Rediscovering the Chew Family - A Global Legacy

Jessica Chew returns with a captivating follow-up to her first presentation, diving even deeper into the extraordinary global legacy of the Chew family. During a recent journey to their ancestral village in 台山縣 浮石村 Guangdong Province, China, Jessica uncovered a second tomb dedicated to Chew Yuen of Red Bluff and unearthed new evidence of the family’s far-reaching migration history. She’ll share never-before-seen photos and stories from Fow Shek ( 台山縣 浮石村 Floating Stone Village), now a designated historic site by the Chinese government, where centuries-old murals encouraged villagers to seek opportunity abroad.

Jessica will trace the Chew family’s bold journeys from China to Mexico, Burma, and across the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries—all connected to the Bo Do Hong Company, the family’s herbal medicine headquarters, in Red Bluff established circa 1865 with a network serving communities from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Boston. From this small Northern California town, the Chew family built what became the region’s longest-running lineage of Chinese herbal physicians, with the last Chinese building that still stands today.

This story also hits close to home: Jessica is leading efforts to preserve the Chew Yuen Company building in Red Bluff—the birthplace of her grandfather and a key piece of Chinese American history. Through personal discovery, historical storytelling, and community advocacy, this presentation weaves together the family’s rich legacy of resilience, entrepreneurship, and cross-cultural impact. Don’t miss this powerful continuation of a journey that spans continents, centuries, and generations.

About the Speaker:

Jessica Chew is a fifth-generation Chinese American and the proud only grandchild of Joe and Helen Chew. She is deeply committed to preserving the legacy of Chinese American history in Red Bluff, California—the last steamboat stop during the Gold Rush. Jessica holds Master of Science degrees from both New York University and Boston University and currently serves as President of the Helen & Joe Chew Foundation. Her efforts are inspired by the Chew family’s multigenerational dedication to documenting their Chinese American experience.

Jessica’s work is a passionate labor of love. She advocates for historic preservation through initiatives such as naming a street “Historic Chinatown Alley” in 2022, installing educational history markers and murals, and leading local cultural education programs. Her mission centers on reconnecting her community to its ancestral roots through storytelling grounded in the lived experiences of real Chinese American families from the gold rush.