These Words: A Century of Printing, Writing, and Reading in Boston’s Chinese Community 這些文字:波士頓華人社區一個世紀的印刷、寫作和閱讀

Boston is a city of neighborhoods. Each has a distinctive culture, created by residents’ histories, languages, and traditions. Boston’s Chinese community is no exception. In the area of Harrison Avenue around Essex, Beach, and Oxford Streets, merchants established businesses in the late nineteenth century that included a very specific group of patrons: the single men who operated laundries in Boston area and beyond, living without their families due to the repressive Chinese Exclusion Act. Many came into the neighborhood on Sundays—the one day free of work for them—to purchase supplies, enjoy familiar food, and socialize. Over time, as families could settle here, and women became influential in commercial and civic life, “Chinatown” grew to became a dynamic community of businesses, restaurants, schools, and community organizations. These Words looks at this neighborhood through another of its histories, as it presents examples of the rich traditions of printing, writing, and reading here.

Collaboration between the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University, and the Chinese Historical Society of New England. This program is funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

波士頓是一個由各個社區組成的城市。每一個社區有它們自己獨特的文化,由居民的歷史、語言和傳統所構成。波士頓的華人社區也不例外。在夏裡臣街、愛惜士街、必珠街和牛津街組成的區域,商人們在19世紀後期建立了自己的企業,包括一群非常特殊的主顧:在波士頓及以外地區經營洗衣房的單身男性,因為排華法案無法與家人一起生活。很多人在周日來到這個社區——他們在這一天不用工作——來購買物品、享受熟悉的食物並且進行社交。隨著時間發展,家庭可以在此定居,女性對商業和公民生活的影響力加強,華埠成長成為由企業、餐館、學校和社區組織構成的活躍社區。這些文字通過另一種歷史來看待這個社區,展現社區印刷、寫作和閱讀豐富傳統的例子。

塔芙茨大學Jonathan M. Tisch公民生活學院和紐英倫華人歷史協會的合作