Chinese in Washington

How the U.S. law targeting Chinese laborers impacted families for generations.

Near the end of the nineteenth century, after the railroads were completed and the gold mines exhausted, an economic downturn stirred up anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States. Capitalizing on this prejudice, the government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to limit immigration and naturalization for people of Chinese descent. By 1892, Chinese were required to obtain certificates of residency or identity and carry them at all times. Those who did not could be deported or imprisoned. As the law became stricter, interrogations, affidavits, and Caucasian witnesses were required to prove Chinese people’s right to remain in America. The act wouldn’t be repealed until 1943.

From the National Archives at Seattle, certified genealogist emeritus Trish Hackett Nicola brings to life the case files of Chinese immigrants.

Author Biography

Certified genealogist emeritus Trish Hackett Nicola is a public historian and retired librarian. She has bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in library and information science. She has worked with the Chinese Exclusion Act files at the National Archives at Seattle as a volunteer since 2001. Her blog at ChineseExclusionFiles.com contains more than 330 entries from the National Archives and information for family historians and researchers on how to use this resource.