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Title Image. Oregon Chinese Disinterment Documents

The Oregon Chinese Disinterment Documents digital collection provides access to documents pertaining to the 1948-1949 disinterment of hundreds of Chinese immigrants’ remains from cemeteries throughout Oregon.

The bulk of the documents consist of the applications and permits to disinter human remains; these were required by the Oregon State Board of Health. All of the cemeteries’ applications and permits list the names of the men to be disinterred and most list the date that they were buried. The collection also includes various shipping related documents. They date from the summer of 1948 through the summer of 1951 and include information regarding the purchase of the boxes in which to place the remains, shipping invoices, receipts, insurance, and some correspondence.

Credits

Northwest News Network; Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, Portland, OR; Portland State University Special Collections and University Archives; Oregon Multicultural Archives