Uncovering Hidden History: Ah Quin and the San Diego Chinese Mission School Movement, 1870-1946
Join us for an enlightening lunchtime with Professor Susie Lan Cassel as we dive into the previously untold story of the Chinese Mission schools in early San Diego. Long thought to be a minor movement with only one or two such institutions, Prof. Cassel’s meticulous research reveals a vibrant educational network of over a dozen schools across multiple Protestant denominations.
Through Ah Quin’s diary entries, historic maps, and other rare documents, discover how Ah Quin—often considered the informal mayor of San Diego’s first Chinatown—and his family played a crucial role in shaping these evangelical efforts. This talk isn’t just about rediscovering lost chapters of our city’s history; it’s about reexamining the way we connect with our past. Why were local Protestants so invested in the Chinese community? What did this mean for Chinatown and the city at large? Join us as we rediscover part of San Diego’s rich, multicultural heritage in this fascinating exploration of community, evangelism, and education.
Co-produced with the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum.
Ticket price includes lunch.
SDHC Member $25
Non-Member $30
Bio
Susie Lan Cassel is an award-winning full professor in the Literature and Writing Studies Department at California State University, San Marcos, where she has taught for 28 years. Born to an American Air Force colonel and a Chinese mother from Vietnam, Prof. Cassel’s heritage has inspired her scholarly pursuit of Chinese American literature and history. For over two decades, she has dedicated herself to studying the Ah Quin Diary, one of the San Diego History Center’s most important holdings. This talk draws on her forthcoming article on San Diego’s Chinese Missions and is part of her extensive research for an “Ah Quin trilogy” that includes historical biographies of Ah Quin and his wife, Ah Sue, contextualizing their lives during the Chinese Exclusion Era, and an edited edition of the Ah Quin Diary.
