Book excerpt: Introduction: Defining the Asian American heartland and its significance -- Transnational migration and businesses in Chinese Chicago, 1870s-1930s -- Building "hop alley" : myth and reality of Chinatown in St. Louis, 1860s-1930s -- Intellectual tradition of heartland : Chicago School and beyond -- Family and marriage in heartland, 1880s-1940s -- Living heartland : 1860s-1950s -- Governing heartland : on Leong Chinese Merchants and Laborers Association, 1906-1966 -- The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act and the formation of cultural community in St. Louis -- The tripartite community in Chicago -- Conclusion: Convergences and divergences.