Angel Island Part 2: A Truth To Be Told
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
Much like Angel Island, the project, Angel Island, the place, is a point of entry, connecting many visitors to a history they know nothing about––and reminding some of a traumatic past they'd rather forget.
Del Sol Quartet violist Charlton Lee and collaborators draw audiences into the world of Angel Island, a tranquil state park in San Francisco Bay dotted with winding trails and a campus of restored wooden buildings that once served as a processing station, interrogation hub, and detention center for mostly Asian immigrants between 1910 and 1940.
What is the island like today, and what may life have been like for the 500,000 newly arrived individuals and families who landed here a century ago in search of a better life?
Our tour begins at the ferry dock of Angel Island with Casey Dexter-Lee, State Park Interpreter. Casey has lived and worked on the island for over 20 years, educating staff, volunteers, and visitors about the recreational, natural, and cultural aspects of this complex locale. She introduces us to the island's natural beauty before guiding us through the detention barracks, which are now preserved as a museum. "There are wooden structures here surrounded by a chain link fence with barbed wire at the top [and] chain mesh over the windows," Casey explains. "Even though it's this very idyllic and beautiful setting, it is a detention facility. That was what it was built to do."
Contradictions continue inside the shack-like barracks where hundreds of Chinese characters were discovered carved into the soft wood by detainees. The inscriptions, which communicate fear, despair, and desire, ultimately saved the compound from being razed. Angel Island Project collaborators Andi Wong and Genny Lim consider the emotional legacy of these poems and reflect on their deeply personal connections to Angel Island.
This episode also includes conversations with Kathryn Bates, Del Sol cellist and grant writer, and Emiko Ono, Director Of the Performing Arts Program at The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, that highlight the daunting process of securing funding under a looming deadline for Angel Island: Oratorio, possibly the most important commission in Del Sol's history
This conversation contains brief, graphic mentions of suicide. Please take care when engaging with the episode.
PART 2 FEATURES
Casey Dexter-Lee, State Park Interpreter II for Angel Island
Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Del Sol Quartet violinist
Ed Tepporn, Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Andi Wong, Teaching Artist and Arts Advocate
Genny Lim, Poet, Playwright, Performer, Pioneer
Kathryn Bates, Del Sol Quartet cellist
Emiko Ono, Director Of Performing Arts Program at The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
FEATURED MUSIC PROVIDED BY
The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundations invites you to Immigrant Voices, a growing archive of personal stories of Pacific Coast immigrants. Explore here.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Angel Island Immigration Station
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island
The National Archives at San Francisco (San Bruno)
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
Toni Morrison In Conversation With Hilton Als - The New Yorker
Festival Of Contemporary Music At Tanglewood
QUOTES
“It's a really rare opportunity to hear from people in the past that weren't winning the story, right? We talk about history being written by the winners. I think it's very easy to see that the people detained here were not winning in that moment.” - Casey Dexter-Lee
“We definitely know that for many of the people who experienced detention on Angel Island, that that experience was so traumatic that they never talked about it with their family, with their children, with their grandchildren.” - Ed Tepporn
“It's crazy how close the history is. It's often painted as if it was really far in the past, but we really don't know the impact of an event until you have a chance to get some distance on it.” - Andi Wong
“Del Sol is always up for anything.” - Emiko Ono
“The work that Del Sol's doing in Angel Island: Oratorio is the reason I do this work.” - Emiko Ono
“If there's a truth that has yet to be told, it needs to be told.” - Genny Lim
LEARN MORE
https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast
CREDITS
Hosted by Charlton Lee
Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith
Story Editor: Andrea Klunder
Sound Design: Andrea Klunder
Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz
Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates
Field Producer: Verena Lee
Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler
Show Notes: Lisa Widder
Cover Art: Felicia Lee
Theme Music: composed by Charlton Lee, performed by Del Sol Quartet
Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg
Featured music from The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet & United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recording and edited by Suraya Mohamed.