Pam B's reflective essay

The Oklahoman newspaper came into existence in 1889 and the Oklahoma Publishing Company bought it in 1903. From 1910 - 1920's later articles, research from Dr. Xiao-Bing Li, professor of history and geography from the University of Oklahoma, former mayor George Shirks papers and pictures, interviews from people living in the downtown area during that time, web based articles and blogs, and information found at the History Center in OKC have painted a small picture of what was known as the "Chinese underground" found underneath buildings in downtown Oklahoma City. One hundred to 150 Chinese men lived underground, was noted in one of the articles, and from research I have learned it was basically void of women. Former mayor George Shirk discovered the Chinese underground in 1969 when Oklahoma City was undergoing urban renewal. (Many of the older buildings were being torn down so "new and improved" buildings could be built.) This may have caused a new found revelation with the Oklahoma City residents that the Chinese lived underground but if it is taken into context that many of the office buildings in downtown Oklahoma City had basements that they rented out cheap to the Chinese people for their living quarters, it makes it sound more humane. (If it happened today these rooms may have been described as a basement penthouse near Bricktown.) When I read the articles on the Chinese underground, all I envision is 150 men underground in these rooms, gambling, smoking opium, and growing mushrooms for the above ground Chinese restaurants because the conditions were dark and dank for mushroom cultivation.

In reality, 150 Chinese people probably did not live there together at one time. They would move in and out about every six months, according to Dr. Li. They would come and go from California, looking for employment opportunities. They were not locked up in these rooms as they were in a jail cell but were probably able to come and go as they wanted to. If there had been a newsworthy story about the Chinese underground, I would surmise that a scoop reporter from The Oklahoman during that time would have written a lead story on the first page of the newspaper.

This part of Oklahoma City's history is lost like so much of the jazz history that was a part of the Deep Deuce. We will have to rely on classes like this, articles, research, and interviews to keep it alive. (I still want to see Shirk's collection of papers and pictures in the OCU library.)

The Cox Convention Center now stands as a cemetery monument for the excavation area that Shirk found. (I just thought, I wonder if there is signage about the Chinese underground by the Cox Center. I will have to check that out.)

What I find interesting is the transition from the Chinese living in the downtown area to its new Asian District boundaries, NW 23, OCU, NW 30th and Paseo. For some reason I thought that Catholic Charities may have played an instrumental part in the Asian population living in this area. Catholic Charities is located on NW 15th and Classen and according to The Sooner Catholic have helped many immigrants find their home in Oklahoma City. According to research and interviews this area was conducive to the Asian population because of Asian markets, shops, doctors, churches, and even OCU. Dr. Ju-Chuan Arrow brought up the correlation of OCU graduating many Asian students who stay in Oklahoma City, become professionals and purchase homes in the area by OCU for rental property. Dr. Li said military brides were brought over and many refugees from the Viet Nam war attributed to the Asian District population.

When we attended the Chinese New Year celebration at the Super Cao I knew I was an outsider looking in. The colors of the dragons that swirled before me were colorful and entertaining in my eyes, but for the Chinese who attended, some in traditional celebration clothing, it meant their homeland, their families, their culture, their oneness with each other. The Chinese men and women who shop at the Super Cao were purchasing foods that were foreign to me. The Super Cao is like an open forum market were many elder Chinese greeted each other in their language and spoke for many minutes. It is a gathering place for them to stay connected to each other, their homeland, their culture.

The New Year Celebration is a celebration of good luck and good fortune for them. It is a celebration of one, of family ties, of their history. This is a drastic change of the first Chinese who lived underground in downtown Oklahoma City and who provided cheap labor for those Chinese or Chinese-Americans who owned Chinese restaurants and laundry stores.

I appreciate the history of the people who were here in the beginning of statehood but it is those who are here now that make Oklahoma City what it is today.