with sourcing issues of how
to tell histories when few sources exist. From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, Chinese pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. Navigating life in this new land, Montana’s Chinese residents gained comfort through the continuation of their spiritual and cultural practices. Yet, publicly practicing cultural traditions invited unwanted attention from anti-Chinese forces who sought to expel the Chinese from the region. In this lecture, Mark Johnson will detail how
Chinese Montanans achieved cultural continuity and togetherness through these practices while resisting tensions and threats from their detractors. Chinese pioneers played a key role in Montana’s development. Navigating life in this new land, Montana’s Chinese residents gained comfort through the
continuation of their spiritual and cultural practices. Yet, publicly practicing cultural traditions invited unwanted attention from anti-Chinese forces who sought to expel the Chinese from the region. Mark Johnson will detail how Chinese Montanans achieved cultural continuity and togetherness through these practices while resisting tensions and threats from their detractors. As part of the Butte-Silverbow Public Archives
Brown Bag Lunch Series, this session “The War of the Woods: Chinese Wood Choppers and Unlikely Allies, Montana 1880-1900” focuses on new scholarship on the experiences of Chinese Montanans. This presentation examines tensions in wood harvesting around Butte, Montana in the early 1880s. Wood was crucial fuel for the residents’ warmth, but more so for the process of “heap roasting,” an early smelting technique used to process ore. Wood crews provided key labor for the city; however, when a Chinese
crew took a contract to deliver 10,000 cords, some white workers objected. A mob of more than 200 angry woodsmen harassed the Chinese workers, threatening violence if they didn’t withdraw. This mob was stood down by a lone constable from Butte, who later formed a posse and arrested the mob’s ring leaders. Would a crime against non-citizen Chinese Montanans be prosecuted? Find out at this session, which features early environmental issues in Montana, labor rights, legal questions, and the
pressures on Montana’s early Chinese community. Chinese settlers were key to Montana’s development and populated cities and towns across the state. However, this population, so crucial to Montana’s history, remains
underrepresented in historical accounts. This talk, part of the Western Heritage Center’s High Noon Lecture series, focuses specifically on the experiences of Chinese residents in Billings, examining the pressures they faced, how they advocated for their rights, and how they fought to keep their culture alive in an often-hostile environment. This teacher workshop is part of a grant sponsored by the Montana History Foundation helping to translate and interpret four historic
Chinese cemeteries across Montana. Twenty K-12 teachers from across Montana will gather to learn about the history of the region’s Chinese communities. Participants will dine at the historic Pekin Noodle Parlor, the longest continuously operating Chinese restaurant in America, and tour the Mai Wah Museum, key to preserving and
interpreting the region’s Chinese history. Finally, teachers are welcome to take part in the Tomb Sweeping Festival at the Chinese section of Mt. Moriah Cemetery following the workshop. Interested teachers, reach out here. New York, NY: Museum of the Chinese in America
MOCA Writes: History As Mystery
New York, NY: Museum of the Chinese in America: MOCA Performs
MOCA Performs: An Evening of
Letters, Stories, & Narratives
New York, NY: Museum of the Chinese in America: Educator Workshop
Election Day Educator Workshop – Resisting Exclusion: Rewriting Narratives of the Chinese American Experience
New York City: Museum of the Chinese in America
New York, NY: Museum of the Chinese in America: History as Mystery
MOCA Writes: History as Mystery
Great Falls, MT: Cassiopeia Books: Extraordinary Women from Montana’s Chinese Communities
Helena, MT: Helena’s Chinese History
Great Falls, MT: The History Museum: The
Chinese Experience in Great Falls
Seattle, WA: Seattle Preparatory School: The Chinese in the American West
Helena, MT: Montana Historical Society: Keeping Chinese Culture Alive on the Montana Frontier
Butte, MT: Isle of Books: Keeping Chinese Culture Alive on the Montana Frontier
Butte, MT: Butte Silverbow Archives
Billings, MT: Western Heritage Center: The Chinese Experience in Montana
Butte, MT: Butte-Silver Bow Archives: Montana Teacher Workshop
In conjunction with the Lewis and Clark Library’s Community Read program: In 1870, Chinese residents made up more than 20% of Helena’s population. But this population, so crucial to Montana’s history, remains underrepresented in
historical accounts. Using documents left by Chinese pioneers and preserved through the efforts of the Montana Historical Society, The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky recovers the stories of Montana’s Chinese population in their own words. This event focuses specifically on the experiences of Helena’s Chinese residents, examining the pressures they faced, how they advocated for their rights, and how they fought to keep their culture alive in an often-hostile
environment. View Event → “Great Falls is a white man’s city”: Exclusion of Chinese Residents from Great Falls, Montana, 1880s-1940s With one exception, Chinese settlers resided in virtually every town and city in Montana and were key to the region’s flourishing.
