To help ensure that most of our conference meeting time can be spent working collaboratively, Member Organizations submitted their yearly report ahead of the conference. Below are the reports received. This post may be updated as additional reports are submitted. Last updated: noon, April 11, 2026
Temple of Kwan Tai, Mendocino
Denise Lee is still working on the XR tour virtual tour software that she shared about at the 2025 conference. One of the projects she has ready is in partnership with the Chinese History Project in Fremont with the Chinese Historical Society of America, a Zoom presentation titled “Forgotten East Bay Tracks: Honoring Chinese Builders of the Final Leg of the Pacific Railroad, which will be presented Friday May 8, 2026 at 7 pm.
Denise is also working work on a free workshop in partnership with the Community Center of Mendocino. The workshop topic is an introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the last hour of the workshop dedicated to practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine tea blending. The workshop will be at the Community Center of Mendocino, located at 998 School Street, Mendocino on August 8, 2026 from 1-3 pm. Jessica Curl Rose with the Three Springs Institute and Clinic will present at 1 pm. The Tea making part of the workshop is $10 and participants will get to take their own tea blend home after the workshop. The workshop is sponsored by the Community Foundation of Mendocino County.
Eureka Chinatown Project, Eureka
The Eureka Chinatown Project has been busy over the last year! Groundbreaking for the Eureka Chinatown Monument happened in early 2026 and a dedication celebration is in the works for September or October 2026. Donations towards the monument are still being accepted for ongoing maintenance of the monument.
The Eureka Chinatown Project team is also hard at work on a children’s book about the Eureka Chinese Expulsion of 1885. It is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2026.
Friends of Chinatown Square, Sacramento
Friends of Chinatown Square in Sacramento has established their 501c3 nonprofit status and are working on building a website for their group. They have also assembled a Board of Directors.
Learn more about the Friends’ partnership with the Downtown Sacramento Foundation and Downtown Sacramento Partnership at Downtown Sac.
Quock Mui Foundation
On Saturday May 9, 2026 the Quock Mui Foundation, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Stanford University, the City of Pacific Grove and the Asian Coalition for Justice are sponsoring the annual Walk of Remembrance. The Walk celebrates Monterey’s pioneering fishing community and the impact its residents and their descendants have had on California’s Central Coast and beyond. Please visit the Quock Mui Foundation (QMF) website at www.quockmuifoundation.org to learn more about this event.
The QMF is also hosting a K-16 Summer Teacher Institute from July 13-17, 2026, with funding from the Robert Ho Foundation and Stanford’s Asian American Art Initiative. The program will explore the stories and history of local Asian American communities on the Monterey Peninsula and develop lesson plans for various grade levels.
Helen and Joe Chew Foundation, Red Bluff
Over the past year, the Helen & Joe Chew Foundation has continued to make a profound impact across Tehama, Shasta, and Butte counties by advancing its mission of education through the reflection on Chinese American history in Northern California. Thanks to our friends at the Eureka’s Chinatown Project, we named a street Historic Chinatown Alley in 2022 which established the foundation for our work today. Since then, the Foundation has installed historical markers, created murals honoring early Chinese pioneer families, partnered with 1882 for a sold-out dumpling-making event, hosted three exhibitions, presented a film screening, author events, and collaborated on multicultural Lunar New Year celebrations bringing history to life through community-centered programming.
Lim’s Café Exhibition — Regional Cultural Landmark
A major highlight of the year was the return of our Lim’s Café Exhibition at the Redding Public Library.
- The exhibit celebrates nearly 117 years of Lim’s Café history & their family legacy in Northern California
- The exhibition displayed never before Angel Island immigration documents of one of the region’s most influential Chinese American businessmen, Peter Lim.
- The exhibit includes a mural honoring WWII Chinese American veterans from Tehama County, including Purple Heart recipient Peter Lim
- Coverage from KRCR News emphasized the exhibit’s role in preserving both family legacy and community memory of Lim’s Café and its broader historical impact
The Foundation is dedicated to hosting Historic Chinatown Alley’s annual New Year Celebration with Lion dances, Mexican dancing horses, Tai Chi and Ou Mien performances, and educational programming on the regions history. These efforts drew large audiences and reinforced Red Bluff’s role as a center for Chinese American cultural celebration in the North State.
Mini-Series Film “Stories from Historic Chinatown”
The Foundation expanded its digital storytelling through its video mini-series and oral history archive:
Stories from Historic Chinatown Playlist
Recently released films include:
- Lim’s Cafe, Redding CA
- Sam Lee, Auburn CA
- Oyster King, Seattle WA
- Frances, New York City NY
With six more to come. These efforts preserve living history while reaching audiences far beyond the local community.
Publications
After four years, the Foundation has released its Historical publication Chinese in Tehama County which is now scheduling its author roadshow.
Looking Ahead
The Helen & Joe Chew Foundation continues to build momentum as a regional leader in cultural preservation and education in Tehama, Shasta and Butte County. Through its educational enrichment, exhibitions, media, and public programming. The Foundation is ensuring that the stories of Chinese American pioneers, families, and veterans are not only preserved but actively shaping the future as a reflection.
Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco Bay
On Saturday, April 25, 2026, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) is hosting our 15th Annual Immigrant Heritage Awards. This year, we are honoring former AIISF Board President Buck Gee with a Lifetime Achievement Award; professor and entrepreneur Kai Li; PG&E with a Corporate Partner award; and professor/translator/author Charles Egan with the Spirit of Angel Island Award. Visit www.aiisf.org/iha2026 for more information.
