Status Report

You may have noticed recent additions have been few and far between. Right now our energies have shifted to processing the artifacts that we brought back from San Jose. Once the analysis is complete, our Lab Manager, Erica Gibson, will write an update.

In the meantime, you could check out our current field project in San Francisco, Merrie Way Stands, near the site of the Sutro Baths.

If you visit our main web site at
http://www.sonoma.edu/asc
you can also read more about ongoing
and past projects.

Maria Ribeiro
ASC Staff

An Oral Historian’s (and Former Archaeologist’s) View of Heinlenville

It is always bittersweet for me to go into the field and watch archaeologists do the work I did in my youth. Due to injuries I no longer excavate. I miss it. I miss grubbing around in the dirt. As a child my mom would compare me to Pigpen in the Peanuts comic strip. As an adult working on a dig, I often had the distinction of having the dirtiest face at the end of the day. I miss the anticipation and hope of what the next shovelful of dirt will uncover. Usually it was more dirt; but when I found an obsidian flake, a pottery sherd, or a bone fragment I felt like I had discovered a treasure. I miss the camaraderie of working with a crew. And yet, being an oral historian has rewards of its own.

I feel the same sense of discovery when I interview “old-timers” about their lives. What will a former resident of Heinlenville remember about going to temple? About playing games in the streets? About celebrating with the community? Combining peoples’ memories with the archaeology and the historical research can bring the story “alive” by adding a richness, a vibrancy, a tie to the next generation that archaeology alone can lack.

When cousins Edward Chin and Vincent Chan were reminiscing about their childhood in Heinlenville, Edward Chin laughingly told me about the mischief of his youth. As a prank the boys would get rotten eggs and place them on their teacher’s chair in Chinese school. When the teacher chased them with a switch they would run like the dickens. The boys were prepared for this event, explains Mr. Chan, they would wear heavy clothing like leather jackets to protect their backs. A person’s more mundane memories are equally valuable. Tad Kogura, for example, remembered where residents dumped their trash, which is of vital interest to archaeologists.

Several months ago, due to the much appreciated effort of Hatsue Shiroyama, I had the opportunity of interviewing some members of the Japanese Reunion group about their memories of Heinlenville and Nihonmachi. (Ralph Pearce videotaped this interview, a copy of which is archived in the Japanese American Museum in San Jose.) Interviewing six people at once—a first for me—was quite an experience. It was fascinating to watch and hear the members bounce their memories off each other. Hatsue Shiroyama, for example, recalled the experiences of her family running the bathhouse an important institution in the Japanese community.

Elaine-Maryse Solari
ASC Oral Historian

A Graduate Student's View of Heinlenville

As a first year graduate student in Sonoma State’s Cultural Resources Management masters program, I was thrilled to get the opportunity to participate in the excavations done in San Jose’s Heinlenville Chinatown. As this was my introduction to urban archaeology, I was able to learn a lot about how the pro’s from the ASC approach the archaeology of a large city block- as well as receive a few valuable pointers of the fine art of trowel manipulation!

Over the week we were able to step back in time as our trusty backhoe driver skillfully peeled back the modern layers of asphalt and gravely fill and revealed the humble traces of the once thriving community of Heinlenville. Although much soil was scraped away during the construction of the recently demolished buildings, we were still left with a map illustrating decades of occupation and use long buried beneath the modern surface.

Patches of the original building foundations were neatly preserved, as well as several “robber’s trenches” where the valuable bricks had been removed for re-use after the razing of the buildings. In one pit, one could see the “evolution of the sewer pipe” as evident from the progression from redwood (yes, wood!) sewer lines, to the more familiar terracotta pipes that can still be seen today.

This project not only offered me a chance to learn more about archaeology as a science, but I was able to witness first hand how important archeology is to the community. Long time residents eagerly watched our progress and offered up historical anecdotes, and Connie Young Yu was able to witness the unveiling of her grandfather’s store. After half a century under asphalt, she was able to see and touch the remnants of a place she had heard stories of her whole life.

I had the good fortune to be enlisted as a tour guide on our “Public Day”, and was able to connect with hundreds of enthusiastic visitors and neighborhood residents interested in the history and archaeology of San Jose’s early Chinese and Japanese populations. People who waited in long lines, braved the rain and cold wind, and yet were still cheery and full of good questions. Although I manned my post as tour guide for five hours straight, the energy and enthusiasm of the participants made my job fun and engaging.

At the tail end of the last tour, while overlooking the foundations of Connie Young Yu’s family store, a young boy earnestly asked, “Is that the Great Wall of China?” While the modest brick foundation may not have the illustrious reputation of China’s great wall, the wonder in the little boy’s eyes was undiscriminating. It is that same wonder that makes the blisters, sunburns, aches and pains, and inevitable coating of grime all worth while!

I was so happy to have been a part of such a fun and community supported project! The people were interested and friendly, the neighborhood had great food (we particularly loved the Ethiopian restaurant across the street), and everyone enthusiastically shared the common goal of bringing the town of Heinlenville back to life.

Chelsea Rose
CRM Graduate Student, SSU