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Exploring Indianapolis Chinese History

Indianapolis Special Collections Room (ISCR) Program

Join us in the ISCR at Central Library with Public Historian Kelsey Green to explore the experiences of Indianapolis's earliest Chinese immigrants and their early 1900s businesses.

Culture, History, and Society: Historic Indianapolis
The Business of Belonging: Chinese Immigration and Entrepreneurship in Indianapolis—Public Historian Kelsey Green explores the lived experiences of Indianapolis’s earliest Chinese immigrants. By the early 1900s, many Chinese residents operated chop suey restaurants, Chinese goods stores, or hand laundries in the Circle City, providing novel services and goods to their Hoosier neighbors.

This presentation explores the realities of Chinese Exclusion after 1882 and the complex navigation of midwestern Chinese immigrants who, living outside of a Chinatown, established themselves. By opening businesses and attracting Hoosier customers, these early immigrants acted as cultural emissaries in Indianapolis, introducing Chinese cuisine, goods, customs, dress, and language. Ultimately, the history of Chinese immigrants in Indiana reveals not only hardship and discrimination but also their success, resilience, and community building.

Location: This program will be held in person in the Indianapolis Special Collections Room (ISCR) on the 6th floor of Central Library.

Parking: The Central Library has a parking garage available to visitors during their time there. See the parking garage pricing information. The garage can be accessed on Pennsylvania Street.

This in-person program is part of the Culture, History, and Society: Historic Indianapolis programs hosted by the Indianapolis Special Collections Room (ISCR) on the 6th floor of the Central Library.

Contact: Special Collections Librarian, Montoya Barker

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