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mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
My newest Asian history column. Was the story of Chow Mandarien, the first Chinese American to have arrived and died in Boston in 1798 really the story of a tragic gay romance?

#ChineseAmericanHistory #maritimehistory #NewEnglandhistory #Chinatrade

peterhuston.substack.com/p/is-the-sto...
Is the story of the first Chinese American in New England a gay romance? -looking at “Chow Mandarien,” and his tragic 1798 death.
One man died in 1798. Another sobbed and memorialized him.
peterhuston.substack.com
October 12, 2026 at 2:57 AM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
My newest post in my substack column, Mostly Asian History.

"Writing Popular History in the Absence of Factual Data - There’s an art to it."

#historiography #writingpopularhistory #Chineseamericanhistory #writinghistory #ChowMandarien #history

peterhuston.substack.com/p/writing-po...
Writing Popular History in the Absence of Factual Data - There’s an art to it.
It’s a recurring problem in Chinese-American history as well as history in general that we just can’t know what our readers want to know.
peterhuston.substack.com
September 27, 2026 at 11:40 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Chinese - American relations and its history. Starting at the beginning, the 1780s.

#ChineseAmericanHistory #Maritimehistory #NewEnglandChinaTrade #Chinatrade #Chinesehistory

peterhuston.substack.com/p/late-18th-...
Late 18th, early 19th century Chinese American interactions
Greetings,
peterhuston.substack.com
September 14, 2026 at 2:08 AM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
My weekly Asian history column. Rambles a bit this week but there's a lot of cool stuff in here. Please check it out.

#Chinesehistory #chineseamericanhistory #christianityinchina #opiumwar #opium #opiumhistory #missionaryschools #missionariesinchina

peterhuston.substack.com/p/rambling-t...
Rambling Thoughts on Lin Zexu, Robert Morrison, the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall, CT, the Morrison Educational Society School in Macau & other cool things in early 19th C. Sino-Western History
The original name of "Mostly Asian History" was "STAFI -Scattered Thoughts and Focused Investigations" -just saying
peterhuston.substack.com
August 9, 2026 at 8:53 PM
columbiaup.bsky.social
How did a dish like chop suey become part of the American story? As we reflect on #USA250, Anne Mendelson's CHOW CHOP SUEY reveals how Chinese restaurateurs adapted their cuisine for Americans, creating what she calls "a chunk of true Americana." buff.ly/sCT2itM #Freedom250 #ChineseAmericanHistory
Q&A: Anne Mendelson on Food and the Chinese American Journey - Columbia University Press Blog
“Chow Chop Suey is an eye-opener, a book that will give everyone a deep appreciation of the exquisite skill required to produce authentic Chinese food and the sweep of history that brought Chinese…
buff.ly
July 24, 2026 at 12:07 AM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
When did the first Chinese come to America? 1785.Baltimore, yeah, Baltimore.

#Chineseamericanhistory #Asianamericanhistory #Baltimore #firstchineseinamerica #maritimehistory #sailors #lascars

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Baltimore, 1785, the Chinese first arrive in America
Greetings,
open.substack.com
April 27, 2026 at 12:27 AM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
"Mostly Asian History" returns to the California Gold Rush.

#Chinesehistory #Chineseamericanhistory #Californiahistory #Sanfranciscohistory #goldrushhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
The Chinese Six Companies and the Early “Tong” Wars in California, Part 3
What were the Chinese companies and why were they fighting each other?
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:09 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
This week “Mostly Asian History” examines a report of an Apache massacre of Chinese gold miners in Arizona in the 1860s. Chinese, Indians, and a bit of chatter on how to analyze a historical report to determine its truthfullness.

#Chineseamericanhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Chinese, Apaches, Pseudohistory, and the Chinese in Arizona,
Part Two of a series on Chinese and Natitve American Indians in the Old American West
open.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:26 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
So . . . if the Old American West had Indians, and if it had Chinese, in the same place at the same time, how did they treat each other? Read and find out.

#Chineseamericanhistory #NativeAmericanhistory #Americanhistory #oldwesthistory

peterhuston.substack.com/p/chinese-an...
Chinese and Native American Indians in the Old American West -Part One, Competition and Friction
Two excluded minority groups in the Old American West
peterhuston.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:20 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Mass Chinese conflict in 1854 and 1856 in California. Why were they fighting and how has this history become distorted?

#Chineseamericanhistory #californiahistory #weaverville1854 #ChineseCamp1856

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Mass Chinese conflict in California in the 1850s, part 2 of a series on the early “tong wars” of the California Gold Rush -who, exactly, was fighting anyway? Identifying the combatants
Originally released on Oct 13, 2024
open.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:28 AM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Chinese vice in 19th Century Australia! Who would not want to read about that, huh?

#Chinesehistory #chineseamericanhistory #chineseaustralianhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Chinese and the Australian Gold Rush, Part Three
Comparing Chinese vices in 19th Century Australia to those found in California and the USA at the same time
open.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 11:01 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
More 19th Century Chinese and Chinese American history!!

Wow!

Wow!

Wow!

#Chineseamericanhistory #Chinesehistory #coolie #humantrafficking #overseaschinese #chineseaustralianhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
FREE COLUMN - Human trafficking of "coolie labor" in 19th Century China for the overseas market -"Selling Piglets."
And more on Dog Eating in China
open.substack.com
September 7, 2025 at 9:28 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Chinese families and gay incestuous Chinese pirates. Oh my!! And what does this have to do with the history of 19th C Chinese families in California and Australia?

