A Centennial Celebration about Valhalla Cemetery (St. Louis) was created by AACS / Asian American Civic Scholars and co-hosted by Valhalla Cemetery. The relevance of this “100th” Anniversary is not that the cemetery is that old (1911 was its first intement) but that it is the anniversary of when the On Leong Merchants Association advocated and was able to purchase a plot of land to bury local Chinese. The reason? Due to discrimination, most locations rejected Chinese to be buried. The On Leong were seeking a place because a century old cemetery that had accepted Chinese , Wesleyan Cemetery, was closing.
Earlier news coverage by KSDK about AACS early efforts, https://youtu.be/A6ykuRgP-OM?si=FexGbvGjr30-GtJ3
AACS Fundraising effort to place a marker at the site, https://www.gofundme.com/f/preserving-chinese-gravesites-at-valhalla
I was asked to make some remarks about how this Valhalla research and recording was an important part of the Missouri Historical Society Chinese American Collecting Initiative. I also serve as
Dr. Min Liu introductary remarks.
MHS Chinese American Collecting Initiative remarks, Christopher Gordon, Peter Tao
Dr. Min Liu, Rita Day (St. Louis County Councilwoman), Don Ko
AACS Student presentation
An engaged crowd of researchers, Chinese American history buffs and family members with roots in Valhalla.
Hop Leong marker. Blog Story, https://mohistory.org/blog/henry-lang