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Did you know Memphis once had its own 'Chinatown' on Beale Street? Meet the group trying to preserve its lost history

The first mention of a Chinese business in the Bluff City came from a laundry ad in an old newspaper, from the 1880's to the 1970's there were 166 grocery stores.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month continues, the Chinese community is working to chronicle and preserve its 150 year history in Memphis.

“Our Memphis history starts in 1873,” said Emmi Dunn, Secretary at the Chinese Historical Society of Memphis and the Mid-South.

Dunn has been researching the history of the Chinese community, and says a laundry ad in a newspaper was the first indication of when Chinese immigrants first made their way to Memphis. Chinese immigrants likely made their way to the Mid-South after work completed on the transcontinental railroad according to Dunn.

“They were still building railroads in the South and Texas, so lots of Chinese came down here,” said Dunn.

Several immigrants began opening laundromats because it did not require a lot of money to do so. The first Chinese store opened in 1880, the first restaurant opened in 1894, several in and around Beale Street.

“They have a much more diverse customer base. During segregation time, that’s where black people can get some service,” said Jinliang Cai, President of the Chinese Historical Society of Memphis and the Mid-South.

At one point, so many Chinese business were on Beale Street, a local newspaper referred to that part as “Chinatown.”

“It consisted of a few stores, grocery stores, cafes and laundries,” said Dunn, “It was not a Chinatown per se as you would think of in San Francisco or New York.”
The Chinese business influence reached its height in the 1920s and 30s. Business began to leave the area over time for different reasons, including after Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination. Laundromats eventually began to disappear after washing machine’s became automated.

“Eventually really the downtown started to decline after that, and really it started to trickle to the suburbs,” said Cai.

Most businesses only stayed open for a couple of years on Beale Street. The Chop Suey Cafe stayed open for close to 50 years, but closed its doors in 1967. This is why the Chinese Historical Society of Memphis and the Mid-South are trying to preserve that history and stories just like it. A photo exhibit is planned for later this month to be displayed at the Chinese Community Center, and at the Memphis Library in October.

“People in the Chinese community don’t even know about our history because many of the immigrants came over here over the last 20-30 years,” said Cai, “The United States is such a melting pot, it is really, everybody has a story.”

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