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Field Trips

Angel Island

A former immigrant processing center located in San Francisco Bay, Angel Island was in operation from 1910 to 1940 and dubbed “the Ellis Island of the Pacific.”  Over 500,000 immigrants entered the United States through San Francisco harbor during the first half of the twentieth century.  Many would-be immigrants, particularly Chinese, were detained at Angel Island, some for up to two years, while their immigration requests were processed.  Scholars will take a tour of Angel Island led by Dr. Judy Yung.  Afterward, Scholars have the option of spending the night at a hotel in San Francisco or returning to the hotel in San José.

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Mission San Juan Bautista

Forty-five minutes south of San José, San Juan Bautista is home to one of California’s Spanish missions, as well as to the world-famous El Teatro Campesino, a theatre company founded by Luis Valdez.  Institute faculty will discuss immigration in the context of the Spanish mission system, the creation of the state of California, and the history of migration to the state from the 1850s to the present day.  There will also be a discussion of Luis Valdez’s work at El Teatro Campesino.

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San Francisco

Downtown San Francisco: Scholars take a walking tour of downtown San Francisco’s immigration-specific historic sites.  The tour  provides a survey of Spanish, Mexican, Irish, Italian, and Chinese immigration to San Francisco by taking Scholars through portions of the Mission District, South of Market Street, Union Square, the Financial District, “Chinatown,” and North Beach.  Locations visited include Mission Dolores, Mexican murals, St. Patrick’s Church, Grant Avenue and Stockton Street, a fortune cookie factory, a former Chinese mission, Old St. Mary’s Church, Portsmouth Square, Columbus Avenue, Saints Peter & Paul Church, and the Shrine of St. Francis. NEH Scholars have the option of spending the night at a hotel in San Francisco or returning to the hotel in San José.

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San José

San José: Scholars take several short fieldtrips to various places in downtown San José, including “Little Saigon” and “Japantown.”

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