Gateway to Gold Mountain:

The Angel Island Immigration Experience Exhibit

April 9, 2006 - June 30, 2006

Paul Laurence Dunbar Library

Gateway to Gold Mountain is a traveling exhibition curated by the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) which works with California State Parks and the National Park Service to preserve this historical landmark.  Known as the “Ellis Island of the West,” this exhibition chronicles the immigration experience of thousands of immigrants, of whom the majority is Chinese, who came to America between 1910 and 1940, through the Pacific.  Ferried from ships to the isolated Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay, they were greeted by an America far different than the land of opportunity that many Chinese called “Gold Mountain.”  Through historic photos, text, and poetry, this exhibit discusses the attitudes, hopes and fears of the immigrants, as well as the discrimination they encountered trying to gain entry to America.  We are pleased to have been the first site in Ohio for this little-known, but highly moving and educational exhibit. 

Wright State University News Release

“Ellis Island of the West” tells little-known stories of Chinese immigration to America (03/31/2006)
 

Putting The Exhibit Together

The Teachers' Workshop

Opening Reception

Take Your Son or Daughter to Work Day 2006

Sponsored by the Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center; co-sponsored by the History Department, Honors Program, University Center of International Education, Women’s Center, Paul Laurence Dunbar Library, the Dayton Association of Chinese Americans; and supported in part by the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information, contact the Asian/Hispanic/Native American Center at (937) 775-2798.