OCA Reminder: YOUR VOTE NEEDED FOR ANGEL ISLAND IMMIGRATION STATION TO RECEIVE PRESERVATION GRANT
YOUR VOTE NEEDED FOR ANGEL ISLAND IMMIGRATION STATION TO RECEIVE PRESERVATION GRANT
Please go online to vote each day! You can make a difference!
Angel Island Immigration Station has been selected by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of twenty-five Bay Area historical sites to potentially receive funding from the “Partners in Preservation” program. We need your help in voting for the Immigration Station to ensure that Angel Island’s $100,000 proposal for preservation is selected. $1 million will be distributed in the Bay Area. Your vote will make a difference!
Through October 31st, you have the opportunity to cast one vote each day for the sites that you care about. All you have to do to be a voter is to register and vote at http://www.partnersinpreservation.com/
Please vote for the Angel Island Immigration Station each and every day! Pass this on to your friends and colleagues so that they can vote too.
The site with the most votes will automatically receive funding.
Other projects will be judged by the public’s comments and judging as well as a Bay Area Advisory Committee. The sites to receive funding will be announced in November.
American Express Partners in Preservation is a $10 million, five- year commitment to historic preservation that will increase public awareness of the importance of historic preservation in the United States and around the world. This commitment will help protect historic and cultural landmarks and will strengthen local communities. It is a joint effort between American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the World Monuments Fund.
SF Chronicle article can be read at:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/19/BAGQ1L89AF1.DTL
ABOUT ANGEL ISLAND IMMIGRATION STATION
Located in San Francisco Bay, Angel Island Immigration Station was routinely the first stop for many immigrants crossing the Pacific Ocean between 1910 and 1940. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from around the world came through Angel Island but its greatest significance is tied to the story of 175,000 estimated Chinese immigrants. Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, one of the restrictive laws prohibiting the immigration of certain nationalities and social classes of Asians, Chinese immigrants were detained as their papers were verified. Whereas some immigrants passed through Angel Island in a number of days, the average detention for the Chinese was two to three weeks, many stayed for several months, and some were forced to remain on the island for nearly two years. The most visible testament to the experiences of Angel Island detainees are the Chinese poems, speaking of sadness and isolation, etched into the walls of the dilapidated barracks that once housed them. For more information visit the website: www.aiisf.org