DENVER — Crews on Wednesday were putting the finishing touches on History Colorado's newest exhibit: "Where is Denver’s Chinatown? Stories Remembered, Reclaimed, Reimagined."
It's a walk down memory lane for Linda Lung and her cousin, Heather Lung Clifton, whose family has lived in Denver for 100 years.
"They were here right after the Anti-Chinese riot in 1882 in Denver," said Lung.
The riot targeted people and businesses in Denver's Chinatown.
"Denver's Chinatown was red-lined. There was only a certain area that they could live in the Denver area, and that was restricted to the Chinatown area," said Lung.
Local
Group unveils proposed text for Denver Chinatown historic marker
Lung and Lung Clifton's grandmother had a successful business in Chinatown.
"They had different foods that they ate. They had different religions, and I think that they looked different and they felt at home. Chinatown was a safe haven," Lung said.
That safe haven was practically demolished by the city in the 1940s to make way for what would eventually become the modern day LoDo district.
"Gradually, as the downtown area was changed, they dispersed. They began moving to other parts of the city, and they were spread out all over Denver," said Clifton.
"It was gone, but we weren't gone," said Clifton.
Denver's once vibrant Chinatown was nearly forgotten by the mainstream public, until an effort in the last few years worked quickly to reclaim the history and celebrate the resiliency of Chinese-Americans in Colorado.
"The story of Denver's Chinatown is one that we've been wanting to tell for a long time," said Josie Chang-Order, the school programs manager for History Colorado.
Local
Mural to honor Denver's once-forgotten historic Chinatown now on display
From a historical documentation perspective, there were challenges in telling this story.
"We do notice that there does tend to be sort of a lack of primary sources. A lot of newspapers from the time period were owned by external communities, sort of reporting on what was happening internally in Chinatown," said Samantha Martin, the Temple Buell associate curator of History Colorado.
Coverage from those external outlets tended to favor racial stereotypes and lacked cultural context. There was also a lack of written history, leaving historians with not many credible primary sources of what the area was like at the time.
"We've been able to work with descendant communities who have passed down memories and heirlooms and photographs for decades now that have really helped us understand and better share this history," said Martin.
Many of the Lung Family heirlooms are on display in the new exhibit. The two helped curate the exhibit with History Colorado.
"Let's listen to the stories, let's learn from the stories, now we need to move forward," said Lung.
The exhibit also allows people to re-imagine what a future Chinatown or community center open to all Asian Americans could look like.
The exhibit: "Where is Denver's Chinatown? Stories Remembered, Reclaimed, Reimagined" will open to the public on Oct. 10.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.