The Tacoma Method

In 1885, the city of Tacoma carried out one of the most organized expulsions in Pacific Northwest history when hundreds of Chinese residents were forced from their homes by city leaders, businessmen, and armed mobs in what became known as “The Tacoma Method.” This week on Beneath the Evergreens, we uncover how racism, labor tensions, and the Chinese Exclusion Act fueled a campaign of intimidation that erased Tacoma’s Chinatown and changed the city forever. We also explore the long road to reconciliation and why this dark chapter of Washington history still matters today.

References 

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Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. (1997). *Personal justice denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians*. Civil Liberties Public Education Fund.

Daniels, R. (1988). *Asian America: Chinese and Japanese in the United States since 1850*. University of Washington Press.

History.com Editors. (2021, May 10). *When West Coast cities tried to drive out their Chinatowns*. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/anti-chinese-violence-west-coast-expulsion

Kanazawa, M. (2005). Immigration, exclusion, and tax discrimination: Anti-Chinese legislation in Gold Rush California. *Journal of Economic History, 65*(3), 779–805. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002205070500028X

Lew-Williams, B. (2018). *The Chinese must go: Violence, exclusion, and the making of the alien in America*. Harvard University Press.

Morgan, M. (1979). *Puget’s sound: A narrative of early Tacoma and the southern Sound*. University of Washington Press.

Pfaelzer, J. (2007). *Driven out: The forgotten war against Chinese Americans*. Random House.

Pierce County Library System. (n.d.). *Tacoma Method and anti-Chinese expulsions in Washington Territory*. Pierce County Historical Resources.

Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project. (n.d.). *Anti-Chinese movement in Washington Territory*. University of Washington. https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/

The Tacoma Method. (n.d.). *The Tacoma Method project*. https://www.tacomamethod.com

The Seattle Times Editorial Board. (2015, November 1). *Tacoma’s anti-Chinese history deserves remembrance*. *The Seattle Times*. https://www.seattletimes.com

United States Congress. (1882). *Chinese Exclusion Act, 22 Stat. 58*. U.S. Government Printing Office.

University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. (n.d.). *Chinese Americans in the Pacific Northwest historical archives*. University of Washington.

Washington State Historical Society. (n.d.). *Chinese Reconciliation Park and Tacoma’s Chinese expulsion*. Washington State Historical Society.