Born in 1870 on Main Street in Mendocino, Look Tin Eli helped set the precedent for birthright citizenship in the U.S. and later became a successful businessman and community leader. Over eighty years after his death, Congress designated May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Month (changed to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2021). Like other heritage months, it is a celebration of the contributions of Asian Americans in U.S. history. May was chosen to mark the first Japanese immigrant arriving to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. Most of the railroad workers were Chinese immigrants. Look Tin Eli’s success story is an important piece in this history. The following excerpt from Look Tin Eli: The Mendocino Visionary Who Helped Shape the Chinese-American Experience discusses his life after he challenged the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and was permitted to remain in California as a U.S. citizen.

The ability to juggle multiple, complex business projects, augmented by strong publicity, made Look Tin Eli one of the most visible of San Francisco’s Chinese-Americans in the first decades of the 20th century. Look understood how critical public support (and tourist dollars) were for Chinatown’s economy; equally well, he knew that the success of the Canton Bank and China Mail depended on wide and sustained support from the Chinese populace, here and abroad. He played active leadership roles in the Chinese Six Companies and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce; in addition, he chaired an array of public displays, Chinatown celebrations, and meetings with domestic and foreign notables.

Look’s role promoting his “little village” of Chinatown was spotlighted when he headed the “special committee” that organized the Chinese streetlight show to honor the 1907 U.S. Navy fleet stopover. This was Theodore Roosevelt’s expression of “big stick” diplomacy, ranking still among the greatest peacetime shows of U.S. naval bravado: for 14 months, 14,000 sailors in 16 warships called on six continents. Planning countless electric lights, Chinese lanterns, and parade bunting, Look collected thousands of dollars within a day and was thus extensively quoted by the San Francisco Chronicle on April 23, 1908. Because the Chinese “dearly love anything in the way of public celebration,” Look declared, “Chinatown will be so attractive for our distinguished guests” that “the people of SF will thank us” for such a historic welcome. “Chinatown has always been one of the attractions of San Francisco and neither effort nor expense will be spared.”

Soon after the fleet came and went, Look represented the Chinese Six Companies by chairing the executive committee to honor the elaborate November 1908 visit of Imperial Special Ambassador Tong Shao Ye and Prince Tsia Fu, son of the Chinese emperor and heir to the throne. Having committed an inadvertent diplomatic slight to China, high-level U.S. government officials, including military brass and the important San Francisco Collector of the Port, orchestrated a “grand and spectacular affair,” with a total crowd of 3000, dozens of notables on all sides, two cavalry troops, a large Market Street parade and a Fairmont Hotel banquet. Spectacular displays of electric lights and Chinese lanterns festooned Chinatown and the city center.

These highly visible, newsworthy episodes were not simply festive, local happenings but serious diplomatic interactions with which Look Tin Eli was repeatedly entrusted. That Look was the default community spokesperson when an important event loomed, or distinguished guests came to visit, spoke to his exceptional social skills and diplomatic sensitivity, as well as his cross-cultural awareness and language skills.

Look Tin Eli: The Mendocino Visionary Who Helped Shape the Chinese-American Experience by Robert S. Becker and Jane Tillis is available at the Kelley House and our online store. The museum is open Thursday-Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Walking tours of Mendocino are available throughout the week. Visit kelleyhousemuseum.org for a walking tour schedule.