Introducing Chew Heong and Chinese Exclusion: A New Story Map from the Congress Law Library

Researched and written by Caitlin Connelly, Chew Heong and Chinese Exclusion provides a detailed glimpse into the cultural, historical, and legislative events surrounding the 1882 passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act. It is a visual narrative of the two blog posts previously authored by Connelly.

Chew Heong is the defendant in the eponymous case, Chew Heong v. United States (112 U.S. 536 (1884)), which ruled to protect the rights of immigrant laborers and thus challenged some of the harsher stipulations of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

This Story Map also includes an interactive map detailing anti-Chinese incidents in the western United States between 1871 and 1887, accompanied by historical images from the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division.

A screenshot of an interactive color map of the United States. Four red pins are scattered across the map, representing sites of anti-Chinese incidents in the 1870-80s. The pin on the furthest right is open to a pop-up with a sepia image at the top of the box, and text describing the Rock Creek Massacre below. — The interactive map from the Chew Heong and Chinese Exclusion Story Map, displaying the entry for the Rock Springs Massacre. You can quickly access this map by clicking on the Major Anti-Chinese Incidents header in the Story Map.

We hope you enjoy this latest addition to our collection and look forward to bringing you more immersive research aids in the future!

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2026/05/introducing-chew-heong-and-chinese-exclusion-a-new-story-map-from-the-law-library/

280 X180 white to post to websites – 2026-05-29T133417.742 copy