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From Clay Street to Canal Street:
Remembering New York Chinatown in the Wake of September 11th

San Francisco and New York City

San Francisco's Chinese Historical Society of America and Learning Center [CHSA] , San Francisco Chinatown Merchant's Association, and New York's Museum of the Chinese in the Americas [MOCA] and the Asian American Federation in New York Pay Tribute to the Victims of the Tragedy of September 11th

In New York:

1. The Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA) presents "Chinatown 9/11 Collection Project." MoCA will open its doors for free, September 11, 2002 12PM-8PM, 70 Mulberry Street, NY. (www.moca-nyc.org) MoCA will exhibit materials, photographs, and drawings of Chinatown and the experience of Chinese New Yorkers during and after the attacks of September 11th. Lia Chang's photographs will be part of MoCA's memorial events exhibition. For more information, contact Cynthia Lee, (212) 619-4785x105 or clee@moca-nyc.org.

MoCA is the first full-time, professionally staffed museum dedicated to reclaiming, preserving, and interpreting the history and culture of Chinese and their descendants in the Western Hemisphere. There will be space for members of the community to express their thoughts and feelings, and to leave remembrances for loved ones lost on that day, to be preserved in MoCA's archives for posterity.

In San Francisco:

1. The Chinese Historical Society of America and Learning Center (CHSA) presents "From Clay Street to Canal Street: Remembering New York Chinatown" - a memorial event to remember the victims of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and its impact on New York's Chinatown community. CHSA will open its doors for free, September 11, 2002, 10AM-7PM, 965 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA. (www.chsa.org) For more information, contact Hubert Yee, (415) 391-1188x105 or hyee@chsa.org.

CHSA is one of the largest and oldest museums devoted to preserving the history and documenting the many contributions that Chinese Americans have made to America. Lia Chang's photographs will be on display, as part of the all-day memorial to New York Chinatown in the wake of September 11, 2001. A special scroll will be laid out for CHSA visitors to reflect, write comments, and share their feelings about the tragedy. Families and students are especially encouraged to come. CHSA will deliver the scroll to the Museum of the Chinese in the Americas (MoCA) in New York as a token of partnership, sympathy, and support. The CHSA tribute and exhibition is part of the City and County of San Francisco's September 11th Tribute", and the American Association of Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services' "Museums Celebrate America's Freedoms: A Day of Remembrance."

2. The San Francisco Chinatown Merchants Association, (www.moonfestival.org) as part of its 12th Annual Moon Festival, is spearheading fundraising efforts and raising awareness "in support of the forgotten victims of New York Chinatown." The San Francisco Chinatown Merchants Association will be selling a reprint of one of Lia Chang's Lantern photographs on a bookmark, as part of its fundraising efforts to benefit New York's Chinatown community.

The Moon Festival will recognize the one-year anniversary of September 11th with a commemorative parade down Grant Avenue led by Mayor Willie Brown and representatives from the San Francisco's police and fire departments. The San Francisco Chinatown Merchant's Association fundraising effort is earmarked for the Asian American Federation of New York (www.aafny.org), for programs directly benefiting individuals in New York's Chinatown. September 14 and 15. For more information please call (415) 982-6306 or visit www.moonfestival.org.

Located at 70 Mulberry Street, just a block below the normally bustling thoroughfare of Canal Street � and only 12 blocks from the World Trade Center - the Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA), along with the rest of Chinatown, witnessed firsthand the attack on the Twin Towers.

For months afterwards, with many of the streets barricaded and much of lower Manhattan impenetrable, Chinatown found itself empty of both traffic and visitors. Businesses and restaurants suffered tremendous losses. The New York Times reported on October 4, 2001, that Chinatown had been �transformed into a near ghost town.� Many garment manufacturers were forced to cut production in half, pharmacies without telephone service could not fill prescriptions, and some residents were unable to call for help in emergencies (one man reportedly died of a heart attack while his wife frantically searched for a working pay phone).

Of course, worst of all were the many lives - including those of Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans - lost in the tragedy. Recovery efforts at the World Trade Center during the months following the devastation revealed, among the thousands of individuals identified at the site, that many of them were Chinese American. Other victims of Chinese descent included those who lost their lives aboard the planes that crashed on September 11th.

Unfortunately, there were other repercussions as well, including the number of hate crimes and restrictions on personal freedom aimed at Asian Americans and those of Central Asian and Middle Eastern descent. CHSA extends its sympathy and support to all those affected by the tragedy of September 11th.

A special thanks to media sponsor, AsianConnections, for its help in publicizing the event. This event is part of the City and County of San Francisco�s �September 11th Tribute�, and the American Association of Museums and Institute of Museum and Library Services� �Museums Celebrate America�s Freedoms: A Day of Remembrance�

Related AsianConnections articles:
From Clay Street to Canal Street by Lia Chang
Amy Tan at Ground Zero by Ben Fong-Torres
An Interview with Officer David Lim by Suzanne Kai

AsianConnections Team Correspondent Lia Chang (left) is an accomplished stage, screen and TV actress, photographer and writer based in New York City. To contact Lia, please email her at lia@asianconnections.com