Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
The association's clientele were Chinese immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mainly from eight districts on the west side of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong, southern China, and their descendants.
The later wave of Chinese immigrants, after 1965, who came from a much wider area in China, did not experience the level of hostility faced by the pioneers and did not join the CCBA, which greatly lessened its influence.
Since its organization in the 1850s and formal establishment in 1882 in San Francisco's Chinatown, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) has received diverse publicity from American media.
[3] The CCBA was set up to help Chinese people relocate and travel to and from the US, including returning bodies of the deceased to China.
[6] Many in the mid-to-late 19th century argued that the influx of Chinese immigrants decreased job availability for American citizens.
To protect and support one another, these Chinese pioneers from the Pearl River Delta formed the Sze Yup and Sam Yap associations in San Francisco's Chinatown.
With more Chinese immigrants from other districts, who spoke different dialects, two more associations formed in 1852, followed by two more splitting off Sze Yup.
The vast majority of Chinese in California were from various districts on the west side of the Pearl River Delta, in Guangdong province.
Thus, the first huiguan, or ui-kun, as it was locally known[12] in Cantonese San Francisco, the Sam Yap (Chinese: 三邑; pinyin: sānyì; Jyutping: sam1 jap1; lit.
[3]: 18 The Six Companies served as ambassadors of the Qing government, which did not have a consulate in Chinatown until the end of the 1870s, and provided services for arriving Chinese immigrants and workers in San Francisco.
[18] The 1898 landmark case of Wong Kim Ark, which established US citizenship for American-born children of Chinese parents, was successfully argued in the US Supreme Court with the assistance of legal representation from the CCBA.
In 1968, during a human rights commission hearing held in San Francisco, the Wah Ching gang asked for a community clubhouse and a two-year program to help them gain vocational skills and earn high school diplomas.
In September 2005, right after the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the CCBA and Sing Tao Daily teamed up and raised $170,000 for the victims.
In December 2006, the CCBA and the American Red Cross of Greater New York signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate programs in Chinatown that will help prepare and train the Chinese community for any kind of emergency.
Besides sponsoring activities, the CCBA manages Tai Tung Village and Waterford Place, apartment complexes that provide affordable housing to the Chinese community.
