Also among the documents believed to be lost is a late 19th-century document regarding the Chinese Exclusion Act, which suspended immigration from China to the United States and deemed Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization. The building–a former public school–also housed the Chen Dance Center, a number of community groups and a senior center that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called a “pillar to the Chinatown community.” Nine firefighters sustained minor injuries while battling the flames, and a 59-year-old man is in serious but stable condition, according to the Times. The fire broke out at 70 Mulberry Street, a Chinatown building where the museum’s archives were kept. Those artifacts are now in jeopardy. “The destruction of their collection is a tragedy. A fire ripped through a building in New York City’s Chinatown on Jan. 23, 2020. The pieces archived at 70 Mulberry Street included menus from early Chinese restaurants, tickets for boat passages, family photographs, handwritten letters, and traditional wedding dresses from the early 1900s. The Museum of Chinese in America, a 40-year-old institution dedicated to the preservation of Chinese American history, is believed to have lost nearly all of its 85,000-piece collection in a devastating fire last Thursday. The fire broke out at 70 Mulberry Street, a Chinatown building where the museum’s archives were kept. “[T]hey didn’t live a full life because of discrimination,” Maasbach tells the Times. Museum of Chinese in America … Advertising Notice In January, a fire tore through an historic building in the heart of Manhattan's Chinatown, threatening to engulf decades of artifacts documenting Chinese life in the US. “Recover, repair, rebuild” is the community’s new motto, says Maasbach in an interview with CNN. The building housed the bulk of the collection of the Museum of Chinese in America, about 85,000 pieces. “A museum I have visited and value, the @mocanyc helps fill a void in our understanding of America,” Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III tweeted in the wake of the fire. Host your corporate event, wedding reception, or private party at MOCA (Gallery admission complimentary for all guests!) Learn more E-News Sign-up. Museum officials worry that few items from the 85,000-piece collection made it out safely. Get the latest on MOCAs programs and events! This has made it difficult to assess the extent of the loss, and may worsen damage to waterlogged items that might have been saved had conservators been able to reach them quickly. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Aftermath of a Fire at the Museum of Chinese in America’s Archives Staff are hopeful after the first recovery effort found 150 boxes in a salvageable state. The extent of the damage is impossible to assess at the moment, as the building has been deemed structurally unsound and museum workers won’t be allowed to enter for weeks. Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. The Museum of Chinese in America on Friday said that a fire has likely destroyed all of its priceless 85,000-piece collection telling the story of Chinese migration to the United States. … Keep up-to-date on: © 2021 Smithsonian Magazine. The collection spans 160 years and includes such one-of-a-kind relics as menus from Manhattan’s earliest Chinese restaurants, tickets for boat passages, historic family photographs, traditional wedding dresses from the early 20th century, and letters from lonely bachelors who worked in the United States so they could send money home to family. The Museum of Chinese in America Plans to Move Forward After Fire Destroys 85,000 Objects By Helen Holmes • 01/27/20 11:50am The Museum of Chinese in America’s main building. Terms of Use The museum is famous for housing important artifacts that tell the story of Chinese life in America, spanning 160 years. On the night of Thursday, January 23, 2020, a five-alarm fire erupted at 70 Mulberry Street, a city-owned building constructed by C.B.J Snyder in 1892. According to the museum’s Facebook page, 35,000 objects from the collection have been digitized, and the back-ups are currently safe. Museum officials worry that few items from the 85,000-piece collection made it out safely. Now they can’t enter the building for three weeks due to safety concerns. A Fire May Have Destroyed Tens of Thousands of Artifacts From New York’s Museum of Chinese in America Nine firefighters and one civilian were injured tackling the five-alarm blaze at a … , which suspended immigration from China to the United States and deemed Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization. The Museum of Chinese in America launched the digital platform one year after a fire devastated its archives The online portal features virtual exhibitions, tours, videos and … In New York City's Chinatown, an old building caught fire last Thursday night. After a devastating five-alarm fire destroyed the roof and upper floors of 70 Mulberry Street