Reviews Immigration at the Golden Gate: Passenger Ships, Exclusion and Angel Island by Rob-
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But this book is about more than just Angel Island. Barde also spends several chapters ert Eric Barde (Praeger Publishers, Westport, on the transPacific passenger trade, including CT, 2008. xiii+ 283pp, illus, notes, biblio, lengthy treatments of both the Pacific Mail and C hina Mail Steamship Co mpanies . H e index, ISBN 978-0-3 133-4782-5; $49.95hc) When one thinks of passenger ships and discusses how the economic and logistical asimmigration, the first thoughts are usually pects of the industry mingled with social and of the great receiving halls whi ch welcomed political concerns, condemning some players some 17 million persons at New York's Ellis to failure while allowing others to prosper. A Island. There, newcomers from Europe were look at one ship, Nippon M aru, allows Barde to extrapolate from this story about to make the transition to life in the United States, as and make grand conclusions lmmigratiu11 :It i\1,· about the experiences of immigration officials and govmany would-be Asian immiernment agents assisted them in the bewildering process. grants. It is an excellent exerIn Immigration at the Golden cise in historical analysis and PASSENGER SHIPS, EXCLUSION. AND ANGEL ISL.IND Gate, Robert Eric Barde reraises as many questions as it answers: questions about racminds us that there was another portal to the US, and that ism , corruption, democracy, the experience of the roughly and civil rights. This, then, is Rt*l IZI I l{[l. l'.\l~!ll 200,000 who entered through a provocative look at some of that door-or, more accurate- iij:~.~-.-- ,\ ,a ¥~ the most importam issues in " ;. , -Ill t American society while also ly, who tried to-we re vastly different from their East Coast immigrant serving as a defini tive treatment of passe nge r brethren. Barde uses the particular case of ships and transPacifi c immigration. one C hinese coup le to tell the tale of Asian Robert Eric Barde's Immigration at the immigration to this country. With a defr eye Golden Gate is a heady meal. It offers somefo r derail, an investigative journalist's nose, thing to the serio us scholar and to the arma rich research agenda, and a talent fo r writ- chair activist, and, whi le it is an easy read, it ing, the author communicates a little-known rewards a close and studious examination. Ir tale to his readers. The result is a far-rang- deserves a place on many reading lists, and ing work that succeeds on various levels: as should also find itself as a finalist fo r many maritime history (his chapter on the "Rise accolades. and Fall of Pacific M ail" was a past winner of T IMOTHY G. L YNCH , P H D the Karl Kortum prize), as local history, and Vallejo, Cal ifo rnia as an ethnic study. This is a book that I will turn to many times in the future, and I feel The Oxford Encyclop edia of Maritime that I will learn something new with each H istory, edited by John H arrendo rf reading. (O xford University Press, N ew Yo rk, 2007, Barde posits that while Ellis Island was 4 volumes, 291 2pp, illus, charrs, maps, ISBN des igned to fac ilitate the processing of new 978-0-19-51 3075- 1; $5 50hc) Am ericans, Angel Island was designed to In an age when any researcher can Google keep them out. With the passage of Chinese this and consult Wikipedia for that, what Exclusion Acts in the 1880s and the Gentle- makes an expensive fo ur-volume reference man's Agreement with Japan in 1907, there wo rk stand apart from the options in cyberwere concerted efforts to stem the tide of im- space and the o ther books already on yo ur migrants from Asia. Located in the middle of shelf? John H attendorf has assembled a talSan Francisco Bay, Angel Island housed a va- ented and eclectic list of comriburing authors riety of governmem and bureaucratic insti- to attack comprehensively the topic of maritutions: from POW camps to army barracks time history. Experts from aro und the globe and quarantine stations, this solemn piece explore such varied maritime themes as sciof land witnessed any number of hards hips. ence and technology, trade and politics, art After its designatio n as the receiving station and literature, mi litary and naval affairs, info r "Asiatic" immigrants, it witnessed count- sritutional and organizational developmem , less more. The situation on Angel Island was and sports and recreation . The resulting work atrocious; Barde's trearmem , if it did noth- is a truly unique assemblage of erudition. Whether used as a companion piece to other ing else, shows that clearly.
GOLDEN GATE
SEA HISTORY 124, AUTUMN 2008