Chinese Cemetery of Los Angeles
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1922 |
| Coordinates | 34°2′11″N 118°10′20″W / 34.03639°N 118.17222°WCoordinates: 34°2′11″N 118°10′20″W / 34.03639°N 118.17222°W |
| Type | Private |
| Owned by | Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Los Angeles |
The Chinese Cemetery of Los Angeles is one of several historical cemeteries found around East Los Angeles, including Evergreen and Calvary cemeteries. It is located at First Street and Eastern Avenue in the Belvedere Gardens section of East Los Angeles. Today, the cemetery is bordered on the south by the Pomona Freeway (60) and on the east by the Long Beach Freeway (710).
The cemetery was established by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Los Angeles (CCBA) in 1922 to provide burial grounds for Chinese residents in Los Angeles. At the time, all cemeteries in Los Angeles barred anyone of Chinese descent from purchasing burial plots.
CCBA also owns a section of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills that also functions as a Chinese Cemetery.
Racism against persons of Chinese descent in Los Angeles and the United States during the 19th Century was the primary driving force behind the creation of the Chinese Cemetery as well as the reason Union Station displaced the original Chinatown during the same time period.
An estimated 10,000 Chinese lived in Los Angeles during the late 19th century. Almost all were men who came to work on the railroads. Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act and other laws targeting the Chinese, they could not marry U.S. citizens or own property, and they were limited to only a few occupations such as launderers and house boys or the most undesirable jobs such as ditch diggers. They were banned from most shops and public institutions and were the target of racist violence that often went unpunished. They were also barred from burial in all locations except a city owned potter's field.
Prior to the Chinese Cemetery's founding, the only place that allowed burial of Chinese persons was an indigent graveyard or "Potters Field" at Lorena and 1st streets, adjacent to Evergreen Cemetery. At the time, it was owned by the City and then County of Los Angeles. The founders of Evergreen Cemetery gave the city a 9-acre (36,000 m2) parcel of the proposed cemetery in 1877 for use as a potter's field in return for a zoning variance to allow the cemetery.
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