District of Displacement
Written by Tom Potter
In a city not wanting for recognizable landmarks, DC’s Chinatown stands out amongst the many monuments and brutalist government buildings. But the neighborhood that residents and visitors know today is not the first Chinatown the city has had, and only forms a piece of a long cultural story.
A map of Washington DC c.1880 showing the locations of the former Chinatown as well as where as it would eventually come to reside. Map of the city of Washington. [Washington, D.C.?: s.n., ?, 1880] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/91686244/>.
The Origins
Chinese immigration to the United States began en masse in the 1850s and was initially concentrated almost exclusively on the nation’s west coast. The new arrivals faced increasing hostility and often violence from labor unions fearing lower wages, as well as heavy financial obligations created by anti Chinese state legislation, which often required additional licenses and taxes to be paid by foreign workers. These hostile conditions, as well as federal legislation like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, resulted in the migration of Chinese workers to cities on the east coast. The 1870 census recorded 3 residents of Chinese origin in Washington DC, but by the mid 1880’s this population had grown to about 100. This group of residents formed a small enclave along Pennsylvania avenue between 4th and 7th Streets NW, which became the city’s first Chinatown and contained residences, Chinese stores, laundries and various other businesses. Over the years, as the neighborhood expanded, the residents created a number of community organizations known as tongs. The tongs, literally meaning meeting hall in Cantonese, acted as merchant organizations focused on protecting business interests and providing support to residents. While some of these groups were benign and provided legitimate community service and protection, others operated in a more mafia-like manner, and engaged in extortion, human trafficking and gambling. The two most prominent tongs in DC’s Chinatown were the On Leong Tong, founded in 1912, and the Hip Sing Tong, founded in 1925.
Historic American Buildings Survey, Creator. Chinatown, H Street Northwest, 600-800 Blocks & Seventh Street, 700 Block, Washington, District of Columbia, DC. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/dc0495/>.
Growth and Decline
Spurred by a dire need for facilities, Congress passed the Public Buildings Act of 1926 which allocated significant funding for the construction of numerous federal buildings. While this led to the creation of the Federal Triangle offices and National Archives building, among others, it also cleared out most of the existing buildings south of Pennsylvania Avenue, including those in Chinatown. Faced with these plans, members of the On Leong Tong, began an exploratory effort to relocate, and eventually purchased a parcel of land on H Street NW between 6th and 7th Street, the site of the city’s current Chinatown. From there, the community would continue to grow with the number of Chinese residents growing, and numerous businesses, churches and community organizations thriving. This would begin to change in the late 1960s, with many residents migrating to the suburbs around DC following the riots after assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., which decimated many of the businesses in the area. Further development projects in the area like the construction of the Gallery Place Metro station in 1976, the Washington Convention Center in 1980 and the Capital One Arena in 1997 have further contributed to the decline in residents. The neighborhood, once home to over 3,000 residents of Chinese ethnicity, now stands at about 300.
Friendship Archway, a paifang designed by architect Alfred H. Liu
Attempts to Retain the Character and Culture
The city has made numerous attempts to solidify and preserve the character and culture of the neighborhood. In 1982, the Wah Luck House was built to help accommodate residents who were displaced by the construction of the Washington Convention Center, and the famous Friendship Archway at 7th and H was erected in 1986. In 1989 the Office of Planning in DC updated their design review protocols to require businesses in the area to design signage and storefronts with Traditional Chinese characters and traditional motifs. While these changes have helped give the area its distinctive look, there is a feeling that they are simply superficial solutions that do not adequately address the challenges that the remaining original residents face. Gentrification has led to housing costs that are often not affordable for long term locals of the area, and a lack of traditional Asian grocery stores and businesses mean that residents often need to travel long distances to acquire the supplies they depend on. Grass roots organizations like the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network are working to protect the needs of residents by advocating for agreements and legislation that would preserve rent protected housing and encourage the development of locally owned small businesses.
The We Are Chinatown Mural located on H St NW. The mural was created by a team of artists led by Shani Shih in the face of continued development in the area that threatens long time residents. The mural, which sits adjacent to an ongoing construction project will eventually be completely obscured once the high rise building is completed.
DC’s Chinatown has evolved through the years, shifting and changing with the currents of the city, as all neighborhoods do over time. There are very real threats to the historical heritage that has made it a distinctive part of the city, but little time remains to shape it into an area that meets the needs of both newcomers as well as the people who have called it home for most of their lives. What it will look like in the years to come is hard to say, but the only certainty is that it will not be the same as it is today.