About the Project
In partnership with the Stanford East Asia Library and the 1882 Foundation's AAPI DC Project, this digital project convenes a collaborative team of archival specialists, curators, and community stewards to build a virtual photography archive of the Chinese Community Church 美京中华基督教会(CCC) and DC’s Chinatown. Together, we are embarking on a mission to identify, digitize, and evaluate the visual history of this neighborhood, focusing specifically on its evolution from the late 19th century through the early Cold War era. By utilizing Stanford’s technical infrastructure and the Smithsonian’s curatorial expertise, we aim to create a rigorous framework for documenting the significance of Chinese American historic resources in the District. This archive serves as a critical digital safeguard, ensuring that the community's cultural footprint is recognized as an integral part of the American story, as the physical landscape of the city continues to shift.
Centering community engagement as our primary methodology, we are working alongside church leadership and local residents to collect family photographs that illuminate the "behind the archway" spaces of DC’s Chinese American experience. For this inaugural collection, we are prioritizing records that document the neighborhood's resilience during the early Cold War—a period defined by both cultural adaptation and the pressures of urban renewal. This repository functions as more than a historical record; it is a living resource intended to stimulate further study and provide a sense of psychological anchoring for the displaced diaspora. By merging institutional precision with community-led storytelling, we hope to foster an intergenerational bridge that accounts for the diverse and enduring legacy of the Chinese community in Washington, D.C.