East Kong Yick Building
| East Kong Yick Building | |
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 East Kong Yick Building shortly after re-opening as the Wing Luke Asian Museum, 2008. At right, the West Kong Yick Building is undergoing renovation, hence the scaffolding | |
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| East Kong Yick Building | ||
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Hanyu Pinyin Dōng Gōng Yì Dàshà | | |
| Yue: Cantonese | ||
| Jyutping | Dung1 Gung1 Jik1 Daai6haa6 | |
The East Kong Yick Building (
Kong Yick Investment Company
In 1910 Goon Dip, a prominent businessman in Seattle's Chinese American community,[3] led a group of Chinese American pioneers to form the Kong Yick Investment Company. [The name of the company, Kong Yick (公益)[4] loosely means "public benefits."] With no financial backing from a bank, the investment company pooled money from approximately 170 Chinese American community members to fund the construction of two twin buildings that would serve as the anchor of a "new" Chinatown. They commissioned architects Thompson & Thompson, who had strong ties with the local Asian community, to design both buildings.[5]
Members of the investment company lived not only in Seattle but throughout the Pacific Northwest, making the Kong Yick Buildings a landmark for the Chinese community.
Notable businesses
Freeman Hotel
In addition to the blooming Chinese population,
Family associations
Distinct
Family associations were the first social "community centers" in Chinatown/ID. The associations were not just social organizations but also provided social services, helping new immigrants adjust to their new lives in America. Many would turn to these family associations to find work, health care and a place to live.
The East Kong Yick Building housed the Gee How Oak Tin family association, the Lee Family Association and others. Since 2008, the former Gee How Oak Tin family association meeting hall is open to the public as an exhibit in the
Family apartments
Former storefronts converted to
Preserving the immigrant experience
In May 2008 the East Kong Yick Building reopened as the new, expanded
Seattle's Chinatown-International District is the only place in the continental United States where Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Vietnamese and other settled together and built one neighborhood. By settling in the East Kong Yick, the Wing Luke Asian Museum hopes to help spur the preservation of other historic buildings in the International District and bring thousands of visitors to support the many neighboring shops and restaurants.
Notes
- ^ Tseng, Jenny (March 12, 2009). 西雅圖華埠的百年建築懷舊之旅 [A nostalgic tour of a century-old building in Seattle's Chinatown]. 珍妮曾在西雅圖的網誌 (Jenny Tseng in Seattle) (in Chinese). Retrieved November 20, 2010.
- ^ Broom, Jack (May 19, 2008). "Visitors to walk through time at new Wing Luke Asian Museum". The Seattle Times.
- ^ "Seattle's Chinatown/International District". Wing Luke Museum. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
- ^ See Kong Yick business records
- ^ "Construction Work Keeps Up Fast Pace". The Seattle Times. Newsbank. 16 Jan 1910. p. 34.