This collection documents the activities of the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advances civic harmony by way of the Chinese Reconciliation Park on Schuster Parkway along Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington. The collection consists of meeting minutes, correspondence, bylaws, news clippings, event flyers, photographs, and other documents created by or related to the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation. Topics discussed in the materials include the expulsion of Chinese citizens from Tacoma in 1885, the development of Chinese Reconciliation Park, and the day-to-day administrative activities of the Foundation.
On November 3, 1885, a group of 500 white Tacoma residents gathered the city's population of approximately 200 Chinese citizens and expelled them from the city by train and wagon. Within days, members of the Tacoma community had burned the city's Chinatown to the ground. The expulsion of Chinese citizens from Tacoma marked the culmination of years of anti-Chinese sentiment, bolstered by an economic downturn during which Chinese workers were positioned as scapegoats. Many prominent Tacoma citizens, including the Mayor, supported the Chinese expulsion. Expelling citizens in this manner became known as "The Tacoma Method."
The Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation (CRPF) was established in 1992. In 1993, Tacoma City Council officially acknowledged the 1885 expulsion and voiced support for the development of a park to memorialize the event and aid in reconciliation. The CRPF worked to develop the park, which broke ground in 2005 and opened to the public in 2010.
Collection is open for research.
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[Name of document, date.] Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation records, Mss.097. University of Puget Sound Archives & Special Collections. Tacoma, Washington.