PORT TOWNSEND — The Jefferson County Historical Society will host another look into Port Townsend’s past this Friday evening with Valerie Soe, a San Francisco State University professor, and her short film “The Chinese Gardens.”

Admission is by donation to this live-streamed program, part of the society’s First Friday Speaker Series online at 7 p.m.

In addition to watching live, registered attendees will be sent a recording of Soe’s presentation.

To sign up to see the presentation, visit JCHSmuseum.org, and use the Education and Programs menu to find the First Friday Speaker Series.

Curious discovery

Soe, an internationally recognized filmmaker, was an artist in residence at Centrum when she happened to come across a plaque marking the place where the Chinese Gardens once were.

“I got curious,” she said, so she went to the historical society research center. Soe then learned about Port Townsend’s sizable Chinese community of the late 1800s, along with the Chinatown downtown.

By the time Soe did her Centrum residency, there were three Chinese restaurants, but little visible evidence of the workers and families who had come to the tip of the Quimper Peninsula a century ago.

In her 17-minute documentary, Soe delves into what happened to those immigrants.

After showing the film to viewers Friday night, she’ll start a discussion and invite audience questions.

Soe, 60, also will discuss other film projects, such as her documentary about the Auntie Sewing Squad.

She was part of this group of San Francisco Bay Area volunteers, primarily women of color, who made thousands of protective masks at the start of the pandemic.

Already a participant and prize winner at film festivals — including Port Townsend’s —Soe has also released a feature documentary, “Love Boat: Taiwan” in 2019.

That film played to festival audiences across North America as well as in Taiwan.

The Jefferson County Historical Society presents speakers every first Friday of the month, usually online.

It also operates the Jefferson Museum of Art & History, in the old City Hall building at 540 Water St. After weeks of remodeling, the museum will reopen its doors with new exhibitions on March 10.

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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.