Chinatown’s Early Pioneers: A Visit to Mount Hope Cemetery

July 29, 2008 by Chinatown Blogger.

Chinese Immigrant Memorial at Mount Hope Cemetery, Mattapan, MA

The oldest Chinatown in the U.S. is in San Francisco, founded in the 1850s (Chinatowns exist in many other countries). Boston Chinatown was established in the early 1870s after a group of 75 workers were brought to work in the Sampson shoe factory in North Adams, MA and eventually migrated to Boston. These first Chinese who came to the U.S. were no different than many other immigrant groups. They faced hardship and discrimination but also persevered and founded communities. Many of them came seeking work and to start a new life. Others had planned on saving enough money and going back home.

However, some of these pionneers never made their way back home and died as bachelors. Without families and descendants, family associations paid for their burial. Their bodies were buried in several lots at Mount Hope Cemetery in Mattapan. Many had just a simple marker to note their passing, but these early Chinese settlers formed Boston Chinatown’s identity and history. This past weekend, the Chinatown Blogger visited Mount Hope Cemetery.

Many early Chinese settlers died without family in the U.S. Buried at Mount Hope Cemetery, their tombstones fell into disrepair over time.

George Yuen, Nov. 28, 1882 - Sept. 22, 1953. Yuen was born in the year the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. The Act restricted the immigration of Chinese to the U.S. for over 60 years. “Any Chinese who left the United States had to obtain certifications for reentry, and the Act made Chinese immigrants permanent aliens by excluding them from U.S. citizenship. After the Act’s passage, Chinese men in the U.S. had little chance of ever reuniting with their wives, or of starting families in their new home.”(Wikipedia)

Over time, the the graves had fallen into disrepair. Many of the markers were knocked down and broken, possibly by vandalism. In 2007, the Chinese Immigrant Memorial was built to commemorate these pioneers’ journey. The Chinese Historical Society of New England spearheaded the project with the goal to: 1) build a new memorial altar, 2) create landscape improvements, 3) restore and replace crumbling tombstones and catalog the names.

The Chinese translation for the inscriptions:
“Remembering those who came before you”
“Long rivers flow from distant origins”
“Abundant leaves flourish from deep roots”

Mount Hope Cemetery
355 Walk Hill Street
Mattapan, MA 02126
(617) 635-7361

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