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Service opened his voluminous files for my review. My friend Marian Smith, a historian for the INS, not only offered insightful commentary as this book evolved, but deciphered for me the mysteries of outdated immigration indexing systems, which gave me access to records at the National Archives that had not been ordered for decades. Victor Mar of the Chinese Historical Society of Greater San Diego sent me a short biography of Ah Quin—a nineteenth-century merchant—and photocopies of Ah Quin’s handwritten diary, which exceed 1,500 pages. Lack of space prevented inclusion of Ah Quin in this book, but it was stunning for me to see, in the pages of this diary, Ah Quin’s remarkable transformation, first from cook to servant, and then from labor recruiter to capitalist.

The perspective of other writers and journalists also strengthened this book. Amy Tan and Connie Chung were generous with their time when I interviewed them. Novelist May-lee Chai, whom I had befriended during our days at the Associated Press, shared her beautifully written editorials and heartfelt opinions on Chinese America, ethnic profiling, and the mixed-race experience. Sam Chu Lin, a broadcast pioneer in the Chinese American community, made copies for me of the audiotape and film interviews he had conducted with his family, which greatly enriched this book as well as my understanding of the Chinese in the South. I will always remember our spirited discussions on Chinese American history, along with his bittersweet and often humorous reminiscences of his youth in Mississippi. Best-selling author Edward Epstein offered memorable conversations and wise counsel as I launched into this project. Helen Zia, civil rights activist and author of Asian American Dreams, provided an insider’s perspective on the gradual evolution of the Chinese American community as a modern political force. As the co-author of My Country Versus Me, an autobiography of Wen Ho Lee, Helen Zia also gave me the rare opportunity to sit down with Dr. Lee at a private dinner, to learn more about his ordeal in the hands of the U.S. government.

Certain individuals and institutions deserve special thanks for their timely response to requests for information: the Arizona Historical Society; Kevin O’Sullivan at AP Wide World News; the California State Library; Ellen Halteman, librarian at the California State Railroad Museum; the Chinese Historical Society; Clarence Chu of the Dai Loy Museum in Locke, California; Valerie Zars at Getty Images/Hulton Archive; Sally Stassi at the Historic New Orleans Collection; Elena S. Danielson and Ronald M. Butaloff at the Hoover Institution Library and Archives; the Idaho State Historical Society; Michael Shulman at Magnum Photos; the Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA); the Oregon Historical Society; Murray Lee, curator of Chinese American history in the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum; the University of Washington archive; and Robert Fisher, collections manager of the Wing Luke Asian Museum.

Closer to home, my part-time assistants, Connie Amarel and Carol Lagorio, typed thousands of facts into my database and transcribed my taped interviews during the research phase of this book. I can never thank them enough for their hard work.

Other people offered invaluable suggestions, or assisted in ways too numerous to recount here: Steven Aftergood, Shirley Awana, Bob Barde, Ralph Ben-nett, Ronnie Chan, Gilbert Chang, Kuo-hou Chang, Morris Chang, Pamela Chang, Wen-hsuan Chang, Rosalind Chao, Anna Chennault, William Chew, Ko-lin Chin, Christine Choy, Frank Cowsert, Kent Dedrick, Ignatius Ding, Stella Dong, Phoebe Eng, Bernadine Chuck Fong, Kenneth Fong, Scott Forsythe, Dina Gan, Gloria Hom, Genevieve Hom-Franzen, Tony Hsieh, Carl Hsu, Chih-ming Hu, Kaimeng Huang, Liberty Huang, Liwen Huang, Susana Huang, Victor Hwang, Kay Johnson, Herb and Diana Kai, Joseph M. Kamen, Paula Kamen, Amy Orfield Kohler, George Koo, Stewart Kwoh, Peter Kwong, Ann Lau, Amy Leang, Corky Lee, C. Y. Lee, Robert Lee, Jennie F. Lew, Ronald Lew, Marvin Lewis, Christina Li, Dick Ling, Sara