Laguna Lake before Being Drained (Photo Courtesy of History Center of San Luis Obispo County) Introduction Before Laguna Lake was...

Railroads were crucial to transportation within San Luis Obispo County, as well as communicating with the State and Country. The Pacific...

Gila River Detention Camp in Arizona (National Archives) During World War II, the head of Japanese households in America were taken away...

Minami family (Image Source here ) Yaemon Minami: 1880 - he is born in the village of Wakayama Japan 1905 - he arrives in San Francisco...

Anti-Chinese Club In November 1885, the anti-Chinese club was formed, and they adopted Denis Kearney’s motto: “The Chinese must go!”....

Ah Louis: Funded the founding of a Chinese school in the joss house (temple) at 818 Palm Street Lived a bicultural life Invited...

Japantown in San Luis Obispo (Image source here) Japantown in San Luis Obispo: One block long on Higuera Street Between South and French...

Overview Japanese Picture Brides (National Archives) Many Japanese people immigrated to Arroyo Grande in the 20th Century. Many of them...

Chinese American history is grossly underrepresented in the U.S., and the information taught is often skewed and misrepresented. Here are...

These are quotes from Grace Shibata, Take Eto's daughter, which protrays the struggle Japanese Immigrants faced: when coming to the...

Below is a retelling of Take Eto's life during and after World War II. To learn more about her life before World War II, click here. On...

This is the story of Take Eto, a Japanese Immigrant who came to the United States at the age of 19, told from the perspective of Grace...

The April 15, 1896 publication of The Evening Breeze shared feelings of hatred towards Chinese merchants in San Luis Obispo. There was an...

Author of "Be American", Carlos Bulosan was a Filipino activist and writer who came to the United States in 1930 at the age of 17. "Be...

Ah Louis was both the father of eight children, and the owner of the Ah Louis Store. As Ah Louis' fourth son described him, "Any Chinese...

Ah Louis Store (Photo courtesy of Elliot Gong) The Ah Louis Store was a general merchandise store, and pharmacy. It was originally built...

In March of 1934, Chester Newten Hess sat down to interview Ah Louis. Below is some of what Ah Louis had to say. Click here for the full...

Ah Louis Store today (Photo courtesy of Elliot Gong) The historic Ah Louis Store identifies with Ah Louis, a Chinese American pioneer,...

1840s: People came from the East Coast to the gold rush Foreigners arrive to the Central Coast in response to the shortage of laborers...

1950: Council tears down Chinatown to put up a parking lot Back in the day, cars mattered more than someone else's culture 1995:...