About
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is the leading museum dedicated to reclaiming, preserving and presenting the history and culture of Chinese people in the United States. Through its thought-provoking exhibits and programs, MOCA encourages dialogue among people of all cultural backgrounds.
Our Beginning
The Museum began as a community-based organization founded in 1980 as the New York Chinatown History Project by historian John Kuo Wei Tchen and community resident/activist Charles Lai. It was created to develop a better understanding of our Chinese American history and community and to respond to the concern that the memories and experiences of aging older generations would perish without oral history, photo documentation, research and collecting efforts.
What We Do
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is the first national museum dedicated to reclaiming, preserving and presenting the history and culture of Chinese people in the United States. From our modest beginnings, we have grown to become a museum comprised of 13 staff members and 12 Trustees. Our work to preserve and present the history and culture of Chinese in America has also grown and also positioned us to be a national home for the precious stories of our diverse communities make us a model among interactive museums. Our work includes:
- presenting exhibits and multimedia productions.
- offering education programs and curriculum that are used in local schools.
- curating and expanding our collections.
- collecting oral histories through our information technology and community-based projects.
- hosting festivals, workshops, conferences and resources on Chinese American history and culture on the World Wide Web.
Our Archives and Collections
MOCA’s vast collections serve as a basis for the museum’s operations befitting a national museum. The new core exhibition, rotating and touring exhibitions, educational services and public programs draw from the collections. The collections are comprised of more than 60,000 letters and documents, business and organizational records, oral histories, clothing and textiles, photographs and precious artifacts – the most important assemblage of materials documenting Chinese American history outside of a university.
Our Audience
The Museum welcomes over 100,000 visitors and participants to its broad array of exhibits and public programs annually, including neighborhood residents, students and school groups from local and regional schools, New Yorkers and domestic and international visitors of diverse backgrounds and ages. Our audience is composed of equal numbers of Asians and non-Asians.
In addition to the above, the Museum’s diverse professional constituency includes educators, scholars and journalists, as well as artists such as designers, photographers, playwrights, filmmakers, actors and musicians who help conceptualize, implement and participate in exhibits and programs.
