Freemasons practicing for tournament.

Saturday, September 4, 2010 8:00 A.M.
Opening Ceremonies
Washington St/Traveler St Parking Lot

For complete schedule:
[1] http://boston.nacivt.com/page5/SchedRslt.html

The Beginnings of Volleyball in Chinatown
In the late 1930’s, there was not much for young Chinese laundry workers to do other than work. Just about ten years earlier, the Immigration Act of 1924 had effectively shut the door on all immigration to the U.S. from Asia. It declared that all Asians were “not eligible” for citizenship. It then went on to say that persons not eligible for citizenship were barred from entering the United States. Since Asian were not eligible for citizenship, this meant that any Asian who was not a citizen of the United States at the time the law was passed could not leave the country if he or she ever wished to return later.

Recreation for laundry workers was extremely limited. Laundry work usually meant 10 to 18-hour days, 6 days a week. Sunday was their only day off. On Sunday they could do what they liked, but there was not much to do. The usual “American” entertainment was either prohibited to them, or did not make much sense. Usually they “hung out,” visited Chinatown or visited with other laundry workers.

Henry Oi was one of those young laundry workers who participated in the original tournaments. At 76 he is now retired from business, but is still very active in the life of community. As a young man, he worked in his father’s laundry. He still remembers the hard work, long hours, and how little he earned. He still remembers that on his day off from the laundry, he would hang out with other laundry workers at a local drug store on the corner of Beach and Washington Streets in Boston Chinatown, but this was not very interesting. Life for the young people of Chinatown was mostly “a matter of no time and no money” he says.

Some of them wanted to spend the few free hours they had to themselves doing something which was not breaking the law or getting into trouble. But more than this, they wanted something that would promote friendship. Friendship is essential to society. One thing they found they could do was go to the Chinatown YMCA.

The facilities of the Chinatown Y were quite limited. There, the young men found a table tennis table and a backyard. In this backyard they could play volleyball.

Reference: 55th NACIVT Program Book. Boston, 1999

For the entire story visit: [2] http://boston.nacivt.com/page1/History.html