Memorials for the 1871 Massacre in Los Angeles and the Driving Out of 1849–1943

On October 24, 1871, a mob of about five hundred Anglo and Hispanic American men lynched or shot about 10 percent of early Los Angeles’s Asian American population, who were mainly Cantonese. All those killed were innocent victims who were not involved in an initial gunfight that erupted between two rival groups at the large adobe where many of the city’s Asian residents lived. A policeman warned those outside the adobe to stay clear of the shooting, but a white rancher stepped into the doorway and shot inside. A stray bullet hit the rancher, and he soon died. False rumors rapidly spread that Chinese men were killing white men, and a mob swiftly gathered for vengeance. Of the many Cantonese victims, only eighteen were identified. Most were lynched from the gate of a corral, the portico of a wagon shop, and a parked wagon; three victims died from multiple gunshot wounds. One lynching victim was a respected physician who had looked after both the Asian and non-Asian communities. One of the youngest lynching victims was a teenager who was walking home from work. The next day, the bodies of the victims were laid in the yard of the city jail; some were claimed by their families, and then they were buried at the city cemetery.¹

The 1871 Chinese Massacre is the largest mass killing in modern Los Angeles history and the largest mass lynching in the United States.² For the next century and a half, however, the massacre was largely forgotten and remained mostly unknown to the general public. In 2019, the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office convened the Civic Memory Working Group to address the deficit in the city’s public acknowledgments of its problematic history. In its 2021 report, Past Due, the working group presented key recommendations, one of which was to “reconsider memorials and difficult histories.”³ The Steering Committee for the 1871 Memorial, composed of leaders in the Asian and Chinese American communities, agreed on a framework for the memorial process and set goals for the memorial. One goal was for it to “draw on evolving definitions of the most sensitive and effective approaches to memorialization and commemoration.”⁴ In August 2022, the memorial competition opened, and in October a jury chose six finalist groups, including ourselves, from more than 175 international entries. In May 2023, the jury selected Sze Tsung Nicolás Leong and myself, Judy Chui-Hua Chung, as the artists of the Memorial to the Victims of the 1871 Chinese Massacre in Los Angeles.⁵

1. For a full account of the 1871 Massacre, see Scott Zesch, The Chinatown War: Chinese Los Angeles and the Massacre of 1871 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).

2. Erika Lee, “The Chinatown War: Chinese Los Angeles and the Massacre of 1871,” book review, Journal of American History 100, no. 1 (2013): 217–18.

3. “Key Recommendations,” in Past Due: Report and Recommendations of the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office Civic Memory Working Group, April 15, 2021, 8–9, http://civicmemory.la/.

4. “Report of the 1871 Memorial Steering Committee,” http://civicmemory.la/report/1871/.

5. More information on the 1871 Memorial process and our design, including the proposals by other finalists, can be found at the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs website, https://culture.lacity.gov/programs-and-initiatives/1871-2/.

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