South Bay Taiwanese Association of N. California (北加州)
Identity Snapshot
- English: South Bay Taiwanese Association of N. California
- Chinese: 北加州
- Era: Contemporary
- Geography: Taiwanese American community
- Core roles: Community organization (TAH directory)
The South Bay Taiwanese Association of N. California (北加州 南灣台灣同鄉會) is a regional chapter of the Taiwanese Association of America (TAA, 全美台灣同鄉會), the national umbrella organization for Taiwanese American community associations in the United States. The chapter serves the Taiwanese American community in the South Bay area of Northern California, centered on the Silicon Valley and Santa Clara County region near San Jose. As a TAA chapter, it operates within the national TAA network to support community connection, cultural preservation, and civic engagement among Taiwanese Americans in its local area.
Role in the Community
- 1971 — Founded as 北加州南灣台灣同鄉會, the first-era regional 同鄉會 of the Taiwanese community concentrated around San Jose/South Bay; the founding president was 謝鐐暲, then employed at IBM (per 何義麟’s Bay Area community-history study, band A: [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-357|Our Journeys #357, 2020-08]]; the same dating appears in the timeline of [[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/ourjourneys106|Our Journeys #106]]).
- 1973-09-22 — The South Bay association was one of the four founding 同鄉會 (with 東南灣, 東灣, and 舊金山) that joined with two Taiwanese Christian fellowships and 台灣協志會 to create the 北加州臺灣同鄉組織聯合會, the Bay Area umbrella body ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-357|Our Journeys #357]]).
- 1993–1995 — Chapter published its own print record: the 1993年刊 ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/585-e5-8c-97-e5-8a-a0-e5-b7-9e-e5-8d-97-e7-81-a3-e5-8f-b0-e7-81-a3-e5-90-8c-e9-8|TAH #585, 1993年刊]]) and the 1994會員名錄 ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/11851|TAH #586, 1994會員名錄]]) — evidence of an established, documented membership by the mid-1990s; further print records in the same TAH series: the 1991鄉訊 ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/356-e5-8c-97-e5-8a-a0-e5-b7-9e-e5-8d-97-e7-81-a3-e5-8f-b0-e7-81-a3-e5-90-8c-e9-8|TAH #356, 1991鄉訊]]) and the 2007–2008年會 record ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/588-e5-8c-97-e5-8a-a0-e5-b7-9e-e5-8d-97-e7-81-a3-e5-8f-b0-e7-81-a3-e5-90-8c-e9-8|TAH #588, 2007–2008年會]]).
- 1970s — Of the Bay Area umbrella 北加州臺灣同鄉組織聯合會’s ten voting seats, the 南灣同鄉會 held one (Our Journeys 142); the chapter was the union’s powerhouse — of the first thirty 聯合會會長s, sixteen came from 南灣同鄉會, and from the 2nd term (彭兩泉) the union’s center of gravity shifted south on the back of 協志會 and 南灣同鄉會 (Our Journeys 38).
- 1976-02-14 — The 蓬萊歌劇團 (founded 1975 by 陳文雄 and 黃介山) gave its first-ever performance, the cross-dressing farce 「相親記」, at the 南灣同鄉會年會 — the start of its run as the 春節晚會壓軸 tradition (Our Journeys 38).
- 1976 — In the 「台灣政論」復刊 campaign, twelve 同鄉 including founding president 謝鐐暲 went to the San Francisco consulate to press Consul-General 李裕生, who then spoke at a 協志會座談會 on the suspension and the 白雅燦事件 — the first such encounter between a Consul-General and 100+ 台灣同鄉 (Our Journeys 38).
- 1978 — Within the 聯合會 leadership crisis before 美麗島事件, no 南灣 member would take the union’s 正/副会长 slot, forcing the incumbent to stay on — a sign of how central 南灣 people were to the umbrella body (Our Journeys 38).
- Church pipeline — As Silicon Valley tech immigration grew, the South Bay’s 迦南台灣基督教會 and 聖荷西台美基督長老教會 kept growing, continuing the church→同鄉會 pipeline documented for the Bay Area ([[works/taiwaneseamericanhistory-org/our-journeys-350|Our Journeys #350]]).
- 2014 / 2019 — Chapter activity profiled in the TAH story corpus (TAH story, 2014-10-12; TAH story, 2019-02-21; TAH eNews, 2019-03-15); its 東南灣 sibling chapter is recorded at TAH SEBTA record, 2014-10-12.