(9.28) A little over a century ago, Providence had a Chinatown. Eventually the surrounding business community realized it was interfering with their visions of expansion and investment . . . these foreigners would have to go. Following years of demonizing and overpolicing the Chinese community, the city fathers finally had them relocated to Summer Street in South Providence. One particularly effective step in this campaign was the expansion of Empire Street — ostensibly under the guise of urban planning, accommodating the new automobiles, etc. — this was accomplished by demolishing all the adjacent buildings.
Seen here is The Move on Chinatown, an installation on the Empire Street side of Trinity Rep, up now through September 30. It has been curated by Aidan Choi, a junior at Brown University concentrating in Ethnic Studies, with mentorship by educator and illustrator, Jeffrey Yoo Warren.
Learn more this Saturday when the Providence Public Library hosts “The Move on Chinatown: Art and Dialogue.”
Join us for a community celebration and conversation with artists, researchers, and community members about The Move on Chinatown, a pop-up exhibition and archival and oral research project aimed at documenting and highlighting the history of Providence’s Chinese communities. and view additional exhibited artworks and an educational zine created by Aidan Choi.
With roots in the San Francisco Chinatown, Aidan is passionate about preventing the further displacements of Chinatowns nationally, as well as the many other ethnic enclaves facing the same fate. (I am assuming that the images in the installation come from the above-mentioned zine.)
I have learned something new already: The name of Empire Street derives from the Empire Theatre, formerly on Empire at Westminster Street. Its managers had led a “targeted campaign” aimed at driving the Chinese from this area.
Free and open to the public, noon to 2pm, Saturday, September 28, 3rd floor, PPL, 150 Empire Street, (directions)
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In my research I bumped into this resource from the Brown Daily Herald “Exploring Providence’s historic Chinatown.” There is a photograph of the “new headquarters” on Summer Street contributed by Mr. Yoo Warren.