Uncle Toisan Premiere
04/18/2009 [Saturday] 1 pm
Chinese Culture Center
750 Kearny Street, 3rd floor, San Francisco, CA, 94108,

Introducing a new performance by CHSA's Artist-in-Residence Charlie Chin in the History Alive! storytelling series: "Uncle Toisan."

"Uncle Toisan" features the unique experience of a Chinese American immigrant to the United States. His eyewitness account bridges the historical relevance of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the modern post-civil rights movement, and the emergence of present-day Asian American consciousness.

Uncle Toisan enters the country as a 17 year old "paper son" (immigrants who purchased legal immigration status as a "paper son" of an American citizen), then perseveres through a two-month detention at Angel Island Immigration Station on the eve of its closing in 1939.

He is then drafted in 1942 to serve in Europe during World War II, returning from the battlefield to face discrimination at home as a laborer in the restaurants and laundries of SF Chinatown. However witnesses and experiences the tremendous changes in Chinatown stemming from the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the final lifting of Exclusion, the growth of Asian American political empowerment and the changing demographics of California due to post Vietnam war rounds of immigration.

"Uncle Toisan" is generously supported by the Creative Connections Fund of the Jame Irvine Foundation, the California Story Fund of California Council for the Humanities, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.


Hakone's Year of the Tiger Festival 02/20/2010 [Saturday]
Immigration and Our Maritime History 01/23/2010 [Saturday]
San Francisco Architectural Heritage Talk 09/17/2009 [Thursday]
"Uncle Toisan" Performance 08/09/2009 [Sunday]
Saving SF Chinatown After 1906 06/24/2009 [Wednesday]
"Uncle Toisan" in San Jose, Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch Library 06/23/2009 [Tuesday]
Celebrating Him Mark Lai 06/20/2009 [Saturday]
"Uncle Toisan" Performance in San Jose 06/14/2009 [Sunday]
"Uncle Toisan" at SF Chinatown Branch Library 06/13/2009 [Saturday]
"Uncle Toisan" at Oakland Museum of California 06/07/2009 [Sunday]
Membership Meeting 05/26/2009 [Tuesday]
"Uncle Toisan" at Asian Heritage Street Celebration! 05/16/2009 [Saturday]
San Mateo APA Heritage Celebration 2009 05/09/2009 [Saturday]
"Uncle Toisan" Performance 05/02/2009 [Saturday]
China's Combustion Conundrum: Economics and Energy vs. Environment 04/29/2009 [Wednesday]
Uncle Toisan Premiere 04/18/2009 [Saturday]
A Celebration of the Year of the Ox: A Historical & Musical Legacy 02/28/2009 [Saturday]
Civil and Uncivil Constitutional Rights in California: The Early Legal History 01/22/2009 [Thursday]
UNCLE TOISAN performance at the de Young 11/21/2008 [Friday]
Singing East & West: Bonesetter's Daughters in Voice & Gesture 09/22/2008 [Monday]
Chinese of California CLOSING RECEPTION 08/21/2008 [Thursday]
Chinatown is Burning! Hugh Liang: Eyewitness to the 1906 Earthquake and Fire 06/05/2008 [Thursday]
Dr. Yee, California Pioneer Chatauquan Storyteller Performance 03/06/2008 [Thursday]
Chinese Walls Historic Plaque Dedication 02/09/2008 [Saturday]
Heinleville: Historic Chinatown of Santa Clara Valley Lecture & Film Screening 01/22/2008 [Tuesday]
Driven Out Lecture by Jean Pfaelzer at The Commonwealth Club 01/15/2008 [Tuesday]
Family Legacies: Genealogical Resources for Chinese Americans Lecture 10/27/2007 [Saturday]
In Conversation with Alice Fong 07/21/2007 [Saturday]
Northern CA Leadership Conference 06/16/2007 [Saturday]
2006 In Search of Roots Program Presentation 03/17/2007 [Sat]
''Lai Si and Hung Bao'' Chinese New Year Talk 02/10/2007 [Saturday]
Teahouse of the Bamboo, Plum, and Pine: An Evening of Poetry, Art, and Performance 01/12/2007 [Friday]
CHSA Community Holiday Party 12/14/2006 [Thurs]
Bay Area Immigration: What's happened in the past, and who are all these people? 12/13/2006 [Wednesday]
''Symbolism in Chinese Art'' Slide Lecture 10/17/2006 [Tues]
''Chinatown: Then and Now'' Youth Discussion Panel 09/22/2006 [Fri]
''Confronting Asian-American Stereotypes'' Panel Discussion 09/14/2006 [Thurs]
Chinatown is Burning! 05/20/2006 [Saturday]
Extending: Sharing Art & Culture in China 05/18/2006 [Thurs]
Chinatown is Burning! 05/07/2006 [Sunday]
Dr. William Hu: "Chinese Opera and the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco" 04/15/2006 [Sat]
Erica Pan: "The Impact of the 1906 Earthquake on Chinatown" 04/12/2006 [Weds]
Talk Story Family Panel 03/30/2006 [Thu]
In Search of Roots Presentation 02/25/2006 [Sat]
Conversations Between Generations: Collecting Stories for the Angel Island Oral History Project 02/18/2006 [Sat]
The Art of Win Ng: A Gallery Talk 07/06/2005 [Weds]
OAH Roundtable: Comparative Chinatowns 04/01/2005 [Fri]
Cantonese Opera: Its Introduction & Influence in America 03/05/2005 [Sat]
Chinese Young Women's Society Meet'n'Greet 11/13/2004 [Sat]
Cynthia Ashley lecture: Heavenly Dragons of China 11/04/2004 [Thurs]
Chinatown Dance Band Pioneers 09/09/2004 [Thurs]
Conversations with Gary and Yolanda Garfias Woo: Artists in the Community 05/23/2004 [Sun]
Lesson From the Past: A Look at Tape v. Hurley 05/15/2004 [Sat]
Examining the Chinese Mexican American Connection 04/08/2004 [Thurs]
Soong Mayling's 1943 Visit: Illusions and Disillusions 03/11/2004 [Thurs]
The Life and Death of the China Mail Steamship Company 02/12/2004 [Thurs]
All that Glitters...Locke, California – America’s Last Chinese American Town 12/10/2002 [Tues]
Empowerment through Expression: Chinese American Women in the Arts 11/05/2002 [Tues]
History and Mystery of San Francisco Chinatown 10/18/2002 [Fri]
First Heroes: A 5 Generation Quest 09/17/2002 [Tues]
Angelic Encounter by Sam Hom 06/18/2002 [Tues]
Shrimp Fishing in San Francisco 05/21/2002 [Tues]
The Overseas Chinese in Africa 04/16/2002 [Tues]
The Money Dragon by Pam Chun 03/19/2002 [Sun]