Petaluma Historic Chinatown Park Committee

05/24/2026

This May, AAPI Heritage Month and National Historic Preservation Month remind us that preservation is about more than saving places—it’s about protecting the stories and legacies tied to them.

This year’s Preservation Month theme, “All People Are Created Equal,” calls us to recognize whose stories have been preserved, and whose have been overlooked.

In our current exhibit, "Time and Tide," we tell the little-known story of the Chinese workers who helped build Petaluma’s early water systems by digging ditches, shaping creeks, and building reservoirs to enable the growth of our city.

They did this work while facing discrimination, low wages, and exclusion under laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Today, places like Historic Chinatown Park (formerly Center Park) offer space to remember these histories—but it’s up to all of us to ensure the full story is told.

Visit "Time and Tide" through June 7 to learn more.

With thanks to Dr. Chingling Wo and Terry Park for their research, and to our friends and Petaluma Historic Chinatown Park Committee for their partnership in bringing these stories to light.

Photo: An unidentified Chinese laborer on a Sonoma County farm, 1902, courtesy Sonoma County Library.

05/23/2026

🔊We are excited to announce our next project!!

“Belongings: What We Bring, What We Leave Behind” 🫖🧳🥻📷🎻 is a community storytelling exhibit and public event series exploring migration, memory, loss, resilience, and belonging through meaningful personal objects and the stories they carry.

On view from September 4 – October 4, 2026 at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, the project invites immigrants, refugees, those who were displaced and other residents, and community members of all backgrounds from SONOMA COUNTY to share objects that connect them to family, homeland, identity, survival, or transformation.

📆Deadline to submit a story is July 1, 2026.

🤝Thank you to our partners!!
Petaluma Historical Museum
AAPI Coalition of North Bay
Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League
El Día de Los Mu***os Petaluma
Café Puente Petaluma
And more coming..

A community storytelling exhibit where people share meaningful objects and the stories they carry—exploring migration, memory, loss, and belonging.

05/21/2026

We had the delight of hosting Evelyn Hang Yin and Jeffrey Yoo Warren, grantees of the 1882 Foundation.

Evelyn and Jeff are artist and advocates for historical preservation. Much of their work has asked the questions:

“What if you could feel history in your hands?

Be immersed in a place where perhaps even your own ancestors might have walked or called home?

What might such a place sound like, if you closed your eyes and took a deep breath?”

Evelyn and Jeff are in the research phase of a new project looking at historic Chinatowns in the North Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. We are so pleased to support their work and to share our findings of historic Petaluma Chinatown. 🙏🏮

05/06/2026

🎊 Happy Asian American / Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander Heritage Month 🎊

Last night the Petaluma Historic Chinatown Park Committee accepted a proclamation from The City of Petaluma - Government recognizing the month of May as AA/NH/PI Heritage Month.

At last year's proclamation we urged the City to approve Petaluma Historic Chinatown Park. Since then our committee has accomplished a great deal together.

• 🏛️ That May to July (2025) “Chinatown Unearthed: Facing the Past for a Better Future”, led by our Founder Lina Lin Hoshino and presented at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, demonstrated the community’s strong interest in local AAPI histories and community-rooted storytelling. The exhibit drew record museum visitors attending the exhibit and related programs featuring artists, lecturers, musicians, and community leaders.

• 🗺️ In summer (2025) we led 4 sold out walking tours of Petaluma’s historic Chinatown.

• 🏮In November (2025), we held the plaque unveiling for Petaluma Historic Chinatown Park in collaboration with 5 other organizations and had more than 300 attendees. Redwood Empire Chinese Association, AAPI Coalition of North Bay, Petaluma Historical Museum, Sonoma Vietnamese Association, and City of Petaluma.

• 🪷In February (2026), we partnered with Sonoma Mountain Zen Center for a Lunar New Year incense offering ceremony. It was a deeply moving event.

• 🐎In March (2026) our Committee Member, Libby Lok, led the Petaluma Mothers Club Lunar New Year celebration, geared towards families with children ages 0 to 5. Donations from around the community made the event bright and joyous.

• ⛏️In April (2026) our Committee Member, Dr. Chingling Wo, presented her lecture and three workshops on Chinese labor in Petaluma. Made possible by Petaluma River Park and funded by California State Coastal Conservancy.

• 🎨This month in May (2026), we will host two artists who are grantees from the 1882 Foundation as they begin developing a public art project connecting local history with national visibility.

• 📚Lastly, three 3rd grade teachers have let us know they have incorporated Petaluma’s Chinese American history into their Petaluma
history curriculum.

Our work has gone beyond remembrance, and we thank The City of Petaluma for their continued support.

🔊Coming up!🔊

We are creating a new exhibit this September (2026) at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum - “Belongings: What We Bring, What We Leave Behind”. 🫖🧳👘🪇📷

It’s a community storytelling event and exhibit where people share meaningful objects and the stories they carry. It aims to create a safe space for local voices to be heard in different languages on their own terms. Stay tuned!

04/29/2026

04/29/2026

We hope you’ll join us Monday, May 4th!

04/07/2026

Starting next week!

Our colleague Dr. Chingling Wo will be doing a workshop series on Petaluma’s 19th century Chinese community.

Be sure to register at the QR code and share widely.

03/30/2026

We loved seeing the incredible turnout for the 3rd "No Kings" protest in Petaluma.

Historic Chinatown Park stands in solidarity with those marching for equality. 🏮✊

March 28th also marks the 128th anniversary of United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), the landmark Supreme Court case that secured birthright citizenship for all under the 14th Amendment.

As the ACLU prepares to defend this very right before the Supreme Court this week, we are reminded that the rights won in the past must be protected in the present.

Keep making your voices heard for our history, and for our future. 🏛️🗽