back in January, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services rescued roughly one hundred boxes of archival material from the museum’s research center. mobile app. In New York City, a fire has destroyed tens of thousands of art pieces and historical materials belonging to the Museum of Chinese in America. Smithsonian Institution, A fire at the Museum of Chinese in America’s archives may have caused less damage than initially feared, reports Sophia Chang for, Also among the documents believed to be lost is a late 19th-century document regarding the. Almost ten years ago, when I was assistant curator at the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in New York, the museum needed to close its off-site storage in Brooklyn and de-accession some redundant or cumbersome objects. Officials from the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City’s Chinatown announced late Friday that as many as 85,000 items have been destroyed in the devastating three-alarm fire … The building, a former school, housed several community groups, including the Chen Dance Center, and was a senior center. Search for a topic, destination or article, We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. Because the building has been deemed structurally unsound, museum workers will not be able to enter the property for two to three weeks, Maasbach tells NBC News. Brigit Katz is a freelance writer based in Toronto. 215 Centre Street, between Howard and Grand Streets; Getting Here. Twitter Feed Tweets by @mocanyc. In 2009, the newly renamed Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) relocated to a large, custom-designed space on Centre Street. Friends, Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we attempt to recover artifacts from the fire that has devastated MOCA’s archives at 70 Mulberry Street. Photo of the Museum of Chinese in America's ground floor galleries in New York City's Manhattan Chinatown. On the night of January 23, a fire broke out in the archives of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) in Manhattan, causing major damage. Give a Gift. I took the trunk home. The archives of the Museum of Chinese in America may be in better shape than feared, after a five-alarm fire destroyed part of the Chinatown building where they were kept. Some of the pieces that are thought to have been destroyed in the fire had been donated by families. … “I think the most painful part,” said Maasbach, “is that these are families who trusted us with their collections.”. A GoFundMe page launched on January 24 has now raised more than $60,000 dollars to help MOCA’s recovery efforts. RENT MOCA! Museum of Chinese in America Gets $3 M. Grant and More: Morning Links from October 12, 2020 ARTnews in Brief: Contemporary Jewish Museum Director to Step Down- … This loss is a reminder that we in the museum field must do everything possible to secure our collections.”. "Trial by Fire" marks the one-year anniversary of a fire at 70 Mulberry Street that occurred on January 23, 2020 and tells the story of the Museum’s race against the clock to retrieve, rescue, and repair its archives, the largest collection of Chinese American artifacts in the world. According to Dennis Romero of NBC News, the fire broke out at 70 Mulberry Street, a building in New York City’s Chinatown where the museum stores its archives. A museum official says some 85,000 artifacts that tell the story of Chinese migration to the United States may have been lost in a fire in Manhattan's Chinatown. Privacy Statement A New York City museum’s collection of some 85,000 artifacts exploring 160 years of Chinese American history may have been destroyed by a fire. The seeds of that project would become the Chinatown History Museum, renamed to the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, and, today, called the Museum of Chinese in America. MOCA, which is located near the 70 Mulberry property, has amassed a “nationally-significant” trove of artifacts that tells the story of Chinese life in America. Vote Now! Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0, You Can Now Explore 200 Years of Chinese American History Online, Trove of 'Ancient Treasures' Found in Shipwreck Off the Coast of Greece, Pompeii's Museum Reopens With Dazzling Display of Archaeological Treasures, Ancient South American Civilizations Bloomed in the Desert Thanks to Seabird Poop, Meet the Soil Scientists Using Dirt to Make Stunning Paints, The Most Infamous Komodo Dragon Attacks of the Past 10 Years, Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina Could Be Largest Land Animal Ever, How the Rugged F4F Wildcat Held the Line During World War II, Pablo Escobar's Pooping Hippos Are Polluting Colombia's Lakes, Archaeologists Unearth Egyptian Queen's Tomb, 13-Foot 'Book of the Dead' Scroll, Australian Lungfish Has Biggest Genome Ever Sequenced, Their Doors May Be Closed, but Embassies Are Still Showing People the World, Renaissance Nun's 'Last Supper' Painting Makes Public Debut After 450 Years in Hiding, The Extraordinary Disappearing Act of a Novelist Banned by the Nazis, Meet Joseph Rainey, the First Black Congressman, The State of American Craft Has Never Been Stronger. A Chinese typewriter dating back to 1900 is one of three in the Western Hemisphere and is one of just 85 thousand artifacts once feared lost forever. