Angel Island - A National Historic Landmark with Current Day Relevance

The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island are often the two places that come to mind when thinking about immigration to the US. Yet, many are not aware that from 1910 to 1940, a section of Angel Island (in the San Francisco Bay) was also used to process, interrogate, and detain over 500,000 immigrants who came from 80 different countries. While often referred to as the “Ellis Island of the West”, the former U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island was created to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and other immigration policies created to restrict immigration from Asia and the Pacific. 

The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) is the primary nonprofit organization that has worked in partnership with California State Parks to preserve the site’s buildings and history. AIISF led efforts to secure the site’s recognition in 1997 as a National Historic Landmark. The site serves as reminder of the complicated history of immigration in America and as a symbol of our willingness to learn from our past to ensure that our nation keeps its promise of liberty and freedom.

Join us for this panel discussion with Asian American leaders affiliated with AIISF -- including Stanford alumni Buck Gee and Kathy Ko Chin -- who will highlight historical immigration through Angel Island, the monumental effort to preserve and protect the site, and the importance of remembering the site’s significance in American and Asian American history

Speakers:

Buck Gee MBA, BS, MS, AIISF Board President, formerly with Cisco Systems

Win Chang BS, AIISF Board Member, Solutions Engineering Director at Oracle

Kathy Ko Chin MS, BA, former AIISF Board President, CEO Jasper Inclusion Advisors

Edward Tepporn BA, AIISF Executive Director 

Katherine Toy MA, BA, former AIISF Executive Director, EVP of Partnerships and Programs at Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy