Re/collecting Early Asian America

Book excerpt: Defining the early period as spanning the nineteenth century to the 1960s, the essays address the Asian American individuals and communities that have been omitted from "official" histories; trace the roots of persistent racial stereotypes and myths; and retrieve artistic production that raises questions of what counts as "art" or as Asian American. By reconsidering the political, cultural, and material history written in the past three decades, contributes to a new understanding of Asian America's past and relationship to the present.