WITH PANELISTS SHOX TOKITA, DOLORES SIBONGA, DR. MARIE ROSE WONG AND MODERATOR EMILY P. LAWSIN
Sunday, November 19, 2023
2 - 4 PM
Central Library, 1000 4th Avenue
Explore the places of postwar Seattle Chinatown described in John Okada’s No-No Boy and the real-life community beyond the novel. This event was curated by author Frank Abe.
Free to the public
*Please Register for your tickets
Presented by The Seattle Public Library, the University of Washington Press, North American Post, and Chin Music Press.
This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times.
The sense of postwar Seattle Chinatown as a place imbues the pages of John Okada’s 1957 novel No-No Boy, and in this panel we will examine the imagined world of the novel along with the real history behind it.
Speakers:
Family historian Shox Tokita shares the legacy of Chinatown hotels managed by Japanese Americans, including three owned by his mother.
Former Seattle City Councilmember Dolores Sibonga tells stories of Filipino residents and workers in Chinatown, including that of her mother and the Estigoy Café.
Dr. Marie Rose Wong, author of Building Tradition: Pan-Asian Seattle and Life in the Residential Hotels, examines the history of single-room occupancy residential hotels in Chinatown and the threats they now face.
The panel will be moderated by Emily Porcincula Lawsin, 4Culture Historic Preservation Program Manager.