100th Anniversary Exhibition
The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.
This project, which our Military Museum led the development, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act with both a major exhibition and a national archive. This law, which was in effect for almost a quarter century, led to the darkest and, for some, the most despairing period for Chinese in Canada.
The Exclusion Act was a last-ditch effort to block all immigration from China after four decades of charging ever-increasing head taxes failed to stop the flow of Chinese migration.
The 1923 Act also resulted in Canadian-born Chinese children being issued an “immigration card” containing the words “this certificate does not establish legal status in Canada.” Through this card, a form of exclusion was symbolically passed on to the next generation of Chinese born on Canadian soil.
These children would become the generation that enlisted in Canada’s war effort despite the lack of full status in this country. Some even lost their lives in combat, such as Quan Louie of Vancouver who died in bomber command over the skies of Germany.
Come visit this major exhibition, on now at the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver until November 30, 2024. Learn more about this important project and how you can include your ancestors in commemorating this largely forgotten period of Canadian history. Click here.