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"Who Killed Vincent Chin?" collection

 Collection
Identifier: 1992.005

Scope and Contents

The materials in this collection consist of donations from Renee Tajima-Peña, which include transcripts of interviews and trials; court documents; clippings from newspapers, journals, and magazines; research and production notes; and video cassettes of footage used in the documentary film. Donations from the film department at New York University include film reels of different versions of the documentary, audio recordings, and related invoices.

Dates

  • 1980s

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is unrestricted.

Conditions Governing Use

For reference use only; not for reproduction, distribution, or deposit in another collection. Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Director of Collections. If publishing, cite: "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" Collection, Museum of Chinese in America.

Biographical / Historical

Vincent Chin, a Chinese American engineer, was murdered by white autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park, Michigan, in June 1982. Ebens had been laid off from his auto industry job during a time when Japanese automakers were taking an increasing share of the market, leading to allegations that the crime was racially motivated. Lenient sentencing for the two men resulted in a public outcry from the Asian American community, who charged them in a federal civil rights case. Renee Tajima-Peña and Christine Choy's documentary, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?", recounts the murder and its aftermath, the Detroit auto industry, the American justice system, and the Asian American community.

Extent

20 Linear Feet (12 archival boxes and 12 oversize objects) : 12 linear feet of audio recordings; magazines and journals; newspapers; paper documents; and videocassettes. The oversize objects consist of 13 film reels.

12 box (1: Transcripts of interviews 2: Transcripts of trials and documents related to court hearings 3: Clippings from newspapers, journals, and magazines 4: Research and production documents 5-11: Videocassettes 12: Audio recording tapes and related invoices)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Arranged into 2 series: [1] Audio-visual materials and [2] Paper documents

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection consists of two separate donations, one directly from Renee Tajima-Peña and one from the film department at New York University, which includes the materials from Christina Choy.

General

This finding aid was created with grant support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Processing Information

The arrangement of paper documents into folders, as well as the order of video cassettes, were maintained as they were originally donated, reflecting the way in which the archive was maintained by Renee Tajima-Peña.

Title
"Who Killed Vincent Chin?" collection
Author
Christine Shang-Oak Lee
Date
November 6, 2015
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Museum of Chinese in America Repository

Contact:
70 Mulberry Street,2nd floor
New York NY 10013 USA