Gabriel "Jack" Chin Papers, 1888-1940

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Summary

Creators:
Chin, Gabriel "Jack" (1964-)
Abstract:
This collection consists of materials related to late 19th and early 20th century U.S. immigration law and the Chinese Exclusion Act, focusing on Chinese immigration and labor legislation.
Extent:
1 linear foot
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], D-781, Gabriel "Jack" Chin Papers, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Background

Scope and content:

The Gabriel "Jack" Chin Papers contains laws and regulations bound in book and pamphlet form pertaining to U.S. immigration law from federal organizations such as the Departments of Labor, State, Immigration, Commerce, and Treasury. Subject matter relates primarily to Chinese labor and Chinese Exclusion laws.

Biographical / historical:

Gabriel "Jack" Chin has been a UC Davis Law teacher and scholar since 2011. Professor Chin earned his Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School (1995), Juris Doctor from Michigan Law School (1988), and his Bachelor of Arts (History) degree from Wesleyan University (1985).

His academic appointments at UC Davis Law include the Edward L. Barrett Jr. Chair of Law, Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law, and Director of Clinical Legal Education. He teaches Immigration Law, Criminal Procedure, and Immigration. Professor Chin's previous academic appointments took place at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law (2003-2011), New York University School of Law (Spring 2001), University of Cincinnati College of Law (1998-2003), and Western New England University School of Law (1995-1998).

Professor Chin's scholarship has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in Padilla v. Kentucky (2010), Chaidez v. United States (2013), and by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in Utah v. Strieff (2016). Since 1992, Professor Chin has also been frequently cited in his specialties of immigration, law procedure, theory, and for scholarly impact. Examples of his scholarly papers include "Race and Citizenship in U.S. Law" (2024), "Ratifying the 14th Amendment in Ohio" (2006), and "The New Civil Death: Rethinking Punishment in the Era of Mass Conviction" (2012).

Among Professor Chin's work as an expert regarding Asian Americans and the law are the Hong Yen Chang Project (2015) and the Chinese Restaurant Project (2017). These two projects captured attention outside the legal milieu and were reported on nationally.

Hong Yen Chang Project

Professor Chin mentored a team of UC Davis School of Law students in the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) during their successful request to posthumously admit Hong Yen Chang into the California Bar in 2015. Chang completed legal training at Yale and earned a Columbia Law School degree (1886), thereby becoming the first Chinese American lawyer in the United States when he was admitted to the New York bar in 1888. Chang moved to California in 1890 with the intention of providing legal services to San Francisco's Chinese community. However, federal and California laws excluded him from the California Bar and he was never allowed to practice in the state.

Chinese Restaurant Project

Chin and 2014 UC Davis Law graduate John Ormonde researched legal efforts during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to discriminate against and attempt to get rid of Chinese restaurants in the United States. The result was their 2018 paper "The War Against Chinese Restaurants" (Duke Law Journal, vol. 67 no. 4).

Sources

Chin, Gabriel Jackson and John Ormond. "The War Against Chinese Restaurants." Duke Law Journal 67(4): 681. April 6, 2017. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2948030.

Gonzales, Richard. 2015. "A Chinese Immigrant Gets His California Law License, 125 Years Later." NPR Code Switch, March 17, 2015. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/03/17/393439635/a-chinese-immigrant-gets-his-california-law-license-125-years-later.

Martin, Joseph. 2024. "King Hall Students Seek to Right Historic Wrong with Posthumous California Bar Admission of Chinese Lawyer." NPR, April 30, 2024. https://law.ucdavis.edu/news/king-hall-students-seek-right-historic-wrong-posthumous-california-bar-admission-chinese?id=4811.

SSRN. 2024. "Gabriel 'Jack' Chin." Accessed November 26, 2024. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=201529.

UC Davis Global Migration Center. November 16, 2024. "Gabriel (Jack) Chin." Accessed November 26, 2024. https://globalmigration.ucdavis.edu/people/gabriel-jack-chin.

UC Davis School of Law. 2021. Gabriel "Jack" Chin Curriculum Vitae. Accessed November 26, 2024. https://law.sf.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk10866/files/media/documents/Chin-CV-12.7.2021.pdf.

UC Davis School of Law. July 22, 2024. "Gabriel 'Jack' Chin." Accessed November 26, 2024. https://law.ucdavis.edu/people/gabriel-chin.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Gabriel J. Chin, 2024.
Processing information:

Michelle Trujillo created this finding aid.

Physical location:
This collection is stored off-site at the Northern Regional Library Facility. Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections in advance.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is not yet processed. Please contact Archives and Special Collections to inquire about access.

Terms of access:

All applicable copyrights for the collection are protected under chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code. Requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items. It is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], D-781, Gabriel "Jack" Chin Papers, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Davis, Special Collections, UC Davis Library
100 NW Quad
Davis, CA 95616-5292, US
Contact:
(530) 752-1621
speccoll@ucdavis.edu
Website