Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix

 

A Brief History ------ By Stanley Chen

Toward the latter part of the nineteenth century, as the gold mines in California were laying out and the Transcontinental Railroad in the West was near its completion, Chinese began to come to Arizona, mainly in the Phoenix area, to look for work and to settle down. Due to the restrictions in the immigration laws, their number was small. Most of the Chinese, lacking education and other job opportunities, operated small groceries, restaurants, laundries or working for those stores. In order to help each other in business, the first organization in the Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, was established in 1939.

 

As of today, there are fifteen member organizations in the Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix or simply the Chinese United (the name was changed to the current one from Phoenix Chinese United Association in March 1998). The other fourteen organizations, alphabetically, are:

 

American Legion Thomas Tang Post 50 received their charter with a membership of 44 World War II veterans in 1950. The post was re-dedicated as the Thomas Tang Post in 1996 in memory of Judge Thomas Tang, a veteran and member.

 

Association of Chinese Scientist and Engineers whose original chapter was established in Chicago in 1993. The Phoenix chapter was formed in 1997 and became a member organization of the Chinese United in 1999.

 

Chinese American Citizens Alliance was established in Phoenix in 1954 with the purpose to fight against all attempts of discrimination. CACA was organized in Fan Francisco in 1895.

 

Chinese-American Professional Association of Arizona incorporated in 1982 as the Chinese-American Engineers and Scientist Association of Arizona. The current name was adopted in 1984. The association conducts frequent seminars in various professional fields, awards annual scholarships and participates in social and community activities.

Chinese Restaurant Association of Arizona was organized in 1988, became a member in 1998 and has been active in community events long before joining the Chinese United.

 

Chinese Senior Citizens Association provides social, recreational, health and education services to the citizens of Phoenix through its operating arm, the Chinese Senior Center, which was established in 1978. The Center is located at 734 W. Elm St. in Phoenix.

 

Chinese Welfare Council Phoenix Chapter was started in 1955 with the purpose of promoting the well being of Chinese-Americans and Chinese Nationals in the United Sates. The national group started in 1913 and incorporated in 1957 in Washington D.C. to address the many problems the Chinese were having with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

GFWC Desert Jade Woman's Club was founded in 1960 as a volunteer service organization. The club is committed to promote and provided personal support, education and enrichment for its members and for the community.

 

Lung Kong Family Association unites the four families with surnames of Liu, Kwan, Zhang, and Chao. The original association dated back to 1661 in China and the first Lung Kong Family delegates across the United States met in Los Angeles in 1928. The Phoenix chapter was organized in 1973.

 

Ong Ko Met Association in commemorating Yu Dong, Duke Ko Met of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 A.D.), established locally in the early 1940's to coordinate and assist the family members with the surname of Ong, Dong or Tang.

 

Overseas Chinese Woman's Club with the purpose of supporting Chinese culture and promoting Chinese schooling established this nonprofit organization in 1982.

 

Wong Family Association was established locally in 1963 to assist descendants of the Wong families and to serve the Chinese community.

 

Yee Fung Toy Association began in San Francisco over 100 years ago with the Phoenix branch being established in 1961 as one of the 13 subsidiary associations across the United States. The goal is to develop a good community relationship between family members.

 

Ying On Merchants and Labor Benevolent Association was started in 1948 to participate in welfare activities for needy Chinese families.

 

For most of the last half-century, the elders and leaders of the Chinese community in the greater Phoenix area organized the many loosely connected associations and clubs to gather strength. An important event is the annual Fourth of July celebration to sow the patriotism of the Chinese-American community. The Phoenix Chinese United Association (PCUA) was formally incorporated in 1987 as a non-profit organization.

 

In recent years, many new high-tech industries have moved into the Valley and have caused greater metropolitan Phoenix to go through an economic expansion. These industries and companies have created jobs for highly educated and trained professionals, and hence, new Chinese immigrants have increased drastically. In 1998, PCUA changed its name and updated its By-Laws to be more representative of and responsive to the Chinese community, to carry out its current missions and to better serve the communities at large.