Did you know 8.5% of Rockville is Chinese, Chinese American, and Taiwanese? My name is Jacky Shin, and I have been hired by Peerless Rockville to study the history of these communities. As of the 2020 federal census, at least 22% of the city’s total population is made up of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) residents. As part of the first phase of this grant-funded project, I am producing a context statement, annotated bibliography, and sharing my research with the public through talks and posts such as this one.
The firm RK&K recently produced a report on the Asian American Historical and Cultural Context of Montgomery County (2023). The report covers the history of Asian American immigration to the United States and to Montgomery County, Maryland, exploring themes that include community, commerce, education, religion, political involvement and civil rights, and cultural preservation, integration, and assimilation. Due to its broad scope, the report does not delve into the history of any one town or community in great detail, instead offering a very useful general framework for future research. The 2024 publication, Chinese Americans in Washington, D.C.: A Historic Context Study, produced by the 1882 Foundation and the D.C. Preservation League, offers a rich framework for understanding the development of D.C.’s Chinese and Chinese American communities – a community whose history is closely intertwined with Rockville’s in many ways. The Peerless Rockville AAPI project is part of a larger wave of recent studies that are acknowledging the significant contributions of AAPI communities to cities and towns around the country.
The earliest Chinese business in Rockville was the Sing Lee Laundry, located next door to the general store of D.H. Warfield, and across from the Red Brick Courthouse that currently houses the offices of Peerless Rockville. An ad for the laundry first appeared in several 1894 issues of the Montgomery Sentinel. The 1890 federal census records for Rockville (and many other locations in the United States) are unavailable due to a fire that destroyed these records, so the earliest census that might indicate the presence of a Chinese resident in Rockville is for 1900. That year, the census enumerated two Chinese men living in Rockville: Charles Hoy (age 35, born in China, immigrated to the United States in 1877), and Moy Toy (age 26, born in China, immigrated to the country in 1895). Both are described as laundry men.
Ad for Sing Lee Laundry in Rockville, Mongtomery Sentinel, 3 August 1894
Between 1900 and 1960, the number of Chinese residents in Rockville in any given year could be counted on one hand. However, after 1960 – largely as a result of the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act, or the Immigration and Nationality Act, which abolished discriminatory national-origin quotas and established preferences based on family reunification and skilled workers – those numbers jumped. The federal census recorded 17 individuals of Chinese heritage in Rockville in 1960; there were 114 in 1970; 641 in 1980, and 1501 in 1990. The number again almost doubled in 2000 and has grown steadily since then. The questions that I am seeking to answer for this first phase of the project are: why were immigrants from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan drawn to Rockville? How did this area become such a magnet for Chinese, Chinese American, and Taiwanese immigrants? What are some important places associated with these communities? Are such places concentrated in a particular part of Rockville? Did immigrants usually come here directly from China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, or from other parts of the United States? How did they build a sense of community?
Graph indicating population of AAPI and Chinese residents in Rockville between 1970 and 2020. Please note that federal census records do not have a separate “Taiwanese” category until 2000.
I have been conducting intensive archival research, considering census records, newspaper articles, city directories, and other publications. I am also reaching out to members of these communities, speaking with current and former residents, and community leaders. If you or a family member or friend would like to reach out to me, please feel free to email me at jacky.shin1@gmail.com. I would love to hear about your experiences! My research is centering on Chinese language schools, churches, community centers, businesses (especially restaurants and grocery stores), the Parklawn Cemetery, and public schools including Richard Mongtomery High School, Wooton High School, and Woodward High School. Clearly, there is a great deal of diversity, strength, and resilience within these communities, and I am looking forward to sharing a detailed history with the residents of Rockville and beyond.
Please watch this space for more.