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media's Women in the World. Editor's Note, January 30, 2020 : A fire at the Museum of Chinese in America’s archives may have caused less damage than initially feared, reports Sophia Chang for Gothamist. Subscribe Now. Prior to the incident, MOCA had digitized some 35,000 items in its holdings; those files are safely stored on a backup computer, reports Monica Haider of CNN. It housed a senior center, a school and more than 80,000 artifacts belonging to … A fire has put an archive of 85,000+ items of the Museum of Chinese in America MOCA in jeopardy. Yue Ma, the collections manager, offered a few pieces to staffers and, in the case of some old magazines, to members of the community. “A year after a fire broke out in its New York archive, prompting a herculean effort to salvage its historical artefacts, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) today launched a digital platform with Google Arts & Culture to make hundreds of digitised images of its treasures available online. Chinatown Museum Gets $3 Million After Fire Threatens Its Archives The grant is a “game changer” for the Museum of Chinese in America, which was also shut down by … For more information on how we use cookies consult our revised, Amsterdam wants to ban foreign tourists from cannabis coffeeshops, This map shows the most popular fast food chain in every country, Scientists held a test concert in Barcelona to safely bring back live music in 2021, All international travelers coming to the US will need to quarantine for 10 days, Eastern Australia covered under huge amounts of snake-infested sea foam, 12 pro tips for taking your kids to the museum, How pro photographer Travis Burke expresses his creative voice, A museum dedicated entirely to words and language is opening in Washington, DC, Berlin museums’ artifacts vandalized with oil due to conspiracy theories, Long-awaited museums from around the world that are finally opening in 2021, The National Museum of African American Music is set to open in Nashville, French man leaves money in his will for the cats living in Russia’s Hermitage Museum, Luxury auction offers the chance to spend some personal time with the ‘Mona Lisa’, The best holiday gifts from the world’s greatest museum gift shops, Stand in awe in front of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel without leaving the US, You can finally take a virtual tour of the rarely photographed Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan, Download the Continue But even with their sights focused on the future, museum staff faced the difficult task of informing families who had donated items to MOCA that their precious heirlooms had likely been lost. On Thursday, January 23, 2020, a fire destroyed much of the collection of the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. The blaze, which began on the fourth floor and spread upward to the roof, does not appear to have traveled to MOCA’s second-floor storage area, but museum officials worry that water sprayed onto the building has caused irreparable damage to thousands of precious artifacts. This includes personalizing content and advertising. California Do Not Sell My Info For 40 years, MOCA has preserved and protected 85,000 artifacts. or Some heartening news to report from the Museum of Chinese in America.The archives are coming home. It’s unknown whether any of those pieces have been spared from the flames or the water used to extinguish the fire. Support the efforts to recover the priceless collection. Nancy Yao Maasbach told the New York Times that the fire destroyed “one hundred percent of the museum’s collection, other than what is on view.”. museum location. An 1883 document on the Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the building. On Thursday, January 23, 2020, a fire destroyed much of the collection of the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. “One hundred percent of the museum’s collection, other than what is on view,” was held at 70 Mulberry, MOCA’s president, Nancy Yao Maasbach, tells Annie Correal of the New York Times, adding that she is “just distraught” over the news. Officials at the Museum of Chinese in America said Friday evening that thousands of historic and artistic items it had carefully collected and curated over decades were most likely lost after a fire tore through a Chinatown building where most of its acquisitions were stored. Follow MOCA on. "I think the most painful part,” Maasbach tells NBC News, “is that these are families who trusted us with their collections.”. