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Showing Records: 1 - 10 of 10

Oral History Interview with David Chen, Part 2, 2004-07-13

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Identifier: 2014.036.015
Abstract In this interview, David Chen discusses his work at Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) as an activist in New York City's Chinatown. Chen is the director of CPC, a private organization started in 1965 serving the public and focusing on low-income immigrant families, mostly Chinese. Services offered include language classes, translations, daycare centers, job training for adults, senior citizen care, childcare, and Meals on Wheels. Prior to his work at CPC, Chen worked for the mayor in...
Dates: 2004-07-13

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 Jami Gong, 2004-04-26

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Identifier: 2014.036.004
Abstract Jami (Jameson) Gong is a Chinese American comedian and local Chinatown resident. Born August 23, 1969 in New York City, Jami is the son of immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Southern China. His parents immigrated to the United States in 1967 with a desire for better opportunities and a better life for their children. He reminisces about his time growing up and living in Chinatown, the pollution problem, the changing demographics over time, and the education he and his siblings received....
Dates: 2004-04-26

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 Mirian Yau Oyola, 2003-10-17

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Identifier: 2014.036.011
Abstract In this interview, Mirian Yau Oyola recounts her family’s migration from Guangdong, China to Panama and reminisces about her childhood growing up on a ranch and in a large Asian community in Panama. She chronicles her family’s eventual move to New York City, familial dynamics within a mixed family, the difficulties of cultural assimilation into American life with a Chinese stepmother, and the stark contrasts between life in Panama and America. Growing up in Brooklyn, she recalls how her...
Dates: 2003-10-17

Oral History Interview with Selina Chan, 2003-12-15

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Identifier: 2014.036.012
Abstract Selina Chan is a nurse working at St. Vincent Hospital's Chinatown Clinic. She discusses her work in the clinic taking care of the Chinatown population, covering topics such as low-income patient care and how, as a Catholic charity, they often try to cover the majority of the costs for patients without insurance. Salina also describes the demographics of the immigrant population living in Chinatown who come for care at the clinic and notes a gradual shift from Cantonese speakers to majority...
Dates: 2003-12-15

Oral History Interview with Tony Wong, 2004-04-01

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Identifier: 2014.036.013
Abstract Tony Wong, General Manager at Sino Television, was born and raised in Hong Kong. He immigrated to the United States to study broadcasting at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Tony recalls his initial struggles as a student coming from a poor economic background and how he eventually moved to New York City, receiving a job offer at NBC right after graduation. During his time at NBC and in Sino TV as a part-timer, Tony would learn a myriad of skills including production, directing,...
Dates: 2004-04-01

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