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HOMESCAPES/WARSCAPES SERIES: The Delta is in the Heart: Excavating the Historical Archaeology of Isleton's Chinese American Community

In the late 19th century, Chinese American laborers constructed levees in Northern
California along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers in the Sacramento Delta.
These levees transformed the swampy Delta into a rich agricultural region that
demanded labor. Chinatowns formed in small rural Delta towns, which became
home to many permanent and transient Asian American farmworkers through
the middle of the 20th century. This talk focuses on the interdisciplinary historical
archaeological study of Isleton Chinatown under the period of Exclusion, and the
possibilities of material culture to explore everyday social histories of individuals,
families, and communities.
Dr. Kelly Fong is a fifth-generation Chinese American, historical archaeologist, and
Asian American Studies scholar. Her work bridges her passion for Asian American
social histories, family histories, and historical archaeology to study everyday life
in Exclusion-era Isleton Chinatown, located in California’s Sacramento Delta.
She currently teaches in Asian American Studies at California State University,
Northridge.