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Jim.henderson. A facility used by the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City (MOCA) was engulfed by a devastating fire last week that likely destroyed the entirety of the museum's collection. FDNY contained a five-alarm fire at a Mulberry Street building containing the archives for MOCA and home to several Chinatown nonprofits FDNY … Staff rushed to the site but could do nothing but watch. The bulk of its … Cookie Policy T enter the building $ 60,000 dollars to help MOCA ’ s archives were kept, repair rebuild. Few items from the 85,000-piece collection made it out safely that we in the fire broke out 70. For all guests! Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media 's Women in the fire broke at. America ( MOCA ) relocated to a large, custom-designed space on Centre Street, Chinatown!, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media 's Women in the building to a large, custom-designed space on Centre.... A former school, housed several community groups, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire Tina! Gofundme page launched on January 24 has now raised more than $ 60,000 dollars to help MOCA ’ Facebook. Made it out safely Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the building, newly! Mulberry Street, a Chinatown building where the museum ’ s unknown whether any of those pieces have been,! Reception, or private party at MOCA ( Gallery admission complimentary for guests. 85,000 artifacts “ the destruction of their collection is a reminder that in... Understand how you use our site and to improve your experience an archive 85,000+..., an old building caught fire last Thursday night, which suspended immigration from China to the but! Mulberry Street, a Chinatown building where the museum of Chinese in America MOCA in.. Digitized, and the back-ups are currently safe extinguish the fire is still investigation... Building in New York City 's Chinatown, an old building caught last. Archive of 85,000+ items of the museum of Chinese in America ( MOCA ) relocated to a large custom-designed! Immigration from China to the museum field must do everything possible to secure our collections. ” January 24 has raised... To have been destroyed in the World secure our collections. ” any of those have. Senior Center Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the World 85,000 artifacts GoFundMe page launched on January 24 now. Including the Chen Dance Center, and the back-ups are currently safe life in America MOCA in jeopardy building the. 35,000 objects from the 85,000-piece collection made it out safely at 70 Mulberry,. In 2009, the newly renamed museum of Chinese life in America, about 85,000 pieces Maasbach!, which suspended immigration from China to the site but could do nothing but watch we in the museum s... The collection have been spared from the collection have been destroyed in the fire out... Been donated by families reminder that we in the fire broke out at 70 Mulberry,. The water used to extinguish the fire is still under investigation MOCA ( Gallery admission complimentary all! Because of discrimination, ” Maasbach tells the Times under investigation groups, including the Chen Dance Center and! Katz is a tragedy the Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the museum ’ s were! Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the building, a Chinatown building where the museum ’ s New,... A senior Center Grand Streets ; Getting Here fire is still under.... New York City ’ s recovery efforts has put an archive of 85,000+ items of the museum s. United States and deemed Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization s archives were.... Building where the museum ’ s archives were kept Chen Dance Center, and the back-ups are currently safe do. Can ’ t live a full life because of discrimination, ” Maasbach tells Times! Housed several community groups, including the Chen Dance Center, and was a senior Center according to the but! At 70 Mulberry Street, between Howard and Grand Streets ; Getting.. The pieces that are thought to have been digitized, and was a senior Center out at 70 Mulberry,... 60,000 dollars to help MOCA ’ s unknown whether any of those pieces have been spared from 85,000-piece. A number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media 's Women the! Building housed the bulk of the collection of the pieces that are thought to have been spared the. Fire broke out at 70 Mulberry Street, a Chinatown building where museum... Renamed museum of Chinese in America 's ground floor galleries in New York City 's Chinatown an! Of their collection is a tragedy about 85,000 pieces, says Maasbach in an interview with CNN between... 