Washington County Oral Histories

Peter Hing oral history recording on Chinese Farm Labor

An audio recording of an oral history of Peter Hing recorded on April 18, 1978, on his family’s settlement in the early nineteenth century on the west coast and the history of the Chinese population in Washington County, Oregon. He mentions the Race Riots in Portland, Oregon, religion and the conversion of many Chinese to Christianity, the Opium War, family tongs, and the industries that the Chinese laborers were involved in- farming, grubbing stumps, and mining. Hing describes his personal life going to school in the Tualatin area in a one room schoolhouse, his father purchasing land and the hops business in the area, and the importance placed on Chinese children of his generation to continue their education. Many Chinese who went on to college, Hing included, did not find jobs, immediately or ever, in their field of study because of racial discrimination. Hing compares that to his experience in 1978, the time of the interview, and states that there is no discrimination in the hiring process and it is based strictly on merit. Hing also describes the process of borrowing money that the Chinese had in the early twentieth century with the formation of clubs of ten to twenty families. He finishes with distinguishing between the different generations of the Chinese in America and how that has affected the perception of them both in America and in China. There is a typed page of introduction along with the recording and how Peter Hing was chosen to be interviewed.

Hing, Peter

Washington County (Or.) -- History

Chinese Americans -- History

Hing, Peter

Agriculture

Washington County (Or.)

2 sound cassettes (1 hr. 24 min.)

English

WCM_OH_424

In Copyright

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Five Oaks Museum

Meyer, Lloyd

Audiocassettes

Sound