Museum of Chinese in America facts for kids
The museum in 2015
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| Established | 1980 |
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| Location | 215 Centre Street New York, NY 10013 USA |
| Type | Art, Cultural, History museum |
| Public transit access | Subway: Canal Street, 2 blocks away (         trains) |
The Museum of Chinese in America (traditional Chinese: 美國華人博物館; simplified Chinese: 美国华人博物馆; Mandarin Pinyin: Měiguó Huárén Bówùguǎn; Jyutping: Mei5gwok3 Waa4jan4 Bok3mat6gun2), often called MOCA, is a special museum in New York City. It shows the amazing story of Chinese American history. MOCA is a non-profit organization, which means it's not trying to make money. Instead, it focuses on teaching people about the history, culture, and experiences of Chinese Americans through exhibitions and programs.
Sadly, a fire in January 2020 damaged many items in its collection. After being closed for over a year, the museum reopened on July 15, 2021.
Contents
Museum History
MOCA started in 1980 in Manhattan's Chinatown. It was first known as the New York Chinatown History Project. Historian John Kuo Wei Tchen and community activist Charles Lai created it. They wanted to make sure the stories and experiences of older Chinese American generations were remembered. They did this by collecting oral histories, photos, and other important items.
From 1997 to 2006, Fay Chew Matsuda was the museum's director. In 2005, the museum received a large grant from the Carnegie Corporation. This was made possible by a donation from New York City's mayor at the time, Michael Bloomberg.
The museum moved to a new, much larger building at 215 Centre Street in 2009. This new space was designed by the famous architect Maya Lin. The museum's main exhibition, With a Single Step, was also designed for this new space. In May 2011, Herb Tam became the curator and director of exhibitions.
In 2019, MOCA opened a new gift shop with Pearl River Mart, an Asian American retail brand. It's called MOCA Shop by Pearl River and sells items important to Chinese American culture. That same year, the museum received a large amount of money from New York City for community projects in Chinatown. Some community members had concerns about how this money was being used.
In January 2020, a fire damaged the building where the museum's collection was stored. About 85,000 items were at risk from water damage. While it seemed like many might be lost, a large part of the collection was saved. About 35,000 items had already been saved digitally before the fire. Experts worked hard to restore the damaged items and prevent mold. The museum reopened to the public on July 15, 2021.
In 2022, it was announced that the museum would work with Maya Lin again for a big renovation. This project would make the museum much larger. The construction was planned to start after 2023, but it has been postponed while the museum works to gather the necessary funds.
In February 2024, the museum bought its main building at 215 Centre Street. In March 2024, Michael Lee was chosen as the new director, replacing Nancy Yao. Later, in September 2024, the museum announced its first-ever performing artist residency program, which ran from October 2024 through February 2025.
Museum Exhibitions
The main exhibition at MOCA is called With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America. It explores over 160 years of Chinese American history. Each year, the museum adds two to four new exhibitions that focus on different themes, historical events, or art.
In January 2015, the museum presented Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving. The name of this exhibit came from a Chinese saying: "Each wave of the Yangtze River pushes at the wave ahead."
Current Exhibitions
- With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America (September 1, 2009 – December 31, 2028)
- Magazine Fever: Gen X Asian American Periodicals (October 3, 2024 – March 30, 2025)
Past Exhibitions
- Five Senses Of Chinatown (December 6, 2023 – September 8, 2024)
- Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America (March 17, 2023 – November 12, 2023)
- Responses: Asian American Voices Resisting the Tides of Racism (July 15, 2021 – October 29, 2023)
- an unlikely photojournalist: Emile Bocian in Chinatown (December 14, 2020 – December 31, 2021)
- Gathering: Collecting and Documenting Chinese American History (October 17, 2019 – March 22, 2020)
- The Chinese Helped Build the Railroad – The Railroad Helped Build America (October 17, 2019 – March 22, 2020)
- Interior Lives: Photographs of Chinese Americans in the 1980s by Bud Glick (October 18, 2018 – March 24, 2019)
- FOLD: Golden Venture Paper Sculptures (October 5, 2017 - March 25, 2018)
- Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America (October 6, 2016 – September 10, 2017)
- Stage Design by Ming Cho Lee (April 28, 2016 – September 11, 2016)
- Chinese Style: Rediscovering the Architecture of Poy Gum Lee, 1923–1968 (September 24, 2015 – March 27, 2016)
- SUB URBANISMS: Casino Urbanization, Chinatowns, and the Contested American Landscape (September 24, 2015 – March 27, 2016)
- Yu Lik Wai: It's a Bright Guilty World (October 8, 2015 – August 11, 2016)
- Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong (March 26, 2015 – September 13, 2015)
- Memory Prints: The Story World of Phillip Chen (September 25, 2014 – January 3, 2015)
- Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving (September 25, 2014 – January 3, 2015)
- Oil and Water: Reinterpreting Ink (April 24, 2014 – September 14, 2014)
- The Lee Family of New York Chinatown Since 1888 (October 23, 2013 – June 6, 2014)
- A Floating Population (December 13, 2013 – April 13, 2014)
- Portraits of New York Chinatown (December 13, 2013 – April 13, 2014)
- Front Row: Chinese American Designers (April 26, 2013 – December 1, 2013)
- Shanghai Glamour: New Women 1910s–40s (April 26, 2013 – November 3, 2013)
- Marvels and Monsters: Unmasking Asian Images in U.S. Comics, 1942–1986 and Alt. Comics: Asian American Artists Reinvent the Comic (September 27, 2012 – February 24, 2013)
- America through a Chinese Lens (April 26, 2012 – September 9, 2012)
- Lee Mingwei: The Travelers and The Quartet Project (October 20, 2011 – March 26, 2012)
- Unearthing (May 5, 2011 – September 19, 2011)
- Chinese Puzzles (November 6, 2010 – April 9, 2011)
- Chinatown POV: Reflections on September 11 (September 11, 2010 – November 29, 2010)
- Both Here and There: Yale-China and a Century of Transformative Encounters (September 2, 2010 – October 11, 2010)
- Here & Now: Chapter III Towards Transculturalism (February 11, 2010 – March 28, 2010)
- Here & Now: Chapter II Crossing Boundaries (November 19, 2009 – January 4, 2010)
- Here & Now: Chinese Artists in New York Chapter 1 (September 22, 2009 – November 2, 2009)
Museum Collections
As of early 2020, MOCA's Collections and Research Center held over 85,000 items. These include artifacts, photos, souvenirs, documents, oral histories, and artworks. The collection covers 160 years of history. You can find things like old Chinese restaurant menus, boat tickets, family photos, and wedding dresses.
