SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLVIII, ISSUE 50
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
Exploring Providence’s historic Chinatown WHAT’S INSIDE Former residents, researchers talk landmarks important to community BY KATHY WANG, JACOB SMOLLEN, JULIA VAZ & ALEX NADIRASHVILI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR, METRO EDITORS & MANAGING EDITOR When asked to recount the history of Providence’s Chinatown, sources pointed to fixtures that are long gone: restaurants, community centers, apartment buildings and laundromats. But a single physical component of the vibrant Chinese community that once inhabited the heart of Providence remains unchanged after a century: the alley between Empire and Walnut streets. The alley is the “only remaining space” from Chinatown’s earliest era, said Jeffrey Yoo Warren, a Providence-based artist and researcher who initiated the “Seeing Providence Chinatown” project. Starting in the late 19th century, Providence saw an influx of Chinese immigrants escaping economic unrest in search of financial stability overseas. While Chinese immigrants initially hoped to benefit from the West Coast gold rush and other ventures, some were pushed to the East Coast amid anti-Chinese sentiments and legislation. Over time, growing Chinese migrant populations across U.S. cities formed Chinatowns — neighborhoods where Chinese immigrants lived and worked, establishing flourishing businesses and cultural spaces. The Herald spoke with several former residents of Providence’s historic Chinatown and researchers who have studied the city’s cultural roots to capture the history, voices and legacy of a once-thriving downtown community.
Three phases of PVD Chinatown According to Professor Emeritus of American Studies Robert Lee, trade with China was one of the “main economic anchors” of 18th-century Providence. Local merchants — like the Brown and Nightingale families traded with China among many other areas of investment, such as the transatlantic slave trade or rum industry. “They were kind of cheek-by-jowl,” Lee said. “You could take money out of the slave trade and invest in underwriting the China trade.” This trade sparked Chinese immigration to Providence, with merchants often bringing immigrants to the city in their “entourage,” said John Eng-Wong, visiting scholar in Ethnic studies and special assistant to American Studies. While there “was a degree of openness” when receiving these immigrants, Eng-Wong said there was also a sense of “discomfort” with the presence of Chinese people in Providence. In 1880, only 40 Chinese immigrants lived in Rhode Island, according to the U.S. census. The history of Providence’s Chinatown can be divided into three phases: from the 1880s to 1914, 1915 to 1965 — and from 1965 on, according to Yuanyuan (Angela) Feng GS MA’18, who co-curated a 2018 project on Providence Chinatown. In the late 19th century, Providence’s Chinatown was located downtown on Empire Street and was primarily a “bachelor society,” as men often migrated to the U.S. to send money back to their families. This was largely due to racist U.S. immigration policies and gender expectations in China that kept women back home, Feng said. The Page Act of 1875 prohibited “ unfree laborers and women brought for ‘immoral purposes’” from entering the United States and primarily targeted Chinese workers. “It was demeaning
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SPORTS
Women’s basketball wins 90-35 against Johnson & Wales SEE PAGE 6
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Brown celebrates ’23.5ers at Midyear Completion Ceremony SEE PAGE 16
ARTS & CULTURE
RISD student artists discuss meaning behind their craft SEE PAGE 18
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Pembroke Center hosts panel to discuss gender disparities in medicine SEE PAGE 22
2023 in Review
COURTESY OF JEFFREY YOO WARREN AND ROBERT YANG
ADMISSION & FINANCIAL AID
U. trails Ivies in percentage of students on financial aid Size of U.’s fin aid packages in middle of pack among Ivy League peers BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER Brown and other Ivy League schools have recently faced intensifying scrutiny about the economic diversity of their student bodies. One analysis from the New York Times showed that the University was tied for 230th of 286 schools in its percentage of Pell Grant recipients — the lowest among all Ivy League schools. Financial aid offers a high-level, if imperfect, view of a college’s economic diversity. Packages vary from student to student, but the portion of students who apply for and receive financial aid, as well as the average package, create data points detailing a given school’s financial accessibility.
By dollar value, Brown’s financial aid packages are squarely in the middle of the pack among its Ivy League peers. But the University consistently ranks lowest or second-lowest in the Ivy League in the portion of students who apply for and receive financial aid, The Herald’s analysis of Common Data Sets from 2012-13 to 2022-23 found. The numbers From 2012-13 to 2021-22, Brown ranked last in the Ivy League in the percentage of students receiving financial aid. The gap between Brown and Penn, its closest peer, has been as big as 5% and as small as fractions of a percentage point through the years. In the 2022-23 academic year, Penn’s proportion of students receiving aid dipped slightly lower than Brown’s. The proportion of students who receive financial aid at the University has also remained relatively stable over the past 10 years, hovering around 45%.
Brown also has one of the lowest proportions of financial aid applications from its students, trading off with Penn in recent years. But for financial aid application rates for first-years, Brown is among the middle of the Ivies: The number has fluctuated between just under 50% and over 63%. For non-first-years, the percentage applying for aid drops to the lowest in the Ivy League — between 44 and 49%. The drop has occurred in each year over the past decade, though similar drops are visible at most other Ivy schools each year. In an email responding to these trends, University Spokesperson Brian Clark pointed to an increase in students hailing from “moderate-income households” after the implementation of the Brown Promise in 2018. The Brown Promise is an initiative that replaced loans with scholarship funds in the University’s undergradu-
ate financial aid packages, The Herald previously reported. “In 2017-18, 54% of incoming firstyear undergraduates came from moderate-income households,” he wrote. “By 2022-23, it had surged to 67%.” The University defines moderate-income households as “families with incomes in excess of $100,000 yet a combination of income and assets in which they still receive need-based scholarships,” according to Clark. They are usually “students who typically do not qualify for the level of financial aid offered to families with lower incomes, yet also do not have the full resources to cover the cost of attending college.” Another way to look at Brown’s financial aid is through the award rate, the proportion of students applying for aid who ultimately receive assistance. The number has fluctuated since 201213, when it stood at a high mark of 92%. It dropped to 83.64% in 2018-19, but
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