Cecil Collection A woman, perhaps warming herself at the fire, rests while tending a Chinatown tobacco store. Photo courtesy of History Colorado William W. He worked primarily as a labor contractor, and is honored for that in a stained glass window lining the old state Supreme Court chambers at the Colorado State Capitol. Sou came from Southern China and worked from the railroad before settling in Colorado like many other Chinese immigrants. It was an honorific that was given to the one individual in the community who could speak English, as well as Chinese, and serve as an intermediary between the mainstream community and the Chinese community,” Wei said. “He was considered the mayor of Chinatown. One man, Chin Lin Sou, was considered a pioneer for the Chinese community. “This was one of the few ways they could make a living,” Wei said. Tables covered with cloth hold fruit displays and ceramic vases. Interior view of a room decorated to commemorate the Chinese New Year in Denver, Colo. Chinese workers who helped build the Western portion of the transcontinental railroad were laid off after it was completed.ĭenver Public Library Western History and Genealogy Dept. It was not the first or last problem that Denver’s early Chinese community would face. “They're not apt to identify the victims because that would humanize the experience, which I think they should do,” Wei said. While the plaque honors and names the white saloonkeeper and customers who helped keep the mob at bay, it does not name Lee or other victims. Let me say that I applaud the heroes who came to their aid, but it does reflect a certain attitude that persists today. “Instead, it focuses on the heroes who came to their rescue. “If you read this plaque carefully, you notice that it does not actually dwell on the victims of this race riot, the Chinese,” he said. Michelle Fulcher/CPR News Colorado state historian William Wei stands by a plaque in downtown Denver honoring the Chinatown riots in 1880. In the opinion of William Wei, Colorado’s new state historian, its description of the riot and others are too often told through the lens of white historians. That plaque is on a busy street corner just across from Coors Field. About 150 claims were filed, totaling more than $30,000 in damages, but no Chinese residents were paid for property or business losses. Many people were injured and one Chinese man died, a laundry worker named Sing Lee who stumbled into the riot and was beaten to death. “About 3,000 people congregated quickly in the area, shouting, ‘Stamp out the yellow plague.’ Destruction of the Chinese ghetto ensued.” “When the Chinese slipped out the back door, they were attacked and beaten, beginning Denver's first recorded race riot,” a plaque commemorating the riot reads. In the 19th century, that stretch of downtown Denver was the city’s Chinatown, also known as Hop Alley. 31, 1880, an argument broke out between Chinese and white patrons at John Asmussen's Saloon on the 1600 block of Wazee Street. It was the first race riot in Denver’s history. Rioters wear hats and sack suits, and Chinese men have queues (braids) and wear shan ku (tunic and trousers) and bu xie (cotton shoes). Rioters assault Chinese men, throw belongings out of windows and use wooden beams to destroy frame buildings. Wilkins) appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper on November 20 of that year. 31, 1880, this illustration (based on a sketch by N. Public Domain One of the few depictions of Denver's anti-Chinese riot of Oct.
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