Authors Reveal History of Last Surviving Chinatown in the Gold Country October 12, 2008

Authors Brian and Lawrence Tom will give a presentation of this historic Chinatown through images and histories as expressed in their book, Images of America: Marysville's Chinatown. In over 200 scarcely seen images, introduced and illuminated by Brian Tom, founder and director of the Chinese American Museum of Northern California, and the museum’s tour director, Lawrence Tom, Marysville's Chinatown is an enlightening and impacting experience of what is after all, our Chinese history.

What little we do know of Marysville's Chinatown may attest to, at the very least, the scarcity of published material on the subject. But at the most, considering the dramatic influence Chinese Americans have had on this area, it signifies a drastic need for their history to be made living once more¬⎯to be given in a form in which we can envision the lives of the people who lived it. This form, this vision, is precisely the promise and accomplishment of Brian and Lawrence Tom’s new book, Images of America: Marysville's Chinatown.

Marysville, an epicenter of Chinese culture during the Gold Rush Era and today the last Chinatown surviving in the Gold Rush Region, is a rich setting in which to share the Chinese American journey as a whole. The authors don't miss the opportunity either. The book begins with a brief but informative background of the Guangdong Chinese, the people who would eventually set down roots in California. In further chapters, the Toms share equally of the Chinese American contributions toward American culture⎯in terms of transportation, agriculture, health and commerce⎯and of the violence and racism brought against Chinese Americans, including government-sanctioned racism through the Geary Act, The Page Act and The Exclusion Act of 1882.

For readers interested in revisiting the familiar places and faces of Marysville's Chinatown, the authors haven't skipped out on memory lane. Over 170 images from the 19th and the 20th centuries capture the variety of Chinese activity in Marysville, ranging from business, school and worship, to play, community spirit and celebration. The book honors the early families who began the Chinese journey in Marysville, but also recognizes the Chinese American Dream alive today in their sons and daughters⎯those who went on to serve their country in the fields of military service, law, education, industry and commerce.

Official Website: http://www.amicusbooks.com