Abstract Blanche Leung, M.D., was born on April 16, 1970 in Queens, New York to immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Canton, China. She sits down to recount the immigration story of her parents, from when they left China as young children following the Communist changeover to their time in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and the United States, where they ultimately settled in 1969. Her father was a pharmacist and her mother was a hematology lab manager. She talks extensively about the family pharmacy...

Abstract MOCA sits down with Carol Xie to discuss her experience volunteering at her family’s restaurant, Purple Dot, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Carol explains how she has been managing the restaurant’s social media presence while also working a separate job. She also talks about her family’s history and roots in China up until her father bought the restaurant. She discusses growing up adjacent to the Chinatown where Purple Dot is located as well as the importance of the area to her childhood....

Abstract This interview with Dr. Paul Chu (b. 1925) was conducted by an NYU graduate student who was working with the Chinatown History Project (now MOCA) to collect stories for a workshop on earlier generations of Italian American and Chinese American students at PS 23 (Public School 23). Paul, a dentist and longtime resident of Chinatown, grew up in Oakland’s Chinatown and moved to New York in the 1930s with his parents at the age of 8 or 9. His grandfather, a merchant in San Francisco, was the...

Abstract In this interview, Dr. Sun-Hoo Foo discusses his profession as a doctor in Chinatown as well as his personal family background. Dr. Sun-Hoo Foo talks about his cultural roots, his training, his specialty as the director of neurology, and the aftermath of 9/11 and how 9/11 impacted his patients. Dr. Sun-Hoo Foo He mentions how there are multiple outreach organizations throughout America and Canada that help Chinese immigrants who are sick. He mentions the differences between Western and...

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In this interview, May Ling discusses her life as a Chinese immigrant in Brooklyn, New York. Ling talks about her personal life, family, job, 9/11, Chinatown, New York City, and cultural barriers that she faced when coming to America. She talks about her Chinese and American identity as well as her occupation as a teacher.

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In this interview, Winifred Chin discusses the garment industry in New York Chinatown before and after 9/11. Chin talks about Chinatown and how it has developed over the years. Chin’s mother worked in the garment industry in the 1950s. Back then, the garment industry was flourishing. However, Chin talks about how the garment industry has declined due to clothes being manufactured overseas.

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Doug Ng discusses his personal upbringing in Brooklyn, New York and the journey of his parents to America in the early to mid-twentieth century. Ng talks about how his parents met and the tumultuous relationship his mother had with her first husband, as well as her battle with cancer, which she unfortunately lost. Doug’s father was not only a hard worker at a garment factory but also a dedicated family man and husband.