Bennet Bronson - Chinese American History
Bennet Bronson, together with Chuimei Ho, is the
author of
Coming Home in Gold Brocade: Chinese in Early Northwest America (2015). The book is a comprehensive history of Chinese immigrants in the
Pacific Northwest between 1788 and 1911 and provides insights into their
contributions, trials, and daily lives. While
Coming Home does not
shy away from addressing the racist attitudes, laws, and the violence
experienced by many immigrants, it avoids adding another victim narrative to
the Chinese American story. Instead, the book presents the early generations of
Chinese immigrants as people to be admired for the strength, courage, and
intelligence they showed in adapting to a rich but often hostile foreign
land. Bronson is also co-author of
Pearls: A Natural History (2001) and
Splendors of the Forbidden City: The Glorious Age of
Qianlong (2004). Formerly a curator of Asian Archaeology and
Ethnology at Chicago's Field Museum and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at
the University of Illinois at Chicaco, Bronson now is co-editor and webmaster
of the 'Chinese in Northwest America Research Committee' website
cinarc.org
