July 21st, 2026

Members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance came together once again for another meeting of our recurring Archives Crawl program. We are grateful to CCA Core Member, Chinese American Museum of Chicago, for hosting the latest Archives Crawl today.

We are especially grateful to Riley Ren, Curator of Collections – Education Lead, for leading us through the museum and repository. Our day began with a brief history of the Chinese American Museum of Chicago (CAMOC) followed by a look at the current first-floor exhibit, “Ruyell Ho and Li Lin Lee: Language of Abstraction”. From there, we learned more about the curation of the second-floor exhibit “All My Love: Bernie and Albert’s Love in Letters.” A true highlight of the day followed with a visit to the third-floor archives where our group viewed many community-donated artifacts.

The collection includes an assortment of traditional dresses, mahjong sets, ink stamps, drums, and other items. A rich conversation followed with attendees asking how the cataloging system was developed and learning about the museum’s approach to exhibit design. The day concluded with a visit to the fourth-floor library where we heard from CAMOC intern Julie Shim, who shared her research on a Dr. Margaret Lin, a prominent figure in the Chinese American community.