Day 336: Arch of Healing and Reconciliation, Bellingham, Washington
đź“ŚAPIA Every Day (336) - The Arch of Healing and Reconciliation, dedicated in 2018, is a recently constructed monument in Bellingham, Washington that honors Asian American immigrants who faced racist attacks and expulsions throughout the city's early history. It specifically commemorates three pivotal events: the expulsion of Chinese Americans in 1885, the incarceration of Japanese Americans in 1942, and particularly, the violence against Indian Americans who were targeted in the 1907 Bellingham Riot. Recalled as one of the largest discriminatory events against South Asian immigrants in the United States, the 1907 riot violently forced hundreds of Punjabi Sikh migrant workers out of the city.
In early-20th century Bellingham, the Asian immigrant population numbered in the hundreds, including Chinese, Japanese, and Indian workers. Previously in 1885, following the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a hate campaign boycotting and threatening Asian businesses had pushed many of the Chinese residents out of the city. In 1906, a group of Indian men—mostly Sikh laborers from Punjab—had begun settling in Bellingham to work in the city’s lumber mills. By 1907, around 250 Indians were employed by local factories and a prevalent rumor insinuated that they were replacing white workers for lower wages. White labor leaders and members of the local Japanese-Korean Exclusion League (later renamed the Asiatic Exclusion League) began calling for their removal. On Labor Day on September 2nd, these sentiments lead to an organization of over 1000 union members parading through the town in protest.
As Indian workers arrived at their jobs the next day, tensions quickly escalated and led to the riot on September 4th. That night, a mob of 500 white men violently rounded up the city’s South Asian population from their homes and workplaces, destroying property and beating individuals in the process. Over 100 Indian residents confined themselves in the City Hall’s basement jail to escape the attack. Within ten days of the riot, Bellingham’s entire South Asian community fled the city, seeking refuge in other towns across the Pacific Coast. In the aftermath, only five rioters were arrested for their crime, but were later released after no witnesses came forward to testify against them.
A century later, in 2007, members of the Lyndon Sikh Gurdwara began to initiate efforts to formally recognize the victims of the 1907 riot and other discriminatory events against Asian immigrants. This culminated in the construction of the Arch of Healing and Reconciliation in 2018. Using 10 tons of red granite from India, the monument features several plaques recounting Bellingham’s exclusionary history, highlighting the events of 1885, 1907, and 1942. Today, September 4th is annually commemorated as a Day of Healing and Reconciliation and the arch continues to promote cross-cultural understanding—representing a doorway into a more inclusive future.
Written by Avneet Dhaliwal
LEARN MORE:
University of Washington: The 1907 Bellingham Riots
University of Washington: The 1907 Bellingham Riots in Historical Context
HistoryLink: White workingmen attack Bellingham's East Indian millworkers on September 4, 1907
360 Riotwalk: The Bellingham “Anti-Hindu Riot”
The Seattle Times: Remembering Washington’s Chinese expulsion 125 years later
Pancouver: The Arch of Healing and Reconciliation is a most fitting tribute to victims of racism
Northwest News Network: 'Arch of Healing' Remembers Anti-Immigrant History In Bellingham
#apiaeveryday #chinese #japanese #indian #archofhealingandreconciliation #bellingham #washington #southasian #punjabisikhmigrant #chineseexclusionactof1882 #sikhlumberworkers #japanesekoreanexclusionleague #1907riot
