This week our family was involved in a heartfelt discussion concerning the experiences of my grandfather, San Tong Jue at the Angel Island Immigration Station. He arrived there as a young boy of 13 in 1918 along with his mother, Leong Shee, and his brother, San You. He remained on the island through a difficult detention and interrogation until the family was finally reunited with his father, Jue Joe, who had sent for them. Recently the Angel Island Immigration Station has been completely renovated as a museum and educational center .
Here is some background on the Immigration Station and the poetry discovered on its dormitory walls written by detainees . This discovery led to designation of the station as a national historic site and prevented its destruction.
Here is a recent video tour of the new museum .
And here is a reading of some of the poems discovered on the walls of the immigration station .
Finally here is a statment concerning Angel Island from President Obama on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Angel Island Immigration Station
