| Museum
to have Chinese display at LCSC
A variety of Chinese artifacts and historic photographs from the Historical Museum at St. Gertrude will be on display in Lewiston beginning June 4, at the Lewis-Clark State College’s Center for Arts & History. Some of the artifacts on loan include a rice straw prayer mat (ca. 1885), a Chinese money sword (ca.1900), a hand-quilted Chinese jacket (ca. 1890), an opium box and lid (ca. 1895), plus more. The photographs show early Chinese men who were prominent in the region, Chinese miners on the Salmon River and a photo of Polly Bemis with her “Certificate of Residence.” The items on display connect the lifestyles of the Chinese in the mining camps and towns of north central Idaho. Most Chinese in America planned to return to their homeland where, with their “nest egg,” they could be considered wealthy due to the extreme poverty in China at that time. Since they didn’t plan to stay here, these people maintained much of their own language, food, clothing, and recreational and spiritual activities. Chinese artifacts from the LCSC Center for Arts & History’s Beuk Aie Temple Collection will also be exhibited, as well as artist Sarah Gilbert’s work of memory, which enhances the exhibition’s historical narrative. The Chinese Remembering Project coincides with the third and final Chinese Remembering Conference, which brings together scholars, teachers and the public. This year’s conference specifically highlights the influence of the early Chinese and the contributions they made to Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. The conference will be held in Lewiston on June 24-25. The exhibit will open with a free reception open to the public on Friday, June 4, at 4-7 p.m. at the Seventh Avenue Gallery in Lewiston, 721 7th Ave. in Lewiston (corner of 7th Ave. and 8th Street). For more information on the exhibit or the conference, call Lyle Wirtanen, The Historical Museum at St. Gertrude, 208 962-2051. |
 |