The Chiao brothers, James and Philip, along with Kristin Wong are excited to bring you a lively discussion of the 37 newspaper articles originally written by a San Francisco investigative journalist, Max Stern, in the roaring 1920’s — now available in a book format, titled The Price of Salmon. It is a fascinating noir about San Francisco’s colorful past, and explores the complex role of Chinese labor in the salmon canning industry during that era.

Stern’s exposé of the Alaska salmon canning industry was the most sensational newspaper assignment of the time. More real than fiction, Stern’s adventure abroad a “Hell Ship” to Alaska was filled with suspense and drama. It was deep dive into the underworld of the Alaska salmon canning trade, populated by greedy owners, corrupt contractors, and a Chinese Gang of many tongues, races and nationalities. These desperate men in the Chinese Gang were pressed into service and had to face “Man’s inhumanity to man.” It is a remarkable piece of journalism, literature, and history of the American West. The book comes with an in-depth introduction by Katherine J. Ringsmuth, Alaska State Historian.

The Chiao brothers spent two years compiling the articles checking faded facsimiles against fragile original newsprints, making corrections and converting them to digital format. They conducted extensive research that appears as informational footnotes, maps, appendices, photographs, glossaries and Stern’s biography in the book. The book represents one of few first person accounts of the life story of migrant cannery workers in the west coast salmon canning industry in the 1920’s.

Speaker Bios:

James Chiao is an Electrical Engineer by profession. He received a BSEE from University of Washington and a MSEE from CWRU. He retired 4 years ago from a life long career in electrical engineering. He is currently a member of FCSN’s board of directors, and a member of Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP)’s advisory board. He and his wife are residents of Fremont.

Philip C. Chiao is an Architect by profession. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from University of Washington, and a Master of Architecture degree from University of Illinois. He retired from his life long professional career in architecture in 2016. He is currently a member of the Design Review Commission for the City of Pasadena. He and his wife are residents of Pasadena.

Since retirement, the Chiao brothers have devoted their spare time to the promotion of the history of the Chinese Americans in the salmon canning industry. They have a website showcasing stories of Chinese workers, contractors and related historical topics. They published The Price of Salmon, originally by Max Stern, in 2022.

Kristin Wong is a clinical pharmacist at Kaiser Permanente and is a certified Lifestyle Medicine practitioner from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University. She attended Touro University in California for her doctorate in pharmacy and received degrees in Merchandising Management from Oregon State University and General Science from Portland State University.

Labor History Talk: Jim and Philip Chiao in conversation with Kristen Wong