---
title: Uncovering D.C.’s Asian American Past
date: 2022-11-15T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/uncovering-d-c-s-asian-american-past"
section: Articles
---
# Uncovering D.C.’s Asian American Past

*November 15, 2022* — by [Maggie Haslam](/author/maggie-haslam)


> Documentation of Chinese and Korean History in Washington, D.C. Brings Recognition—and Protections—to Treasured Places

*Service pnp highsm 10100 10125 1920x1080 — From longstanding businesses to moments in history, Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Michelle Magalong and the AAPI-DC research team have created a roster of places key to the Chinese and Korean immigrant story. The On Leong Chinese Merchant’s Association, which started in the early 20th century, was frequently raided for illicit activities; but within the Chinese community, it filled a critical gap in social services, planning for holidays and funding places like the Chinese Community Church.*

Where tourists now stroll by Vermeers, da Vincis and Rothkos in the National Gallery of Art was once a bustling and vibrant immigrant community of teashops and laundries, groceries and tailors.

Washington, D.C.’s first Chinatown was razed as part of the New Deal construction boom to make way for what’s now a famed corner of the nation’s capital, but for the past 18 months, a team of researchers has worked to ensure that other physical remnants of local Asian American culture are remembered, preserved and celebrated.

An [ongoing project](https://www.aapidc.org/) led in part by Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation Michelle Magalong will produce Washington, D.C.’s first Chinese and Korean “historic context statement,” which will trace the cultural impact and historical presence of Chinese and Korean immigrants in Washington, D.C.

Developed under the auspices of the nonprofit 1882 Foundation and in collaboration with the University of Maryland, the D.C. Preservation League, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the National Park Service, the document will guide city officials in planning, preservation and development efforts. It will also serve as a historic reference to elevate an Asian American immigrant experience largely left out of the D.C. narrative.


*Chinese Lantern — The Chinese Lantern restaurant opened near Union Station in 1928 as a popular haunt for Korean expats and embassy staff—even future Korean president Syngman Rhee. It is now Kelly’s Irish Times, but traces of the architecture still exist.(Image courtesy of Andrew Moursund, Flickr)*


*Korean Legation building — Built in 1877, the Korean Legation building is the last remnant of the Korean empire. It sold in 1910 for $10 and changed hands many times before it was acquired and restored by the Cultural Heritage Administration of South Korea. (Photo by Wikicommons.org)*


*Range 99 plaque — Along the eastern border of Southeast D.C.’s Historic Congressional Cemetery lies Range 99, a plot where nearly 100 Chinese residents were buried between 1896 and 1938, mostly men and among the first Chinese immigrants to Washington, D.C. Their remains were later disinterred and returned to their families in China. The cemetery, which is home to some of Washington’s most famed residents, now hosts benches and a plaque to remember the city’s first Chinese Americans. (Photo courtesy of Wei Gan, 1882 Foundation)*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Historic Preservation](https://today.umd.edu/topic/historic-preservation), [Immigration](https://today.umd.edu/topic/immigration), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-architecture-planning-and-preservation)