Hip Sing Association
The Hip Sing Association (traditional Chinese: 協勝公會; simplified Chinese: 协胜公会; pinyin: Xié Shèng Gōnghuì; Jyutping: Hip3 Sing3 Gung1wui6) formerly known as the Hip Sing Tong (Chinese: 協勝堂; Cantonese Yale: Hip Sing Tong) is a Chinese-American criminal organization based in New York's Chinatown during the early 20th century. They, along with their rivals the Four Brothers and the On Leong Tong, would be involved in the violent Tong wars for control of Chinatown during the early 1900s. During the 1930s and 40s, the Hip Sings were involved in drug trafficking operations with the Kuomintang (KMT) and later the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC).[1] They would later establish chapters in Chinese-American communities throughout the United States in major cities such as Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco (the latter being subject to a major drug raid by authorities in 1996). On July 12, 2012, a major drug raid by authorities took place at the Portland, Oregon, branch.[2]
Branches
The Hip Sing Association has several branches in the United States including in:
- Boise, Idaho - 215 S Capitol Boulevard (defunct)
- Boston, Massachusetts - 162 Lincoln Street
- Chicago, Illinois - 1121 W Argyle Street Google Street View
- Cleveland, Ohio - 4301 Payne Avenue Google Street View
- Denver, Colorado - 238 Broadway (defunct)
- Doraville, Georgia - 5799 New Peachtree Road Google Street View
- Minneapolis, Minnesota - 2633 Nicollet Avenue Google Street View
- New York, New York - 16 Pell Street[3][4] Google Street View
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 938 Race Street Google Street View
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - 529 2nd Avenue Google Street View
- Portland, Oregon - 211 NW 3rd Avenue[2] Google Street View
- San Antonio, Texas - 1723 Bandera Road Google Street View
- San Francisco, California - 761 Clay Street Google Street View
- Seattle, Washington - 420 8th Avenue S Google Street View
- Silver Spring, Maryland - 12705 New Hampshire Avenue Google Street View
Further reading
- Bonner, Arthur. Alas! What Brought Thee Hither?: The Chinese in New York 1800-1950. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8386-3704-3
- MacIllwain, Jeffrey Scott. Organizing Crime in Chinatown: race and racketeering in New York City, 1890-1910. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2004. ISBN 0-7864-1626-2
- Scott, Peter Dale. Drugs, Oil, and War: the United States in Afghanistan, Colombia, and Indochina. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003. ISBN 0-7425-2522-8
