Book Launch: “The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act”

Celebrate the launch of community historian, curator, and author Catherine Clement’s new book, The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.

Building on the stories included in the award-winning exhibition of the same name and exploring the lives of dozens more who lived through the Exclusion Act, this book presents an unflinching look at a monumental and shameful chapter in Canada’s origin story.

The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act is now available for pre-orders through the Chinese Canadian Museum for in-person pick-up on or after the book’s release on June 24, 2025. Pre-order now to reserve your copy in time for this launch event and get it specially signed by author Catherine Clement.

Event Details:

• Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2025

• Location: Chinese Canadian Museum (51 E Pender St.)

• Time: 6 - 8 P.M.

• Cost: Free

• RSVP: Register here

• Book Pre-orders: Pre-order book here

*This event will be conducted primarily in English.

Book Description:

The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act explores a dark yet largely forgotten chapter in Canadian history. The unprecedented law, which targeted only the Chinese community, was in place for a quarter century and remains among the most tragic episodes in the country’s history. 

Yet this story, that left such profound effects on the individuals and families it touched, has been steeped in silence. Almost nothing about this period was shared by those who lived through it. Consequently, within a single generation, the trauma of exclusion was forgotten.

This is the first book to explore the broad range of human experiences of exclusion as revealed through the many stories of the lives it touched. The stories in this book reveal haunting tales of tragedy, loss and despair as well as powerful examples of courage, perseverance, and resilience. They chronicle the lives of ordinary people caught in extraordinary times. Many stories are being shared publicly for the first time.

An act of collective remembrance and historical reckoning, this book presents an unflinching look at a monumental and shameful chapter in Canada’s origin story. The pages offer a reminder of how the wreckage wrought by discrimination and exclusion, can be ignored and yet still ripple through the generations.