Chinese American Museum of Chicago, Illinois

What is Chinese American Museum of Chicago?

Often called CAMOC, the museum uses exhibitions, education and research to help people appreciate Chinese American culture. Its mission looks in three directions: preserving the past, recording the present and supporting the future of Chinese American communities, mainly across the American Midwest.

Its building is named the Raymond B. and Jean T. Lee Center. A nonprofit body, the Chinatown Museum Foundation, oversees it through its board of directors. It is a small, community-rooted museum rather than a large institution, which gives a visit a personal feel.

History of Chinese American Museum of Chicago

The museum opened to the public in 2005. Just three years later, in 2008, a fire caused serious damage to the building. The museum rebuilt, and in 2010 it welcomed visitors back to its renovated home in the Lee Center, where it continues its work today. The damage and the rebuilding are now part of the museum's own history, one more chapter in the Chinatown story it sets out to record.

Visiting Chinese American Museum of Chicago: tips

The museum is listed as wheelchair accessible. An hour is usually enough to see the exhibits, and the surrounding Chinatown streets are easy to add on foot. Food and a hotel are both within about 0.1 mile.

For more history, the Field Museum of Natural History is about 1.3 miles away, Hull House about 1.6 miles and the Museum of Contemporary Photography about 1.7 miles. Together with Hull House and the National Museum of Mexican Art, it helps tell the story of the immigrant communities that shaped Chicago.