On Saturday, June 13, 2026, AIISF and Angel Island State Park are hosting our annual Family Day event. Join us for a day full of cultural performances, music, kid-friendly activities, and access to the historical building at the former immigration station. Registration is required and limited to 750 guests. Tickets will sell out. Visit www.aiisf.org or subscribe to our monthly newsletter at www.aiisf.org/newsletter to stay updated on when tickets will become available.
AIISF has relaunched our Immigrant Voices Project website. Over the past 15 years, we have collected and curated the stories of over 200 immigrants. These include stories of individuals who were processed or detained at Angel Island as well as immigrants who have arrived in more recent times. Learn more at www.aiisf.org/immigrantvoices.
Chinese Historical Society of America, San Francisco
This past year, the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) was transforming to using more technology, converting our collection to electronic format to make it more accessible and reduce storage and management costs. Will take us at least a year to two more years to convert over – AI will help. We closed our building and museum in December to remodel for a scanning and oral history room to allow for collecting family and institutional histories electronically. Was to re-open mid April, but a pipe burst last Sunday and flooded most of the building – the spirits of our historian ancestors miraculously protected the collection in the basement and was the only area not flooded.
At the CAHN conference last year, everyone agreed that we should do something to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America together. To celebrate, CHSA will come up with 250 Chinese Americans who have contributed to America. Each member of the Network can come up with its own local list of heroes to upload to this registry. To promote this registry and call attention to this registry, CHSA is coordinating “Dragon and Lion Dance Across America” to have a lion and/or dragon dance team perform at their local Fourth of July parade across all 50 states plus DC. So far we have lion dance teams in 44 states that we are contacting, but can have many more teams participate in northern California. If your organization wish to be part of this celebration, please let me (David Lei) know before the end of April 2026.
Chinese Historical and Cultural Project, San Jose
CHCP continues to balance staffing the Chinese American Historical Museum with a full calendar of events and projects. Last year, we welcomed 4,900 weekend visitors and 30-40 school field trips. Off-site cultural events enabled us to outreach to new audiences (always a challenge for smaller history organizations).
In 2025, we curated a new exhibit on local Bay Area Heroes: Chinese Americans in World War II. This was valuable for our Museum Enhancement work, and very meaningful as we also celebrated in-person with WWII veterans. New banners on the hidden story of China-Burma-India are now available free for lending, along with our original 14-panel Traveling Exhibit: “Pioneering the Valley”.
Oral History Projects focused on storytelling in the South Bay around Flower Grower Families, Chinese American Women’s Club, and South Bay Chinese Schools have been both challenging and rewarding. There are lessons learned about interviewing techniques, storyboards, translation and audio enhancement, digital archiving, and more! We are so honored to be entrusted with these precious histories.
In 2025, we were excited to bring attention to local pioneer, Thomas Foon Chew. The City of San Jose proclaimed February 24th in his honor and remembrance. The “Asparagus King”, the 3rd largest US cannery owner of the day, owned facilities in Alviso-San Jose, Mayfield-Palo Alto and Isleton-Sacramento Delta, and over 8,000 acres of farmland.
CHCP’s Public Archaeology Day program returned, this time in conjunction with a Scouting Merit Badge Workshop. The program calls attention to STEM, material culture, and the Market Street Chinatown Archaeology Project with Stanford University.
Lastly, we created three XRTours with CHSA on Market Street Chinatown, Heinlenville Chinatown and Alviso/Thomas Foon Chew. This dovetails well with our aims for digital strategies to enrich and engage audiences in local history.
You are invited to join us in 2026 as we co-host the Choral Opera “Echoes of Eureka; sponsor an America250 program on “Civil Rights and the Asian American Experience”; present “Gilded Altars and Chinese American Temples: A Historical Perspective of California,” and celebrate our Museum’s 35th Anniversary.
China Alley, Hanford
The China Alley Preservation Society continues to work on the arson fire restoration of China Alley’s Taoist Temple Museum. The artifacts from the museum that were on loan to the Hong Kong Museum of History will be returning home this summer. We are grateful to have been a part of this exhibit.
We will be presenting the Tribute to the Moon Festival with the Carnegie Museum of Kings County on Saturday, October 3, featuring the Cal Poly Lion Dance Team and Fresno Gumyo Taiko.
China Alley is featured in a display in the Carnegie Museum’s current exhibit, “Building Kings County.”
Locke Foundation, Locke
Building Capacity and Stewardship
Over the past year, the Locke Foundation has made significant strides in strengthening our capacity to preserve and interpret the historic legacy of Locke. We established a Museum Management Committee to enhance oversight and care of our collections, ensuring our artifacts and exhibits are maintained with the highest standards of stewardship. As part of this initiative, we completed the cataloging of all artifacts housed in the Boarding House Museum, laying the groundwork for improved documentation and future exhibition planning.
Volunteer engagement has also become a major focus. Through expanded outreach and new recruitment initiatives, we’ve welcomed more community members into the preservation and interpretation of Locke’s rich heritage. In addition, we successfully launched a pilot internship program, hosting two interns who contributed fresh ideas and valuable support to our research and museum operations.
Recognizing the importance of storytelling and outreach, the Foundation expanded its digital presence, establishing new accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Bluesky to connect Locke’s history with broader audiences. We are also developing a new website to offer updated access to our programs and archives.
Our commitment to stewardship now extends even further. The Locke Foundation has entered a new partnership to assist in the management of three additional museums in the town of Locke—the Schoolhouse, the Jan Ying Museum, and the Gambling House. Alongside the Boarding House Museum and our Demonstration Garden, a living exhibit showcasing traditional Chinese plants, we now manage five cultural sites in total that collectively tell the story of Locke’s enduring community and heritage.
Chinese American Heritage Network 