Abstract Yun Xing Huang was interviewed by MOCA to talk about his immigration and living experiences in New York City’s Chinatown. As a professional singer, Huang owned a nightclub in Fujian before coming to the US during the prevalent immigration wave in China. He worked as a food delivery person before opening a floral shop on his own, singing songs for wedding parties, and acting in films. He praised the brave spirit of Fujianese people but touched upon the geographical discrimination between...

Abstract Ms. Brenda Grosbard and Mr. Roger Yee are grandchildren of Reverend Yeung Kai Cheung, the second pastor of the first Chinese Presbyterian Church in Chinatown, New York City. In this interview, Ms. Grosbard and Mr. Yee provide a detailed description of their family tumultuous history and their grandfather journeys from Vancouver B.C., to Shanghai, before ending up in Chinatown, New York City, where he became a spiritual and cultural leader of the Chinese community in New York. They talk about...

Abstract Both Chester and Michael are extremely active in the Chinatown community. Michael heads the nonprofit group Apex and is a community leader in Chinatown. Chester has also worked with many nonprofits and believes it is important for people to share their gifts and help others. He views giving as a habit formed slowly over time that can have a large impact on various organizations. Michael attributes his inspiration in nonprofit work to witnessing his parents work in the community and his own...

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Ambassador Curtis S. Chin has been in public service for a number of years and comes from a military family. He has served as ambassador of the Asian Development Bank under both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. He spent his formative years in Virginia, Washington and went to Northwestern for under grad and earned a masters of MPPM at Yale School of management. Both his father and mother families come from Toishan, in Southern China.

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Philanthropist Diane Woo talks about her family illustrious history in the Chinese academic world. She goes on to talk about her life in Hong Kong and later her life in the US. She goes on to talk about the differences in Chinese and American culture and how Chinese fraternities helped her when she first came to the US. She concludes by talking about raising her son and her grandson and how life has been different from when she first entered the US.

Abstract This oral history interviewed Fay Chew Matsuda, director of the City Hall Senior Center, a division of the Hamilton-Madison House, and her life story. Fay grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan as the first generation Chinese-American girl born to immigrant parents. Fay would describe herself as a nurturing environment with parents who never pressured her to succeed and instilled in her values of the importance of family and togetherness, and respectation. Fay attended the elite Hunter...

Abstract Dr. Fred Hu is a renowned Chinese economist who obtained his PhD in Economics from Harvard University and now runs Primavera Capital Group, his own capital investment firm. Today, he speaks to us about his childhood in the 1970s during Mao culturally repressive programs of Mao, his ascension to university right after the reopening of the higher education system and studying abroad at Harvard University in the 1980s. He then expands on his career choice in Economics and talks about his time...

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In this interview, Tina and John Yuan share the journey of their families from China to Taiwan, where they were born, to the US, where they met and built their own family. They mention their parents’ experiences in China, their early childhood in Taiwan, culture shocks when migrating to the US during the 1970s, adolescent school years, the encounters of Chinese communities, and fostering their son as a Chinese American.

Abstract Writer Kenneth Hsien-Yung Pai talks about his tumultuous childhood living in China during and after the Second Sino-Japanese war. He was diagnosed with Tuberculosis as a child and it affected his views on the world. He discusses his inspirations to become a writer and talks about writing the biography about his father Bai Chongxi, a Kuomintang general. His travels led him to the US at the age of 25 to pursue his studies and eventually becoming a professor at the University of California...