Certificates of Residence

Dublin Core

Title

Certificates of Residence

Subject

Hawaii
Immigration
Migration
Chinese Exclusion act

Description

Each certificate has a photograph of the resident with his or her name, age, place of residence, occupation, eye color, height, complexion, birth marks and signature of each Chinese immigrant. These certificates are of nineteen year old mother Chang Hoo Shee and seven month old daughter Chang Sum.

After signing the Hawaii Organic act on the 30th April 1900, American laws now applied to the islands of Hawaii. As a result, the American Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 applied to Chinese immigrants in the territory of Hawaii. These certificates of residence would enabled Chinese citizens to work during the harvest of sugar. Hawaii’s export economy was reliant on immigrant labor throughout much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Therefore, free movement of immigrant labor was crucial to sustaining Hawaii’s biggest export, sugar.

Creator

Department of the Treasury

Publisher

University of Hawaii at Manoa Library

http://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/treasures/Pages/viewtext.php?s=browse&tid=143&doctype=29&route=browseby.php&by=doctype&s=browse

Date

13 June 1901

Contributor

Alfie Staples

Rights

University of Hawaii at Manoa Library

Language

English

Type

Textual/Visual - printed/handwritten certificate with photographs

Identifier

20th century Hawai'i

Files

Certificates of Residence.png

Collection

Citation

Department of the Treasury, “Certificates of Residence,” The American Pacific Rim: Colonisation, Conflict and Connections, 1800-Present, accessed April 19, 2024, https://theamericanpacificrim.omeka.net/items/show/327.