Research Center
The museum's former gallery space at 70 Mulberry Street is now used as a special center for archives and research. This Research Center offers online versions of museum exhibitions and an interactive timeline of Chinese American history. It also provides resources on topics like immigration and diversity. This center was also affected by the 2020 fire.
Special Collections
MOCA has several unique collections:
| Name of Collection | About Collection |
|---|---|
| Recovering Chinatown: The 9/11 Collection | This collection includes images, videos, oral histories, and other items. MOCA started collecting them right after the September 11 attacks, which happened near Chinatown. |
| Fly to Freedom Collection | This collection has 173 paper sculptures. They were made by passengers from the ship Golden Venture. This ship ran aground in 1993. Many passengers were held in detention for years. They made these sculptures as gifts for their lawyers and to pass the time. |
| Oral History Collection | MOCA has about 350 interviews in its 7 oral history collections. These interviews were done between 1980 and 2013. They record memories and stories about the Chinese American experience. |
| Marcella Dear Collection | This collection was given to the museum in 2006. It includes many textiles, old books, records, posters, games, instruments, family photos, letters, and tools. These items came from the Chin family, who lived in Manhattan's Chinatown for five generations. |
| Qipao/Cheongsam Collection | MOCA has two collections of qipao/cheongsam dresses. The first has 77 dresses from the 1930s and 1940s. The second has 367 family dresses. Some of these dresses were designed by Angela King's mother, who was a fashion designer. |
| Hazel Ying Lee Collection | This collection includes personal photos, family letters, documents, and newspaper articles. It tells the story of Hazel Ying Lee, a Chinese American woman pilot in the 1930s and 1940s. Her sister and a filmmaker donated it. |
| CMTA Collection | The Chinese Musical and Theatrical Association (CMTA) collection has about 26 detailed opera costumes, rare musical instruments, shoes, hats, and stage props. These items show how Cantonese opera clubs in North America's Chinatowns changed from the 1930s until today. They also show how important these clubs were to immigrants. |
Legacy Awards Gala
MOCA holds a special event called the Legacy Awards Gala. At this gala, the museum honors people and organizations who have made important contributions to Chinese American culture.
Here are some of the people and groups honored in recent years:
- 2023 honorees included: Sewell Chan, Ho Kew Lee, Frank H. Wu, and Sylvia Fung Chin.
- 2022 honorees included: Chinese American Veterans of World War II, Dr. David Lam, The Honorable Gary Locke, and Joyous String Ensemble.
- 2015 honorees included: The C.V. Starr Scholars, actor Nancy Kwan, and architect William C. Louie from Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates.
- 2014 honorees included: Tyrus Wong, Theodore T. Wang, and Victor and William Fung Foundation Ltd.
- 2013 honorees included: Michael Bloomberg, Pei-Yuan Chia, Ming Tsai, and Wang Yannan.
- 2012 honorees included: Angelica Cheung, Silas Chou, Calvin Tsao, and Humberto Leon and Carol Lim.
- 2011 honorees included: Oscar L. Tang, David Liu, Dominic Ng, and Pichet Ong.
- 2010 honorees included: The Chao Family, Maurice R. Greenberg & The Starr Foundation, HSBC Bank USA, Anita Lo, Bill and Judith Davidson Moyers, Ben Wang, and Major General John L. Fugh (a special award given after his passing).
- 2009 honorees included: Ronnie C. Chan, Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, Anla Cheng, Mark E. Kingdon, Lucy Liu, Wan-go Weng, and Jerry Yang.
- An earlier awardee was William Y. Chang (in 2000).
See also
- Chinese Americans in New York City
- Chinese American Museum (in Los Angeles)
- Chinese Historical Society of America (in San Francisco)
- Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
- Chinese Culture Center (in San Francisco)
- Chinese American Museum Washington, DC
- Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park
- List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
