Chinese-American History in Greenwich Village and the East Village, Part I

The Asian-American story is often told through the lens of the West Coast or the bustling streets of Manhattan’s Chinatown. But the Chinese-American history of Greenwich Village and the East Village is just as vital. Here, an impressive yet frequently overlooked roster of individuals and organizations played a pivotal role in the national story, particularly within the realms of civil rights and the arts.

While Chinatown was a residential and commercial hub, the Village was often where Chinese intellectuals, radicals, and artists found a “third space” to work and collaborate with other marginalized groups. It is here that rights were won in the face of discrimination, innovations in painting, writing, and sculpture took place, and people confronted challenges and secured opportunities. 

The Chinese Equal Rights League

On September 22, 1892, a group of 1,000 U.S. citizens and 200 Chinese merchants and laborers gathered at The Cooper Union’s Great Hall to protest the Geary Act, forming the Chinese Equal Rights League. The Geary Act, passed in 1892, was a ten year extension of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and required Chinese residents of the United States to carry a resident permit at all times. If a person did not carry a permit, they would risk deportation or a year’s worth of hard labor. Under the Geary Act, Chinese residents were also prohibited from bearing witness in court and from receiving bail in habeas corpus proceedings. 

At its first meeting, the Chinese Equal Rights League passed a resolution condemning both the Act’s immigration restrictions and its denial of citizenship to Chinese-Americans. The resolution demanded that the act make a formal distinction between recent Chinese immigrants and resident Chinese-Americans. The Philadelphia merchant Lee Sam Ping was elected president of the organization. Wong Chin Foo, a journalist and activist who is credited with founding the organization and with coining the term “Chinese-American,” was elected as secretary.  

The League organized campaigns to mobilize against these restrictive provisions. They argued the law was un-American because it imposed harsh conditions on a group that could not vote, referencing the old battle cry of “No Taxation Without Representation.” They encouraged civil disobedience by advocating for a boycott of the registration process, advising Chinese residents not to obtain the mandated certificates. And they tested the constitutionality of the Geary Act in Fong Yue-Ting v. the United States, fighting the presumption of “guilty until proven innocent” standard in the act.

While the restrictions were made permanent in 1902 and were not repealed until 1943, the efforts of the Chinese Equal Rights League were not in vain. Over the next decade, the Chinese Equal Rights League’s activism extended beyond its resistance to the Geary Act, focusing on the larger fight for civil rights for Chinese-Americans amidst the passage of increasingly strict immigration laws.

The Chinese Consulate and Chinese Mission, 26 West 9th Street

During the era following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Chinese Consulate and Chinese Mission helped the Chinese community navigate a hostile legal landscape. From around 1885 to 1902, the Chinese Consulate operated out of 26 West 9th Street, where it worked to protect the civil rights of Chinese-Americans. It was a convenient location for the Chinese immigrants who needed legal assistance as the Jefferson Market Courthouse, which served much of the West Side of Manhattan, was half a block away.

In 1902, the Consulate moved to Lower Broadway, and Huie Kin, a prominent Chinese-American missionary, moved his family and his Chinese Mission from 14 University Place into this building, which also housed the headquarters of the Chinese Young Men’s Christian Association. 

The family turned the third and fourth floors into lodging for Chinese students who were unable to find rooms elsewhere due to discriminatory renting practices throughout the city. The building housing the Chinese Consulate was demolished and in 1923 replaced with the apartment building now located on the site.

The Chinese Guild, 23 St. Mark’s Place 

The Chinese Guild was founded in 1889 at 23 St. Mark’s Place. Though it was formed in partnership with St. Bartholomew’s Church at Madison Avenue and 44th Street, the Guild served primarily as a secular social welfare and legal advocacy organization for the city’s Chinese-American community. 

In addition to organizing a choir and Sunday school lessons for its members, The Chinese Guild provided English lessons, assistance with rental negotiations and legal documentation, and support contacting doctors, lawyers, and police. Membership cost $2 to join and $1 for every additional year. The Guild included up to 600 members, many of whom worked as laundrymen and faced frequent personal and institutional discrimination in their daily lives.

Guy Maine, formerly a Chinese tea merchant, acted as the superintendent. In 1891, he was involved in 217 court cases regarding crimes committed against the Guild’s members, most of which involved assault and broken laundry windows. “The Master Laundrymen’s Association,” a group of white steam-laundry owners threatened by the competition of Chinese laundries, would launch frequent attacks on businesses owned by Chinese-Americans, vandalizing their storefronts. As a result, insurance companies would not cover damage to plate glass used in Chinese-American-owned businesses. In a 1901 report, Maine requested that the Guild be made a corporation, giving it the legal right to protect its members.

At this time, the building at 23 St. Mark’s Place included a library, music room, dining room, smoking room, gymnasium, and several bedrooms. It was open all day from 9am until 10pm. By 1898, The Chinese Guild had moved to the 9th floor of the new St. Bartholomew’s Parish House on East 42nd Street. No. 23 St. Mark’s Place survives today, albeit in highly altered form.

The buildings at 19-23 St. Mark’s Place are an excellent example of how the East Village has changed over time from a wealthy merchants neighborhood, to a landing spot for immigrants, to the launch pad for numerous counterculture and artistic movements. Read more about their history here.

Jade Mountain, 197 Second Avenue

Jade Mountain was a Chinese restaurant that served as a cultural crossroads and neighborhood icon for 75 years.

Cantonese restaurant Jade Mountain opened in 1931 and operated until 2007 following the death of its long-time owner, Reginald “Reggie” Chan who was struck by a truck while making a food delivery on his bicycle. Although Chan grew up in China, his family had run the restaurant since it opened. It was a beloved and affordable neighborhood staple, serving up classic dishes, and well known for its signature vintage neon “Chow Mein” sign, of which they had nine varieties. 

In 1941, Jade Mountain hosted a lunch for refugees of the Spanish Civil War, at which Pete Seeger had his first performance. Seeger would go on to become an influential singer, songwriter, and civil rights and anti-war activist.

These entries, and 200 more just like it, are part of our Civil Rights & Social Justice Map. Explore this map covering not only Asian American but Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ+, and women’s civil rights history, among others.