However, from its origins, Great Falls, Montana, expelled would be Chinese townsfolk and prevented any from settling for more than fifty years. What began as a rowdy expulsion of one entrepreneurial Chinese laundry owner took on mythic proportions in its retelling over the decades, with the story changing to meet local and national political trends of the time. The city’s stance against Chinese Montanans became a point of pride, even raising the prominence of Great Falls in the process to choose
a permanent capital of the state. Through an examination of the city’s stance against Chinese inclusion, trends in labor history, state and regional politics, and myth-making emerge that show how general anti-Asian sentiment manifested in the protocols of specific locales. View Event → As part of the Montana Historical Society’s annual Montana History Conference, the session “The War of the
Woods: Chinese Wood Choppers and Unlikely Allies, Montana 1880-1900” focuses on new scholarship on the experiences of Chinese Montanans. This presentation examines tensions in wood harvesting around Butte, Montana in the early 1880s. Wood was crucial fuel for the residents’ warmth, but more so for the process of “heap roasting,” an early smelting technique used to process ore. Wood crews provided key labor for the city; however, when a Chinese crew took a contract to deliver 10,000 cords, some
white workers objected. A mob of more than 200 angry woodsmen harassed the Chinese workers, threatening violence if they didn’t withdraw. This mob was stood down by a lone constable from Butte, who later formed a posse and arrested the mob’s ring leaders. Would a crime against non-citizen Chinese Montanans be prosecuted? Find out at this session, which features early environmental issues in Montana, labor rights, legal questions, and the pressures on Montana’s early Chinese community View Event → Part of the Legal Tender’s History Dinners focusing on interesting local history, this talk will feature the history of the Chinese experience in Montana, with specific attention to the Chinese experience in Jefferson County. To reserve a spot,
call the Legal Tender (406-502-1393), or stop by and let them know you are coming. View Event → Join this virtual talk (5 pm Eastern Time), moderated by Nancy Yao, President of the Museum of the Chinese in America, featuring the The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky: A History of the Chinese Experience in Montana.
Specifically, Mark Johnson and Nancy Yao will discuss the transnational, intergenerational translation project that allowed for an understanding the experience of Montana’s Chinese communities and their families in southern China through their own voices from the translation and interpretation of two large collections of letters. For details and to register click here. View Event → While thousands of Chinese residents lived in Montana during the late-19th and early-20th centuries, few traces of their
presence remain. Scattered across the state, four cemeteries bear witness to their presence, and their passing. Numerous headstones, written in Chinese characters, commemorate Chinese Montanans and hold key information to more fully understand their experiences and transnational connectedness. A public history project currently underway seeks to translate and interpret these headstones to more fully understand the history of these individuals, their transnational experience, and to
connect what remains from Montana’s Chinese communities with home villages in southern China. View Event → From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, Chinese pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. But this population, so crucial to Montana’s history, remains underrepresented in historical accounts. Using documents left by Chinese pioneers, translated into English for the first time, The Middle Kingdom under the Big
Sky recovers the stories of Montana’s Chinese population in their own words and deepens understanding of Chinese experiences in Montana through a global lens. Through these experiences, Chinese Montanans emerge as empowered and active, advocating for their rights in America while both shaped by and shaping events in China. View Event →
Hosted by the Extreme History Project, Montana State University’s Ivan Doig Center, and the Museum of the Rockies, join an evening to learn about Montana’s historic Chinese communities. From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, Chinese
pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. But this population, so crucial to Montana’s history, remains underrepresented in historical accounts. Using documents left by Chinese pioneers, translated into English for the first time, The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky recovers the stories of Montana’s Chinese population in their own words and deepens understanding of Chinese experiences in Montana through a global lens. Through these experiences, Chinese Montanans emerge as
empowered and active, advocating for their rights in America while both shaped by and shaping events in China. View Event → The History Section is convening this roundtable to discuss the need to incorporate AAPI history and culture into K-12 education. Drawing on their rich experiences as scholars, former public school teachers, and community activists, the panelists will address the importance and complexity of the issue and explore the strategies of developing innovative programs and broad partnerships. It is a conversation in
hopes of reconstructing the narratives of the nation and renewing the culture of our shared community amid the damage wreaked by the pandemic and by the deeply entrenched racial and social injustice. Roundtable includes: Beth Lew-Williams (Princeton), Jason O. Chang (UCONN), Kathy Lu (Immigration History Initiative), Karen Umemoto (UCLA), & Mark Johnson (Univ. of Notre Dame). View Event → From the earliest days of non-Native settlement of Montana, Chinese pioneers played a key role in the region’s development. Navigating life in this new land, Montana’s Chinese residents gained comfort through the continuation of their spiritual and cultural practices. Yet, publicly practicing cultural traditions invited unwanted attention from anti-Chinese forces who sought to expel the
Chinese from the region. In this lecture, Mark Johnson will detail how Chinese Montanans achieved cultural continuity and togetherness through these practices while resisting tensions and threats from their detractors. View Event → Helena, MT: Montana Historical Society: Helena’s Historic Chinese Communities
San Antonio, TX: Western History Association Conference
Red Lodge, MT: Montana History Conference
Clancy, MT: The Legal Tender: Montana’s Chinese History
Virtual Event: Museum of Chinese in America
Portland, OR: Montana’s Chinese Cemeteries: Translating, Interpreting, & Memorializing what Remains
Miles City, MT: Miles Community College: The
Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky
Bozeman, MT: At the Museum of the Rockies: The Middle Kingdom under the Big Sky
Denver, CO: Assn. for Asian American Studies: Roundtable: Asian American Studies and K-12 Education
Bozeman, MT: Montana State University: Keeping Chinese Culture Alive on the Montana Frontier