Founded in 1912, Stockton Sikh Gurdwara is the first Sikh Gurdwara built in the United States. The Sikhs who called it home are one of the oldest communities of South Asians and the Gurdwara quickly became a hub for South Asian émigré from all backgrounds.
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Stockton Gurdwara is home to:
- The Gadar Party. Decades before Gandhi, Stockton Gurdwara’s founders created the Gadar Party. Publishing a Punjabi newspaper with a hand-cranked printing press and traveling to India to organize India’s independence struggle, the Gadarites left a living legacy at Stockton Gurdwara.
- Founders Baba Jawala Singh and Baba Waskaha Singh. The two Babas built Stockton Sikh Gurdwara in 1912. Farmers of California’s fertile Central Valley, they also cultivated the largest émigré opposition to British rule of India. Both traveled to India to lead India’s independence movement. Wasakha Singh was impoverished by British occupiers, who stole his land and sentenced him to life imprisonment for his role in the struggle for indepenence.
- Dalip Singh Saund. He first served as Secretary of Stockton Gurdwara, but Dalip Singh Saund was also the first Sikh, first Asian and first Indian to ever serve in U.S. Congress. He served from 1957 to 1963 as a Democrat representing California’s 29th Congressional District, which then comprised Riverside and Imperial counties.
100 Years of Sikhs in the USA 