Chinatown St. Louis: Where did it go?

Chinatown St. Louis: Where did it go?

Overview
St. Louis once had a Chinatown. It was removed to make way for Busch Stadium and parking lots. In this lesson, students will tour the virtual city in the 1950’s to learn more about this district. Students will answer the questions: Why was there a Chinatown? What happened there? Where did it go? Further, students will analyze what the city has lost by the dismantling of Chinatown. Students will role play an American-born Chinese child and complete a scrapbook of this child’s experience.

Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will:

Utilize the St. Louis Virtual City Web site
Interpret data from primary sources
Summarize life in St. Louis for some Chinese Immigrants
Analyze what St. Louis has lost by removing Chinatown

Show Me Standards 1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 1.8, 1.9, 2.1, 2.3, 3.1, 3.6

Process

Introduce the St. Louis City Virtual website to the class. Allow ample time for the students to navigate the 3D model on the left side of the screen. Students will discover some graphics in the model have an anchor symbol appear when they are activated. The right side of the screen produces pictures, texts and other links to describe the highlighted item. Have students practice with the interface until they are comfortable touring the city on the left and accessing information on the right.
Direct students to the 1950’s model and click on the Chinatown button. Touring the site students will click on buildings and meet people. Encourage students to dive deep into the information given on the right side of screen and follow the links to the perspectives and events buttons to explore primary sources
After having time to learn and explore independently or in small groups, gather the class together to share what they have discovered. Consider questions such as:

Why was there a Chinatown?
What types of buildings and business were there?
What was daily life like for those living and working there?
How did the Chinese preserve their culture?
How did the Chinese assimilate into American culture?
How did the Chinese protect themselves from racism?

Next, explain that the children will role play an American-born child of Chinese immigrants. They will be completing a scrapbook with written prompts. Encourage the students to navigate the website to find the information to help them authentically answer the writing prompts.

Students should not only produce written work in their scrapbooks, but also add drawings and artifacts to each page. Artifacts may include teacher provided materials (such as red envelopes) as well as printouts from the website.
The scrapbook itself can be made from tag board and paper or be part of a journal or notebook.

Writing Prompts for the scrapbook:

My parents needed to work to make a living, but their English language skills were poor. They decided to open a hand laundry in Chinatown. This was a good location for them because…(See Chinatown: Hop Alley, On Leong Merchant & Labor Association)
We live and work in the laundry. This is what it is like in each room: (See Chinese Hand Laundry)
Doing laundry is hard work! This is the process it takes and machines we use to clean and dry the clothes. (See A Day at a Chinese Hand Laundry)
My parents are glad I was born in America. They hope I will have a better life here than they had growing up in China. We all have to assimilate to American life. For us this means…(See Assimilation and Return of Chinese Culture, A Unique Religion)
As much as I am an American, I am also Chinese. My parents and our friends in Chinatown have taught me these Chinese customs…(See Assimilation and Return of Chinese Culture, Chinese New Year, A Unique Religion)
We have heard they are thinking about building a baseball stadium here in Chinatown. I love baseball, but I am worried about losing Chinatown. These are my feelings about redevelopment. (See Stadium Area Redevelopment Plans)

After the scrapbooks are complete, students should share their books with classmates.
Follow up their investigations of Chinatown with a class discussion.

Summarize what Chinatown was like and how it served the city.
Explore what the city has lost by no longer having a Chinatown today?
Imagine your neighborhood was being torn down. What would the city lose by displacing your community?

Design a monument for Chinatown. Where would you locate it? What would it look like? What would it say

Directions for Teachers

For child-made scrapbook ideas see Making Books that Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist and Turn by Gwen Diehn
Click here for scrapbook writing prompts