Chinese in Napa Valley: The Forgotten Community That Built Wine Country

Book excerpt: Unearth the origins of Napa Valley's prosperity. Chinese laborers were once the backbone of Napa Valley. Throughout the late 1800s, they toiled in the grape fields, mines, hop farms, leather tanneries and laundries, and carved out neighborhoods in towns throughout the Valley. These contributions did little to deter discrimination and Anti-Chinese Leagues sprang up to harass and intimidate immigrants like Chan Wah Jack, who ran the successful Sang Lung store in Napa's Chinatown. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act hastened the decline of local Chinatowns and these once vibrant communities disappeared while the industries they helped to foster flourished. Join author John McCormick as he uncovers the forgotten contributions of the Chinese people in California's most famous wine region.