Chinese Historical Society Honors SGISD Professor (MA UCEDD/LEND)

November 19, 2018

The Chinese Historical Society of New England held its annual banquet Oct. 5 at Hei La Moon. Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn presented a citation to Peter Kiang, who was a CHSNE Sojourner Award recipient. (Image courtesy of Ling-Mei Wong.)

The Chinese Historical Society of New England held its annual banquet this month at Hei La Moon. More than 300 guests attended the organization's annual meeting.

SGISD's Peter Kiang was presented with the Sojourner Award. The honor commemorates early Chinese immigrants who were sojourners - workers looking for a piece of Gold Mountain to send back to China, while building railroads, harvesting crops and working in factories.

Kiang, a second-generation American with Chinese and Scottish heritage born in Boston, is professor and director of the Asian American studies program at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has taught at UMass Boston since 1987, educating students, empowering communities and honoring history. Kiang served as CHSNE co-president from 2002 to 2010, working on the Mount Hope Cemetery project to restore tombstones in its Chinese section. He was also a program director for the Asian American Resource Workshop.