Chinese Chicago: Transnational Migration and Businesses, 1870s‐1930s

AbstractEmploying the theoretical framework of transnationalism, this study closely examines how the transnational kinship networks played out in various aspects of the Chinese businesses in Chicago, through reconstructing the transnational Chinese businesses during the period from the 1870s to the1930s. Utilizing primary sources in both English and Chinese, in particular the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) Chicago Chinese Case Files (CCCF) and Chinese gazetteers, it also demonstrates how the Chinese community in Chicago served as a vital link of the transnational migration and business networks and a center of commerce and trade in the American Midwest during this period. </jats:sec