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[Coop and Dino singing]

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Angel Island!

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Sounds cool, huh?

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But it's not a place where angels serenade you on harps, or where there's all you can [Angels playing harps over the ocean]

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eat angel food cake everywhere you look.

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It's actually a park in the San Francisco Bay. [Arrow points to Angel Island on a map]

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But unlike your regular neighborhood park, this has a pretty rich history.

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Almost as rich as angel food cake.

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From 1910 to 1940 Angel Island was an immigration center. [Dino discussing history of Angel Island]

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Most immigrants from Asia landed on its shores, and were questioned there.

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When they arrived, the immigrants were given a medical exam…[Asian immigrant enters exam room]

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…and they were asked about their lives and their ties to people in America.

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Definitely not you average day in the park.

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And if it is, maybe you should switch parks…

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By the time Angel Island opened, America already had a history of Asian immigration.

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In the 1800s, many Chinese immigrants came to America.

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They took part in the Gold Rush, built railroads, filled in swamps, fished, and worked in agriculture.

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However, despite all their hard work, by 1882, politicians were unfairly blaming Chinese [Politician blaming chinese man]

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laborers for high unemployment rates, and the Exclusion Act of 1882 placed restrictions

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on Chinese immigration.

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So by the time Angel Island was opened, many people were openly racist against the Chinese.

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As you'd imagine, immigrants arriving at Angel Island didn't exactly get a warm, friendly [Racist man with a 'Go away' sign at Angel Island]

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welcome.

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Nary a muffin basket to be seen.

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Many of the new immigrants from Asia ended up being detained and deported. [Asian immigrant arrested]

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And the detention itself was really rough.

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Men and women were put in separate barracks with little privacy. [Asian man in barracks]

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The food was of poor quality, and the people were fenced in to prevent escape.

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Yup.

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Hospitality was not exactly America's strong suit.

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With little to do while confined, some of the Chinese prisoners of Angel Island wrote

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poetry on the walls, about their shame, homesickness, and anger. [Chinese poetry on Angel Island walls]

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Which makes sense. The conditions in Angel Island wouldn't make people want to write

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lovely sonnets about flowers.

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In 1941, the barracks were given to the armed forces, who used them to hold prisoners in World War II…

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…but by 1947, it was closed down. It now sits as a sad reminder of one of the many

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unjust chapters in America's past.

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Maybe one of these days, America will finally put out a muffin basket. [A welcome muffin basket]

Full Transcript