The largely unheard story of Chinese settlements in Ventura County is told in Hidden Voices: The Chinese of Ventura County, on exhibit at the Museum of Ventura County from September 1 through November 25, 2012. The beginnings and evolution of the first Chinese immigrant communities in Ventura and Oxnard are illuminated through photographs, maps, clothes, household items and the personal stories of community members such as merchants, employment agents, farm and day laborers, and their wives and children. A contemporary dragon costume carries the exhibit into the 21st century, while an introductory gallery video gives an overview of Chinese immigration to California in the19th century and examines the social and political adversities Chinese settlers faced.

The exhibit highlights the special role Chinese stores played in turn of the century Chinatowns and features attire reflecting cultural customs, such as the 1910 wedding dress of Nellie Yee Hay, the daughter of the family said to have been the first to settle in Ventura’s short-lived “China Alley.” The exhibit’s narrative then moves to more recent years to include the accomplishments of Ventura’s Walton Jue family, and the Soo Hoos of Oxnard, whose son Bill Soo Hoo became Mayor of Oxnard in 1966, the first mayor of Chinese descent in California. Today Chinese immigrants and descendants live throughout Ventura County, with strong cultural associations in Camarillo and Thousand Oaks as well as in the west county.

The Museum of Ventura County is located at 100 East Main Street in downtown Ventura. Hours are 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission to the exhibitions is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, members and children under 6 are free. The first Sundays of every month are free general admission for the public. For more museum information go to www.venturamuseum.org or call 805-653-0323.