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 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…
