Public Programs

2017 Two public talks exploring Old Town’s multiethnic and multiracial past, organized by the Portland Chinatown History Foundation in collaboration with the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center and the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM). Funded by a grant from Oregon Humanities.

Old Town's Chinatown and Japantown, Part II

May 3, 2017
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine

The second installment in this series brings together Chinese and Japanese American community elders to share their experiences as residents and workers in Old Town during the World War II era. Their community experiences converge in the stories of discrimination, marginalization, and exclusion by white America, but diverge in the 1940s and 1950s from the impact of America’s war with Japan. The elders’ dialogue is followed by an open and lively discussion between panelists and audience.

Old Town's Chinatown and Japantown, Part I

March 22, 2017
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine

What is now known as Old Town Chinatown has been home to many of Portland’s immigrant and non-white communities since the city’s founding. This event brings together Chinese and Japanese American community elders to share their stories about growing up, living, and working in New Chinatown and Japantown between the 1920s-1960s. The variety of perspectives offered by the elders sheds light on the ways that Old Town’s Chinese American and Nikkei communities diverged and intersected with each other at different moments. The elders’ dialogue is followed by an open and lively discussion between panelists and audience.

Panelists included: Ken Fong, Yoichi “Cannon” Kitayama, Norman Locke, Jean Matsumota, George Nakada Bertha Saiget