Scope and Contents The materials in this collection consist entirely of paper documents donated by a social worker in the mid 1990s. These materials include academic papers and reports; brochures, pamphlets, and mailings; newsletters; newspaper and magazine clippings; and full issues of magazines and journals. Most of the materials date from the early 1970s-mid 1980s, although there are a few items from the mid 1960s. The majority of the items relate to physical and mental health issues in the Asian American...

Abstract Cambao de Duong is a Chinese-Vietnamese immigrant born in Saigon, South Vietnam to Chinese parents. Cambao grew up in a multicultural environment and learned to speak Chao Chow, Vietnamese, Cantonese, and Mandarin. He would receive a high level of education in Vietnam, and inspired by one of his principals, became an educator. De Duong would teach at the college level until he received an officer commission in the South Vietnam army. Given his previous service in the South Vietnamese...

Abstract Chris Chan is a Chinese immigrant who works for the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA). Born in China, Chris moved to Macau at two years of age following the Communist takeover of China. During his young adult years, he worked as a construction laborer in Hong Kong during the 1970s and 80s construction boom before being sponsored by his sister to immigrate to the United States in 1984. Chris describes the various construction and labor jobs he took on in the early years, the differences...

Abstract During the interview, David Chen discusses his experience as a Chinese American activist and director of the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), and his theory of activism. When Chen was younger, he rarely spoke. He would always wait for someone else to say the right thing, to which he would then agree. One time, as a younger student, he was forced to present a project because two of his partners did not show up. One of his classmates expressed how well-spoken he was and at that moment,...

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...

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...

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...

Abstract Joseph Wah Chu is a Chinese immigrant from Toishan County, Guangdong Province, China born in 1933. He grew up in Guangzhou and Hong Kong before eventually moving to the United States in 1965. In the United States, he worked in different cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City as a waiter and office worker. Joseph would eventually settle in New York City’s Chinatown, citing better job opportunities and existing friendships in NYC. In 1978, Joseph started working at the New...

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...

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...