Early Chinese settlement is remembered

Photos Courtesy of Belleville Historical Society
The memorial at Belleville’s Dutch Reformed Church commemorates the first Chinese community on the East Coast of the United States, which was located in Belleville.

The first Chinese settlement on the East Coast was in Belleville in 1870.

Most people, even in New Jersey, have never heard of this history. But recently, educators and community leaders from Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) New Jersey and Belleville Historical Society held a Zoom event for the community to learn about this forgotten history.

Roslyne Shiao, co-executive director of AAPI New Jersey; Sulynn Miao, current curriculum and program consultant for AAPI New Jersey; and Michael Perrone, president of the Belleville Historical Society, were the presenters.

Shiao began the program presenting a map, Roots & Routes, which mapped Asian culture in New Jersey.

“There’s so much Asian American history in New Jersey we didn’t know about,” she said.

Miao gave an in depth talk about how the Chinese came to Belleville in the 1870s.

“Chinese people who lived and worked in Belleville were mostly from the providence of Canton,” she said. “They were secretly transported in horse-drawn carriages into the small, unsuspecting town in New Jersey in the dark of night because Captain Hervey [a retired sea captain] knew it would cause an uproar.”

Perrone interjected, “His concern was with the union group in Newark. It was easier to bring them in at night. The unions in Newark were not too thrilled about Chinese workers coming.”

“Labor unions felt that threat,” Miao said.

These workers were brought to work at the Passaic Steam Laundry Factory. For more than 15 years, Belleville was home to the first Chinese community on the east coast, where they worked along with Irish women.

“Chinese people are described as a menace to a class of laborers,” said Miao. “Meaning the Irish. Many people felt Chinese people were a threat, the fear of Chinese people spreading across the East Coast.”

Miao further explained that this period of history in the United States is sometimes referred to as The Exclusion Era. Political cartoons would disparage Chinese people with crude depictions of them.

But how did they build community in Belleville?

Each year, the Chinese community celebrated Chinese New Year, which falls anywhere between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20. It brought Chinese and white people together.
Many Chinese residents also attended church and learned to speak English.

As for the Irish women, none of them lost their jobs. They worked together in harmony.

Still, it was not all fun and games. The labor they did in the laundry factory was hard and dangerous. Chinese men, who wore their hair in a braid—known as a queue—were referred to as “girlish” and were told “laundry work is for women.” Over time, Chinese people were associated with laundry work.

During this time, there was a rise in the term “French laundry” which was a code for those who didn’t hire Chinese workers.

However, the Chinese of Belleville helped build China Town in Newark, which no longer exists, and China Town in Manhattan, which does.

“It was a harmonious situation compared to what was going on in the country at the time,” Perrone said. “Belleville was an anti-slavery home to a number of abolitionists. Belleville had this reputation for being different. We had a history of being this progressive community. Employees at the laundry were mostly young Irish girls looking to get married and start a family. It was not a steady workforce. Chinese men weren’t a threat.”

While always being aware that Belleville had been home to a Chinese community in the latter 19th century, Perrone was stunned to discover in 2015 that the Belleville Chinese community was the first and most significant on the U.S. East Coast.

As a tribute to this Chinese community, a monument was built in Belleville. Perrone has spent countless hours studying, speaking, and writing about this unique history, as president of the Belleville Historical Society. Perrone and the Belleville Historical Society have restored scores of historical monuments throughout northern New Jersey for many years.

These volunteer efforts have gained them widespread recognition including recent awards from the City of Newark and the Township of Montclair.

With some of the laundry workers buried on the grounds of the Dutch Belleville Reformed Church, a monument was built in 2016. An additional tablet was added in front of the monument in 2019.

On the grounds where they placed the monument, an iron of the type that Chinese workers would have used in the laundry was found.

“Chinese were very precise with the iron,” said Perrone. “Finding an iron upon completion of the monument is a sign that Chinese workers were giving us the ‘thumbs up.’ The Belleville Historical Society were honored to have this portion of American History fall into our lap.”