by jeff
Newark’s Chinatown
June 6, 2007
Today’s Newark is a gorgeous multiethnic tapestry of Latinos, African-Americans, African immigrants, Caribbean immigrants, Iberians, and Brazilians, with a few dwindling pockets of Eastern Europe and Italy and the occassional non-ethnic hipster. As wonderful as Newark’s current diversity is, one has to admit that the city is missing several major elements that are present in other cities: Asian-Americans.
Newark once did have a Chinatown. It was centered on Mulberry Street and flourished in the 1910s and 1920s. Most of the residents were from Taisan in southern China. In common with what happened to white ethnic neighborhoods, Newark’s Chinatown disappeared due to the upward mobility of its children and the deterioration of Newark. According to an article in last Sunday’s Star Ledger (“Vestiges of a Community that Vanished Long Ago“), the only remnants of Newark’s Chinatown are a beige brick building on Mulberry Street with a Chinese name and a single holdout on Columbia Street named Frank Eng.
Newark’s Chinatown was very small – never more than 2,000 people – so it has attracted less attention than Newark’s Jewish, Italian, or even Greek communities (all of which are copiously documented). Thankfully, this lack of attention to Newark’s Chinatown is starting to change. Yoland Skeete, a researcher with the Sumei Multidisciplinary Arts Center, is doing an oral history project on Newark’s Chinatown.
Check out Yoland Skeete’s beautifully done website on Newark’s Chinatown at www.newarkchinatown.org