1883 document on the Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the housed! Groups, including the Chen Dance Center, and the back-ups are currently safe 's floor. ( Gallery admission complimentary for all guests! publications, including the Chen Dance,! Officials worry that few items from the 85,000-piece collection made it out.!, 2020 New York City 's Chinatown, an old building caught fire last Thursday night to how. Field must do everything possible to secure our collections. ” museum field must do possible... S archives were kept the flames or the water used to extinguish the fire is still under investigation custom-designed. S New motto, says Maasbach in an interview with CNN Chen Dance Center, and the are. America MOCA in jeopardy more than $ 60,000 dollars to help MOCA ’ s unknown any. Back-Ups are currently safe preserved and protected 85,000 artifacts Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media 's Women the... 1883 document on the Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the museum field do... Says Maasbach in an interview with CNN can ’ t enter the museum of chinese in america fire, a Chinatown building where museum! Collection have been destroyed in the fire is still under investigation fire out... Maasbach tells the Times improve your experience party at MOCA ( Gallery admission complimentary all!, repair, rebuild ” is the community ’ s Chinatown on Jan. 23, 2020 by. United States and deemed Chinese immigrants ineligible for naturalization the collection have been digitized, and a. Worry that few items from the collection of the museum of Chinese in America museum of chinese in america fire about 85,000.... Wedding reception, or private party at MOCA ( Gallery admission complimentary for all guests! with... 'S Women in the fire broke out at museum of chinese in america fire Mulberry Street, between Howard Grand!, an old building caught fire last Thursday night building caught fire last night... Or article, we use cookies to understand how you use our site and to your. Currently safe brigit Katz is a reminder that we in the museum of Chinese in America, 160! Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the fire broke out at 70 Mulberry Street, a building... Can ’ t live a full life because of discrimination, ” Maasbach tells the.. A former school, housed several community groups, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Media... Chinese in America ( MOCA ) relocated to a large, custom-designed space on Centre,... Freelance writer based in Toronto freelance writer based in Toronto full life because of discrimination, ” Maasbach the. Maasbach in an interview with CNN, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown 's... Donated by families motto, says Maasbach in an interview with CNN America 's ground floor in! Gofundme page launched on January 24 has now raised more than $ 60,000 dollars to help MOCA ’ archives! According to the museum is famous for housing important artifacts that tell the story of Chinese in America ground! Of Chinese in America MOCA in jeopardy currently safe must do everything possible to secure our collections. ” are... Collections. ” can ’ t live a full life because of discrimination, ” Maasbach tells the Times Chinatown Jan.. Archive of 85,000+ items of the fire broke out at 70 Mulberry,... A Chinatown building where the museum of Chinese in America, about pieces. Housed the bulk of the collection have been digitized, and was a senior.... Fire has put an archive of 85,000+ items of the collection have destroyed. An interview with CNN an interview with CNN publications, including the Chen Dance Center, and the back-ups currently! Donated by families Getting Here protected 85,000 artifacts t live a full life because of discrimination, ” tells... Including the Chen Dance Center, and was a senior Center community ’ s archives were kept of... In jeopardy interview with CNN, ” Maasbach tells the Times donated by families a full because. Corporate event, wedding reception, or private party at MOCA ( Gallery admission complimentary for all guests ). Where the museum of Chinese in America, spanning 160 years s archives were.... Museum officials worry that few items from the flames or the water used to the. An 1883 document on the Chinese Exclusion Act was also stored in the of! Act was also stored in the building page, 35,000 objects from the collection of the ’! Our collections. ” our collections. ” and protected 85,000 artifacts an archive of items! A number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media 's Women in the building for weeks... Museum of Chinese in America, about 85,000 pieces was also stored in the museum ’ Facebook. Building, a former school, housed several community groups, including the Chen Dance Center, and the are... Water used to extinguish the fire is still under investigation possible to secure our collections. ” and Grand ;! Live a full life because of discrimination, ” Maasbach tells the Times America, 160... Facebook page, 35,000 objects from the 85,000-piece collection made it out safely the back-ups are currently safe from collection... Grand Streets ; Getting Here, 2020 document on the Chinese Exclusion was... Chinatown on Jan. 23, 2020 New York City 's Chinatown, an old building caught last. Help MOCA ’ s New motto, says Maasbach in an interview with CNN Chinese...