MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum

Chinese Museum

About the MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum

Against the backdrop of a rapidly disappearing society and culture, the museum promotes local heritage preservation by actively collecting oral histories, memorabilia, photographs and textile materials related to the history and story of the Mississippi Delta Chinese immigration and settlement. The resources developed from on-going preservation projects will encourage an environment of understanding and appreciation of our ethnic and cultural diversity. The MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum is located in the Charles W. Capps, Jr. Archives & Museum building on the 3rd floor.

Researchers, please email archives@deltastate.edu to contact the University Archives staff. For appointments to view collections, please schedule here.

Upcoming Events

Please save the date to join us for the Bringing Main Street to Wall Street: Margaret Chow Starner program that will take place on Saturday, September 9, 2023, on the Delta State University campus. This exciting event will include a guest performance from the H.T. Chen Dance Center of New York City.

Click the button below to download the registration form for this event.

Registration forms and fees should be submitted to the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum by August 19, 2023.

Download Registration Form

Contribute to the Delta Wok Recipe Preservation Project

CHINESE and the MISSISSIPPI DELTA : DELTA WOK

The history of Chinese culture is rich in the Mississippi delta. From grocery stores to farming the Chinese people are as much a part of the Mississippi delta as the river that waters the fields. Over the years several books have been published on the history of the cultural migration from China. We wish to not replicate what these books have accomplished but to document something else–the food. Over the next year we would like to document through oral histories, film, and still photography the history of the Delta Chinese families through the family recipes and how they changed from one land to the other.

~Easton Selby, project co-coordinator

Email Your Contribution

If you would like to e-mail your recipe in a typed format or if you would like to scan and e-mail your handwritten recipe, please direct correspondence to deltawok@deltastate.edu

Book Cover of The Mississippi Chinese Veterans of WW2

Mississippi Chinese Veterans of World War II: A Delta Tribute

The University Archives & Museum
and The MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum
are proud to introduce our newest publication
by Gwendolyn Gong, John H. Powers and Devereux Gong Powers.

Share Your Story

Are you a veteran with Chinese ancestry and are you from the Mississippi Delta Region? Do you want to share your story? Begin the proces today by filling out the Veteran’s Data Form.

Museum Collections are arranged alphabetically by the donor’s last name.  Please review the list below for those collections which have been processed and are now available for review in the University Archives & Museum’s Reading Room.

The University Archives & Museum has been collecting oral history interviews since the late 1990’s.  Our collections continue to grow thanks in large part to oral history grants awarded by the Mississippi Humanities Council.  We are eager to collect other oral histories.  If you would like to participate in an oral history interview, please contact the University Archives via e-mail (archives@deltastate.edu) or by calling 662.846.4780.

Mississippi Chinese Veterans of World War II: A Delta Tribute

The University Archives & Museum and The MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum are proud to introduce our newest publication Mississippi Chinese Veterans of World War II: A Delta Tribute by Gwendolyn Gong, John H. Powers and Devereux Gong Powers. 

Please join us for a special afternoon reading and program:

8 November 2015 at 3:00pm
Hugh Ellis Walker Alumni House, Simmons Room
1003 W. Sunflower, Cleveland, MS 38733

Samantha Cheng will introduce and provide a sneak preview of her most recent documentary which compliments and expands upon the original work created by Gwen Gong & John Powers and their daughter, Devereux.

A Delta casual BBQ dinner will be served at 5:00pm.
Tickets for the dinner are $15.00 and can be purchased in advance through the University Archives & Museum by calling 662.846.4781.

We hope you will be a part of the exciting projects to document and remember the Mississippi’s Chinese heritage.

Gwen Gong and John Powers will also present their work at the University’s Veteran’s Day program on Wednesday, 11 November at noon following the community Veteran’s Day program held at the Cleveland-Bolivar County Courthouse at 11am. The 11 November program is free and open to the public.

2017 Reunion Schedule MDCHM

MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum 2017 Reunion

Event Flyers

Presenters and Schedule

Special thanks to our volunteer photographers:

  • Corky Lee
  • Harry Gong, Jr.
  • Rory Doyle
  • Wyatt O’Keefe

Please, visit our gallery to view the photographs taken during the reunion.

Re-Entry Mississippi

As our nation celebrated 50 years of space exploration and particularly the lunar landing of Apollo 11, the University Archives & Museum and the MS Delta Chinese Heritage Museum recognized the contributions of Chinese-American Deltans who played key roles in the exploration, discovery and successes of the NASA programs through an exhibition and a series of public programs.

This project was made possible by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program and exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Mississippi Humanities Council.

RE Entry Mississippi Header

50 Years After Apollo

Fifty years after the Apollo 11 mission, we hosted an in-house curated exhibition featuring items loaned to us from the individuals who played key roles in the establishment and development of NASA’s Apollo programs and subsequent STEM related discovery. The event was free and open to the public during regular University hours.

Kids Mini Space Camp

Kids Mini Space Camp was an interactive opportunity for children of parents/guardians attending the public programming on Monday, 8 July. This program was free with the only requirement that a parent or legal guardian also attend the “Re-Entry MS: A Reunion” schedule of events on Monday, 8 July.

RE Entry MS Flyer

Re-Entry MS: A Reunion

This was a schedule of programs hosted on the seventh and eighth of July, 2019 at Delta State University’s Young-Mauldin cafeteria, multi-purpose room. Speakers, presentations, round-table discussions and learning opportunities made up the schedule. It was free and open to the public thanks to the generous support from the MS Humanities Council.

Mailing Address

MDCHM
Attention: C.T. Salazar
1003 W. Sunflower Road
DSU Box 3137
Cleveland, MS 38733

For GPS Mapping

Charles W. Capps, Jr.
Archives & Museum Building,
3rd Floor
Delta State campus

Contributions and Memorials

MDCHM
Attention: C.T. Salazar
1003 W. Sunflower Road
DSU Box 3137
Cleveland, MS 38733