Dozens celebrate dedication of commemorative historical marker honoring Wisconsin's early Chinese immigrants at Forest Home Cemetery

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A new historical marker at Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery honors the legacy of the city's early Chinese immigrant population.

The marker was granted to the Wisconsin chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

On Thursday morning, April 2, dozens gathered for a dedication ceremony to celebrate the recognition of Milwaukee's 19th and early 20th century Chinese American community.

"We honor those people who lived here, worked here, had businesses here and they were our foundation," said OCA-WI Director Anna Wong. "We are celebrating also not only the people who have passed but the customs we carry through our many years."

More specifically, the marker highlighted the efforts of bachelors, "the men who worked in the Chinese laundries and restaurants without their families, who were restricted from immigrating due to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which was lifted in 1943," a news release said. 

"To signify all the people who came before us and also to recognize some of the bachelor's that came before us in terms of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the immigration laws that were holding back a lot of the families being reunited or even united," Wong said. "We just can't imagine where our lives would be if it wasn't for that."

This is the second marker in Wisconsin to be installed, and it's located where hundreds of immigrants and their families were laid to rest.

The first was dedicated last October and can be found at 1915 N. King Dr.