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Finding Aid to San Francisco Chinese Newcomers Study Committee Records
1969-1971
SFH 616
SFH 616
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Table of contents
Title: San Francisco Chinese Newcomers Study Committee Records
Date (inclusive): 1969-1971
Identifier/Call Number: SFH 616
Creator:
San Francisco Chinese Newcomers Study Committee (1969-1971) (San Francisco)
Physical Description:
1 pamphlet box
(.25 Cubic Feet)
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
sfhistory@sfpl.org
Abstract: The Chinese Newcomers
Study (1969-1970) was commissioned by the Bay Area Social Planning Council (BASPC) and
coordinated by a fourteen-person volunteer committee. The study committee researched topics
such as health, employment, education, and law relating to Chinese immigrants in San
Francisco. They published a formal report with their recommendations in 1971. This
collection contains research, working papers, and other documents.
Physical Location: The collection is stored on
site.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English.
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with
photographs available during Photo Desk hours. Collections that are stored offsite should be
requested 48 hours in advance.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in
writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San
Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of Item], San Francisco Chinese Newcomers Study Committee Records (SFH
616), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Provenance unknown. This collection has been in the library's possession since prior to
2020.
Researchers are encouraged to see also the published report of the Chinese Newcomers Study
Committee at the San Francisco History Center and the
Louie (Paul) papers at
Stanford University.
During processing, the collection was re-foldered and re-housed in acid-free folders.
Original plastic tab labels have been retained. Some metal staples remain.
The San Francisco Chinese Newcomers Study Committee was appointed by the Bay Area Social
Planning Council (BASPC) in 1969 to study Chinese immigrants and Chinese immigration
services in the Bay Area. Primary topics of interest for the committee included employment,
housing, schooling, and health within the Chinese American immigrant community.
The passage of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 ended restrictive
country-of-origin immigration quotas and allowed increased immigration from non-European
countries. Members of the Bay Area Social Planning Council (BASPC) were concerned that
community and government programs were not adequately prepared to assist the resulting swell
of immigrants from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong who were settling in San Francisco's
already-dense Chinatown.
The fourteen members of the Study Committee were volunteers from San Francisco, with about
half drawn from the Chinese American community. Stanley Mosk (1912-2001), Associate Justice
of the California Supreme Court (1964-2001), served as Chairman; and Harry W. Low
(1931-1921), the first Asian-American judge in San Francisco, served as Vice Chairman. The
other committee members were John Boyce-Smith, Eugene J. Boyle, George Y. Chinn, James
Chuck, Rolland Choy Lowe, Mrs. Otto E. Meyer [Susan Meyer], Mrs. Benson B. Rowe [Jane St.
John Roe], John F. Sullivan, Hannah Surh [Chung Hing Hannah Surh], Dennis Wong, Larry Jack
Wong, and Mrs. William F. Luttgens [Leslie Ferguson Langnecker Luttgens].
During their two years of operation, the Study Committee was assisted by a seventeen-person
Technical Advisory Panel, BASPC staff members, and other local organizations.
The Study Committee published their findings and recommendations in February
1971. Their wide-ranging research resulted in proposals to reform immigration law,
suggestions for improving and expanding ESL education at San Francisco Unified School
District (SFUSD) schools, recommendations for changes in building and zoning permits in
Chinatown to relieve over-crowding in residential buildings (such as eliminating parking
space requirements in new buildings), and more.
The collection contains meeting minutes, letters, rosters, working papers, and research
from the Study Committee's two years of work. The working papers correspond to sections in
the committee's published report (1971) and cover subjects such as health, social services,
pre-migration, education, and immigration law. Several letters and memo from committee
members are interfiled with the meeting notes and research. The twelfth folder, labelled
"Employment," contains research gathered by the Study Committee on other topics in addition
to the working paper on employment.
The collection is arranged in twelve topics in original form, and then chronologically.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chinese Americans -- California -- San Francisco
Chinese Americans -- California -- San Francisco -- Social conditions -- 20th century
Immigrants -- California -- San Francisco
Immigrants -- Social conditions -- San Francisco (Calif.) -- 20th century -- Records
Bay Area Social Planning Council (California)
Mosk, Stanley, 1912-2001
Low, Harry W., 1931-2021