PORT TOWNSEND — In a hybrid presentation this Friday evening, writer, activist and historian Doug Chin will delve into the history of Chinese and Chinese American people across Washington state.
The public is invited to join him: either at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., or online via JCHSmuseum.org, at 7 p.m.
This First Friday Speaker Series program, hosted by the Jefferson County Historical Society, is open to in-person attendees who show proof of vaccination at the maritime center.
Admission is free while a $10 donation is suggested to support the historical society’s programs.
Those who watch the livestream are also encouraged to donate; everyone who registers will receive a recording of Chin’s talk.
Chin will provide an introductory lecture for those interested in learning the unvarnished truth about early Chinese immigration, racial tension, and activism in Jefferson County and beyond, according to the historical society’s invitation.
Along with his brother Art, he is author of the first history of Chinese Americans in Seattle in 1973; then, 40 years later, the brothers teamed up again to co-write “Chinese in Washington State,” now a well-known reference book.
Chin grew up in Seattle in the 1940s and 1950s. After serving in the U.S. military in the early 1960s, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where, as a student at San Francisco State University and a member of the East Bay Chinese Youth Council, he advocated for minority rights and ethnic studies programs.
Chin returned to Seattle around 1970, and quickly became involved in local Asian American youth activism, particularly around the preservation of the Chinatown/ International District (ID).
In his work with the state and the city, he focused much of his attention on providing human services to the diverse population of the ID. In 2001, Chin wrote “Seattle’s International District: The Making of a Pan-Asian American Community.”
