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History

Tue, Feb 04, 2025

Sophie Cornish

Sophie Cornish - Dolkas/Mertz Award Recipient

Qingming Festival and Community Belonging

My name is Sophie Cornish. I am an Aptos High School senior, a Chinese-American, and a lifelong Santa Cruz resident. Growing up, my Chinese heritage was a source of insecurity. My culture was laughed at and ridiculed and I hid it from others. I felt a need to connect with my culture despite these experiences and began learning Mandarin Chinese independently online. After a while, my goal was to use my Chinese language skills in person and in Santa Cruz. This search led me to Rui Li and her Scotts Valley nonprofit.

Through an internship with her, I learned for the first time about the centuries-old presence of the Chinese in Santa Cruz. I learned that the Chinese of Santa Cruz’s past worked in the creeks near where I attended elementary school and where I run daily. This knowledge allowed me to find my place in Santa Cruz. I took great comfort in knowing that I was not alone as Chinese people have been succeeding here for centuries. I also learned about the large festivals that used to take place here during major Chinese holidays, one of which was the Qingming Festival. This festival remains a major holiday in China and involves cleaning the graves of and paying respects to one’s ancestors. You can read more about this festival here. In old Santa Cruz, the entire Chinese community would march together to Evergreen Cemetery to celebrate this tradition.

This history inspired me and it led me to apply for the Dolkas/Mertz Award. The Dolkas/Mertz Award is a competitive research grant awarded by the MAH to projects that promote a greater understanding of local Santa Cruz history.

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I wanted to use the funds to put on my own Qingming Festival event. To apply, I wrote a proposal explaining the importance of highlighting suppressed histories through cultural community festivals. My family and I rarely find any local events during major Chinese festivals yet they were once an integral part of the Santa Cruz community calendar.

Learning about local Chinese history erased the shame I once felt about my heritage when I was younger. I was thrilled to learn that I had won the award as now I could extend the belonging I felt to the current generation of Chinese residents in Santa Cruz. I hope that this event will allow others to gain a clearer picture of the town we know and love, as well as honor the sacrifices of the Chinese pioneers and Evergreen Cemetery for all the important history that it holds.

I hope you will join me on March 29th as we gather to honor and celebrate the Chinese who contributed to the foundation of this city. You can find out event details here.

Sophie Cornish

Dolkas/Mertz Award Recipient

Sophie

Sophie Cornish is an Aptos High School senior, a Chinese-American, a lifelong Santa Cruz resident, and the recipient of the Dolkas/Mertz Award from the History Forum.

Qingming Schedule:
9 am: Gather at MAH 9:30 am: Walk to Chinatown Dragon Archway across the MAH
10 am: Begin walk to Evergreen Cemetery from Archway
10:30 am: Arrive at Evergreen and participate in Qingming activities
11 am: Talk by local historians
11:30 am: Begin gravesite cleaning
12:45 pm-2 pm: Closing remarks, continue to clean gravesites