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...

Abstract In this interview, Paul Mak discusses his personal assimilation into mainstream American culture. He details his career as a civil servant serving the Chinese community of Eighth Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park; helping educate new immigrants assimilate by teaching them American customs, smoothing out relationships with neighboring ethnic groups (particularly the Latino community), and working to develop Brooklyn Chinatown by facilitating the migration of garment factories...

Abstract In this interview, Po Yee Ung discusses her external world. She recounts her professional life: a Hong Kong career in business, and a New York City career in journalism. Ung evaluates Eighth Avenue potential as a business and cultural center for Chinese immigrants in Brooklyn, and its deficiencies as a community resource. Ung recounts instances of petty neighborhood crime. She describes the neighborhood aesthetic and real estate conditions. She talks about her affinity for Spanish-speaking...

Abstract In this interview Reverend Fook "Samuel" Wong discusses his life as an evangelical Baptist preacher in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He talks about the innermost lives of the immigrant Chinese community he works with daily, detailing their "stages of immigration," as they assimilate to American culture. He details the domestic and financial challenges faced by overworked immigrants. Wong speaks on other issues, including corrupted youth, