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Showing Records: 1 - 9 of 9

Oral History Interview with Billy and Duyen Chang, March 4, 2021

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Identifier: 2020.020.034
Abstract Billy and Duyen Chang are originally immigrants from Hong Kong and Vietnam respectively who grew up in the U.S. and now live in the D.C. Metro area. They both faced challenges while assimilating to American life and culture, most notably in learning English, but they were both able to fully adjust to life in the U.S. after their initial transition periods. When their families immigrated to the U.S. (Duyen’s family moved to the suburbs of Chicago, while Billy’s originally moved to Miami) they...
Dates: March 4, 2021

Oral History Interview with Clara Tsu and Cynthia Yee, August 2, 2021

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Identifier: 2021.025.005
Abstract In San Francisco’s Chinatown, Clara Hsu and Cynthia Yee are channeling their passion for the arts to support the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the President of the Clarion Music Centre, Clara teaches music, acting and Chinese poetry while producing plays, directing comedy skits and pursuing her own love for writing. Through her involvement in Chinatown she met Cynthia, a seasoned performer who has travelled the globe and is also the founder of the Grant Avenue Follies, a senior...
Dates: August 2, 2021

Oral History Interview with Henry Ye, 2004-03-11

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Identifier: 2014.036.005
Abstract Henry Ye of True Light Church is the Director of Immigrant Services at New Life Center, a Lutheran social service organization started shortly after 9/11. Henry was born in Canton in 1979 and moved from China in 1982 to live in Panama for a period with his sister and her family. Henry would eventually move to New York City to attend Lower East Side Preparatory High School and CUNY City College to become a psychologist. He began his career as a social worker with the Chinatown YMCA and a case...
Dates: 2004-03-11

Oral History Interview with Jeanie Chin, 2004-05-20

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Identifier: 2014.036.006
Abstract Jeanie Chin has been a resident of Park Row for over twenty years. Her parents were from Toisan, China. Her mother was the main caretaker and a garment factory worker in Chinatown, while her father is a World War 2 veteran who returned to work as laundry worker, restaurant owner and landowner. Jeanie recalls her childhood living in the Bronx and spending time in Chinatown during the sixties and seventies and describes Chinatown as smaller and populated mainly by people from Toisan and...
Dates: 2004-05-20

Oral History Interview with Jeannie Jackson, 2004-07-13

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Identifier: 2014.036.007
Abstract Jeannie Lee Jackson is a Chinese American and native New Yorker. She recounts the origins of her seemingly unusual surname for her ethnicity. She recalls her childhood in Brooklyn, growing up as the only Chinese person in her school, working in the family's laundry business, and the role Manhattan's Chinatown played in her life. As a former member of the Ging Hawk Club, she remembers the social activities she engaged in and how it led to her serendipitous meeting of her husband. Jeannie...
Dates: 2004-07-13

Oral History Interview with Jenny Ye, 2013-03-19

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Identifier: 2013.022.005
Abstract Jenny Ye is a college student at Harvard University and spent her childhood in Chinatown. In this oral history Ye focuses on her childhood and experiences attending public schools in the New York City Chinatown area. She recounts spending time with her family and her cousins and growing up in Chinatown. Ye attended PS 124 and shares her autograph book as she recounts fond memories during elementary school. She also discusses her time in middle and high school with her involvement in CCAV and...
Dates: 2013-03-19

Oral History Interview with Marcella Dear, May 24, 2013

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Identifier: 2013.022.006
Abstract Marcella Dear, a longtime friend of MOCA and a generous donor of over 900 objects, joins us to discuss her exciting life and her memories of Chinatown. Marcella goes into depth about many of the objects she donated, and discusses not only their significance as sentimental objects but also how these objects were used in their original setting, at the Rice Bowl restaurant on Mott Street. Marcella’s father founded the Rice Bowl, and she discusses her childhood growing up in and around the...
Dates: May 24, 2013

Oral History Interview with William Chiu, 2004-03-30

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Identifier: 2014.036.017
Abstract William Chiu, born in 1952, begins this interview recalling his childhood growing up, learning and working in Hong Kong. He talks about his father’s work as a chef and his father’s fateful opportunity to immigrate with his family to the United States. He describes his education and reasoning for desiring to go to the United States. William recounts his first job working as a waiter in training before beginning to work with his father in the restaurant business. He also describes the working...
Dates: 2004-03-30

Oral History Interview with Wing Ma, 2003-11-07

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Identifier: 2014.036.016
Abstract Wing Ma (Ma Wing Guo) was born in China to a poor farming family who moved to Hong Kong as refugees when he was age two. Wing talks about his life growing up in Hong Kong with his mother working in the garment industry and his father working as a chef in Manila. He studied until post-secondary school before moving to the United States to train and work as an engineer. Wing would eventually join the garment industry as a factory owner, and describes the industry’s decline over time due to...
Dates: 2003-11-07