June 2021 | Vol. 01 Iss. 04
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UTAH’S ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY STRIVES TO FOSTER UNITY, SAFETY, AND BELONGING By Karmel Harper | k.harper@mycityjournals.com
Byline
A
s the rate of anti-Asian rhetoric and violence has increased significantly in the past year, the Utah Asian American community responds by fostering connection, compassion, safety, and unity while also striving to bring more awareness to the history of exclusion and discrimination against Asians despite their significant contributions to the state. In the Facebook group “Our Kaysville Story,” Kaysville historian Bill Sanders recently shared the story of Chinese merchants Yee Kee and Hop Gee who established a laundry business on Kaysville’s Main Street in 1896. Sanders said, “His laundry was in a frame building at 81 North Main just to the north of the Heber J. Sheffield & Sons mercantile store. This building had been the previous home of the Ladies Aid Society Hall--the meeting place of the Kaysville LDS Ward relief society. The Kee Laundry operated successfully for several years, and it is believed that Mr. Kee and his associates lived in the rear section of the laundry building.” Local newspaper accounts at the time characterized the family as being able to communicate and interact with their customers and neighbors despite their limited English. While they often traveled to Ogden to socialize with the Ogden Chinese community to participate in Chinese festivals and other cultural events, they contributed to the local community in general. The May 5, 1900 edition of the Salt Lake Herald credited Yee Kee for donating to the relief fund for the Scofield mine disaster which took place on May 1, 1900, and killed over 200 people. A February 9, 1900 Davis Clipper Continued page 4
Volunteers for the Asian Link Project provide chaperone services to members of the Utah Asian community to reduce anti-Asian incidents and harassment. Photo by Asian Link Project.
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