AUGUSTA, Ga. - AUGUSTA, Ga. (WFXG) - This month the state of Georgia will recognize the state's oldest Chinese organization, which was started right here in the CSRA. 

It was 96 years ago, in 1927, when 59 Chinese men signed a petition to charter the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Augusta.

Now, after decades of community service, and being a vital part of the cultural experience of Augusta, the Georgia Historical Society is planning to honor the CCBA with an historical marker on May 19th.

CCBA President Gary Tom reflected on the event this way. "We're coming up on one hundred years. and we felt this monument will be a legacy to those early families who came to Augusta. And they were really strangers in a strange land. They raised their families, became part of the community and they contributed to the rich cultural history of the community."

In 1873, the first Chinese arrived in the city to work on the Augusta Canal Expansion Project. By the middle of the 20th century, the Chinese community was thriving and intertwined with Augusta's African-American community.

Tom told us, "Most of those families, up to the 1950s, had operated Chinese grocery stores in the African-American communities of the city. And so, we have a proud historical connection to the African-American community here in Augusta.

Through the years, the CCBA has been visible during Augusta's high profile events like Arts In The Heart and the Goodwill Boat Races.

 

CCBA at Arts in the Heart
CCBA at Arts in the Heart CCBA

The group has produced a number of successful professionals, including a Georgia Supreme Court Justice!

Tom said, "We had Carla Wong McMillian who is the first Asian Supreme Court Justice of a state, the state of Georgia. Or, in the south really, whose family was a part of the community."

 

 

Carla Wong McMillian Georgia Supreme Court Justice
Carla Wong McMillian Georgia Supreme Court Justice Georgia Supreme Court

 

 

With nearly 100 years of service under its belt, what's next for the CCBA, during the next 100 years?

Tom smiled when he told us, "We hope that we will be a community that will continue to honor those early families and we just hope to teach and learn."

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