EPISODE #2:
Land of Opportunities
Land of Opportunities
Entrepreneurial ambition inspired both Norman Assing and Louis Pio to immigrate to the United States. In Gold Rush San Francisco, Norman Assing developed trade and services businesses and became a leader for the developing Chinese American community. Like many other Danish immigrants, Louis Pio was drawn by the Homestead Act to claim land and develop farming communities in Kansas and Florida. Their stories capture the magnetism of the United States in attracting individuals with charisma and vision to pursue its abundant opportunities.
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Chinese miners on their travels. Stereograph by Thomas Houseworth & Co., 1867. Courtesy of the California State Library.
The "Heathen Chinee" prospecting. Stereograph by Muybridge, Eadweard, 1830-1904, 1856. Courtesy of the California State Library.
Chinese merchants, undated. Courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Chinese restaurant on Dupont St., S.F. Cal. Photograph by Behrman, Martin 1862-1945, ca. 1870. Courtesy of the San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Photograph of Louis Pio, ca. 1875. Courtesy of the Royal Library of Denmark. Provided by Anders Bo Rasmussen.
Danish homesteaders, ca. 1880s. Provided by Anders Bo Rasmussen.