Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Collection 左图：MOCA位于茂比利街70号馆址 右图：MOCA位于中央街215号馆址 林璎工作室拍摄
美国华人博物馆（MOCA）馆藏档案
The Museum of Chinese in America was founded in 1980 by John Kuo Wei Tchen and Charlie Lai (both formerly of Basement Workshop). The organization was originally called the New York Chinatown History Project but has seen several name changes through the years before settling on its current name in 2007.
In the late 1970s Manhattan’s Chinatown was undergoing a radical change as long term leases expired and Chinese laundries shuttered their doors. As residents left and stores closed all of their materials ended up in the garbage; valuable stories lost to time. Tchen and Lai saw the need to collect and preserve these stories, which is what led to the creation of the History Project. The History project was located on East Broadway before moving to 70 Mulberry Street in 1984.
That same year we moved into our home at 70 Mulberry Street we put together our first exhibition Eight Pound Livelihood. The exhibition documented the lives of Chinese laundrymen in New York and was displayed at the New York Public Library on 42nd street. Ever since then MOCA has continued to put out shows that illuminate the Chinese American experience. In 2009 having outgrown the space at 70 Mulberry Street, we moved to 215 Centre Street, which was completely redesigned for us by renowned architect and artist Maya Lin.
美国华人博物馆成立于1980年，由陈国维（John Kuo Wei Tchen）和黎重旺（Charlie Lai）创办（这两位均是前地下室工作坊的成员）。机构最初叫作“纽约唐人街历史项目”，在经过数次更名后，于2007年确定了现在的名字。
在上世纪70年代后期，曼哈顿唐人街经历了一场激烈的剧变。由于长期租约到期，许多华人洗衣房被迫关店歇业。居民逐渐离开，商店纷纷关门，所有他们的生活物料都被扔进了垃圾堆里，宝贵的故事被时间遗忘。陈先生和黎先生意识到了收集和保存这些故事的必要性，于是“纽约唐人街历史项目”就此诞生了。在1984年搬到茂比利街70号之前，该项目位于东百老汇大道。
在搬进茂比利街70号的同一年，该项目策划展出了第一个展览《八磅生涯》。这个展览记录了纽约华人洗衣工的艰辛生活，并在42街的纽约公共图书馆展出。从此之后，MOCA持续推出有关美国华人经历的展览。2009年MOCA扩大，在中央街215号开幕新馆址，由著名华裔建筑师林璎设计。
Countdown to the TCS NYC Marathon on November 3, 2019: 216 Days.
2019年是美国第一条横贯大陆铁路建成150周年，为了纪念第一批华人来美建设这条铁路所做出的巨大贡献， MOCA将其2019 TCS NYC Marathon的活动命名为 MOCA Spike 150 – Running Forward With Our Stories！ 鼓励大家通过马拉松公益跑，全国线上接力，以及一天一个故事的方式讲述150个华人的历史故事，敬请大家持续关注， 讲出华人自己的故事，回顾过去，立足现在，展望未来，共同书写美国历史，使之更加充实完整。