In the ’60s and ’70s, Chinese movie theaters were prevalent in Manhattan’s Chinatown, usually serving as places for members of the community to gather and reclaim a sense of home by watching films in their mother tongue. But with the rise of technology and the ability to watch films and television at home, the theaters saw a sharp decline in the late ’80s and early ’90s. In 1993, Sun Sing Theater, located on East Broadway, shuttered and remained unoccupied for a time.

In 1996, our staff at MOCA was notified that the East Broadway location had a new tenant and was thus allowed by the city to go in for a short period of time to salvage some materials for our collection. It was during this operation that the museum was able to build our Sun Sing Theater collection, which consists of movie posters, theater staff photographs, account books, theater newsletters, etc.

在60至70年代期间，中国影院在曼哈顿的唐人街生意兴旺，成为了社区成员一起享受中文母语影片而想念家乡的聚会场所。但随着新技术的兴起，在家中观看影视节目越来越容易，在80年代后期及90年代早期的时候，导致了影院生意的直线下降。1993年，位于东百老汇大街上的新声戏院停业并空置了一段时间。

1996年，美国华人博物馆得知新声戏院位于东百老汇大街的地址将有新承租户，于是从市政府得到了允许在短时间内进入戏院收集文物。正是在这一行动中，博物馆才得以建立“新声戏院馆藏”，其中包括电影海报、剧院工作人员照片、账簿、剧院新闻通讯等。

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