#Chinesehistory #Chineseamericanhistory #chinesecanadianhistory #Chineseaustralianhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Transnational Families, Part Two: the 19th Century family in Southern China
Greetings, thanks for coming back for your weekly Asian Studies Fix!!
open.substack.com
August 17, 2025 at 8:55 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Men without women behaving badly in the Old American West! Chinese men in fact.

#Chineseamericanhistory #chinesediaspora #oldamericanwest #chinesehistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Transnational Families and Anti-Chinese sentiment in the 19th Old American West
And the ugliness of Chinese prostitution and sexual slavery in the same time period
open.substack.com
August 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
New Column. Chinese American veterans of the US Civil War.

#chineseamericanhistory #uscivilwar #maritimehistory #chineseoverseasadoptees #asianamericanhistory #aapi

peterhuston.substack.com/p/edward-day...
Edward Day Cahota - Chinese American Civil War Veteran, Part 3 of a series on Chinese Americans in the US Civil War
Adopted American son and military veteran prohbited from obtaining citizenship under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
peterhuston.substack.com
July 13, 2025 at 10:51 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Story of "John Fouenty," Confederate solider and a human trafficking victim of the 19th Century Cuban Chinese "coolie" trade.

#Chinesehistory #civilwarhistory #cubanhistory #Chineseamericanhistory #Chineseinlatinamerica #humantrafficking #Confederacy

peterhuston.substack.com/p/chinese-in...
Chinese in the US Civil War. Part Two. "John Fouenty." Confederate soldier and Survivor of the horrible Cuban Coolie trafficking.
And the 19th Century Coolie Trade to Cuba
peterhuston.substack.com
June 23, 2025 at 12:18 AM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Chinese and Chinese Americans in the US Civil War

#Chineseamericanhistory #Civilwarhistory #Chineseadoptees #maritimehistory #cabinboys

peterhuston.substack.com/p/chinese-ad...
Chinese Adoptees in the US Civil War. Part One.
And other kinds of Chinese or Chinese-Americans too.
peterhuston.substack.com
June 1, 2025 at 9:17 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Mid 19th Century Chinese adoptees raised in the USA

#Chinesehisotory #history #civilwar #Chineseamericanhistory #maritimehistory #asianadoptees #orphans

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Misplaced Chinese Children in the 19th Century USA
A small but interesting population
open.substack.com
May 25, 2025 at 9:21 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
More history of the Chinese during the California Gold Rush

#history #ChineseAmericanhistory #Californiahistory #goldrushhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
The Independence Day editorial from The Golden Hill News, July 8, 1854. ("Kim Shan Jit San Luk" or 金山日新录
An English language editorial in the USA's first Chinese language newspaper
open.substack.com
May 22, 2025 at 10:02 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
More Chinese-American, California gold rush history! But with newspapers and Presbyterian missionaries too.

#Chineseamericanhistory #Asianhistory #mediahistory #sanfranciscohisotry #californiahistory #militantpresbyterians

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
The USA’s second Chinese Language newspaper, Tung Ngai San Luk ( 東涯新錄 ) or "The Oriental."
Greetings, welcome back for your weekly Asian Studies fix.
open.substack.com
May 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
More Chinese American history

#Chineseamericanhistory #Chinesehistory #mediahistory
#newspaperhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
The first Chinese language American newspaper, San Francisco 1854
Yes, there were two Chinese language newspaper in California in the 1850s
open.substack.com
May 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
Back to finding the patterns and solving the questions involved with the history of the tong wars in the Old American West!

#Chinesehistory #Chineseamericanhistory #oldwesthistory #tongwars #californiahistory #chinatownhistory #chinatown #peterhuston #tongs

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Death and Life for the Chinese in North America and the shift to Tongs instead of Companies
Insights from an a collection of academic essays
open.substack.com
May 4, 2025 at 9:21 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
The California gold rush of 1849 as seen from Hong Kong. No, really. It is interesting.

#Hongkonghistory #californiahistory #goldrushhistory #Chinesehistory #chineseamericanhistory #maritimehistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Factoids about "California Gold, Chinese Migration, and the Making of Hong Kong," lessons from "Pacific Crossing," by Elizabeth Sinn.
Greetings,
open.substack.com
April 13, 2025 at 11:16 PM
mostlyasianhistory.bsky.social
New post. Chinese in the Californa gold rish.

#Chinesehistory #Californiahistory #Chineseamericanhistory #californiagoldrushhistory

open.substack.com/pub/peterhus...
Chinese laborers in the Old West - Coolie labor or Heroic pioneers?
The first large contingent of Chinese laborers came to California to mine gold in 1849 having been contracted by an Englishman in Shanghai.
open.substack.com
April 6, 2025 at 9:40 PM
profbrooks.bsky.social
So in between everything else that’s going on, I just published The Moys of New York and Shanghai with @ucpress.bsky.social. It’s a biography of six Chinese American siblings that Kirkus calls “a soap opera in the best sense of the term.” Available now! #ChineseAmericanhistory #biography
Cover of the book The Moys of New York and Shanghai: One Family’s Extraordinary Journey Through War and Revolution
February 15, 2026 at 8:52 PM