CULTURES IN OUR AREA. BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE WERE TWO CHINATOWN TOWNS IN THE CITY? MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO? TONIGHT, IN OUR PROJECT COMMUNITY, EAST MEETS WEST, THE TALE OF TWO CHINATOWNS. I GOT TO TALK TO HISTORIANS TO FIND OUT HOW CHINATOWN WAS FORMED, HOW THEY DISAPPEARED, AND WHY THEY SHOULDN’T BE FORGOTTEN. IN STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, BLANCHE DUBOIS COLORED PAPER LANTERN FROM A CHINESE SHOP ON BOURBON STREET THAT WAS A REAL CHINESE SHOP. CHINESE PEOPLE FIRST CAME TO NEW ORLEANS ABOUT 150 YEARS AGO. HISTORIAN WINSTON HO OF THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION SAYS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, SOUTHERN PLANTERS SCRAMBLE TO FIND NEW WORKERS. SO THEY BROUGHT IN CHINESE PEOPLE FROM CALIFORNIA AND CHINA, BUT IT DIDN’T WORK OUT LONG TERM. BASICALLY, CONDITIONS WORKING CONDITIONS HERE IN THE SOUTH WERE PRETTY MISERABLE. THE CHINESE DIDN’T THINK THEY WERE BEING PAID ENOUGH. THEY ASKED FOR MORE MONEY. THE PLANTERS WERE NOT USED TO NEGOTIATING WITH THEIR WORKERS. AND ULTIMATELY THE CHINESE ALL LEFT. THEY LEFT TO GET JOBS IN THE CITY, AT RESTAURANTS AND LAUNDROMATS. IN THE 1870S, CHINESE BUSINESSES STARTED POPPING UP IN THE 1100 BLOCK OF TULANE AVENUE, CREATING THE FIRST CHINATOWN. PAT WELLS’S GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS ONE OF THE BUSINESS OWNERS ON TULANE. MOST OF THE PEOPLE HAD RESTAURANTS AND DRY CLEANERS. HER FAMILY WAS ALSO AMONG THE FIRST MEMBERS OF THE CHINESE PRESBYTERY CHURCH. IT WAS STARTED BY A MISSIONARY IN 1881 TO TEACH ENGLISH TO THE CHINESE IMMIGRANTS ON LIBERTY STREET. TODAY THE CHURCH IS HERE ON ESPLANADE AVENUE IN KENNER. IT HELPED. IT HELPED US MEET TOGETHER TO GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER. BUT IN 1937, CHINATOWN WAS FORCED TO MOVE. ACCORDING TO SOME HISTORIANS, THE MERCHANTS LOST THEIR LEASE AND THE AREA WAS BEING REDEVELOPED. SO THE BUSINESS OWNERS FOUND A NEW HOME IN THE AREA. BY 1940, ABOUT TEN CHINESE OWNED BUSINESSES LINED THE STREETS HERE IN THE 506 HUNDRED BLOCK OF BOURBON STREET TODAY. THIS SIGN HERE IS THE LAST VISIBLE TRACE OF THE ONCE SMALL BUT WELL KNOWN CHINATOWN IN THE FRENCH QUARTER. WE USED TO HAVE MARDI GRAS PARTIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AND SO IT WAS GREAT TO GET OUT IN THE BALCONY AND THROW BEADS LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, EVEN LOUIS ARMSTRONG REMINISCED IN HIS BOOK SAYING, QUOTE, THE CHINESE FINALLY MOVED INTO A LITTLE SECTION OF THEIR OWN AND CALLED IT CHINATOWN WITH A FEW LITTLE BEAT UP RESTAURANTS SERVING SOUL FOOD. JEFFERSON PARISH PRESIDENT CYNTHIA LEE CHANG’S GRANDFATHER OWNED A LAUNDROMAT IN THE EARLY 1900S. THE FAMILY THEN OWNED THIS RESTAURANT, HOUSE OF LEE. SHE IS GRATEFUL FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS BECAUSE SHE KNOWS IT WASN’T EASY. CERTAINLY THE FIRST IMMIGRANTS HAD A STRUGGLE. YOU KNOW, MAYBE THEY FACED DIFFICULT TIMES, MAYBE THEY FACED RACISM. MAYBE THEY BASED ON LANGUAGE BARRIER, A BIG HURDLE CAME IN 1882 WHEN THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT WAS PASSED. THE LAW BANNED CHINESE WORKERS FROM IMMIGRATING TO THE US FOR TEN YEARS BECAUSE OF JOB COMPETITION. HISTORIANS BELIEVE THAT WAS PARTLY THE REASON WHY CHINATOWN IN THE FRENCH QUARTER WASN’T ABLE TO GROW. YEAH, IT’S A CHINATOWN BASICALLY DIED OUT SLOWLY, BUT THEIR HARD WORK IS NOT DEAD. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS STILL ALIVE. WE DO HAVE DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS. OUR ANCESTORS COME FROM DIFFERENT PLACES, AND I THINK THAT’S WHAT MAKES OUR COUNTRY SO STRONG. I THINK THAT’S WHAT MAKES OUR STATE SO STRONG, STRONG AND RESILIENT, ADDING TO THE RICH AND DIVERSE HISTORY THAT’S UNIQUELY NEW ORLEANS. AND HISTORIAN WINSTON HO SAYS THE CHINESE ALSO STARTED MIGRATING TO THE SUBURBS. LIKE JEFFERSON PARISH, THEIR KIDS ALSO GO OFF TO COLLEGE, AND MOST OF THEM DON’T COME BACK. SO BY THE 1970S, CHINATOWN IN