Barrack Poetry
The former immigration station on Angel Island was scheduled to be demolished in 1970 until Alexander Weiss, a California State Park Ranger, discovered bits of Chinese writing carved into the barrack walls beneath pealing paint. These carvings turned out to be poetry carved into the walls by immigrants detained at Angel Island. The poems were predominately written in Chinese (primarily Cantonese and Toisanese dialects), but were also found in several other languages. The poems often tell stories about dealing with the hardships of migrating so far from home as well as the difficult conditions of detention while awaiting the government's decision of whether they would be admitted or deported. Weiss' chance discovery led to a long struggle which ultimately saved the Immigration Station and the stories hidden within it, thus, preventing its important role in American history from being buried.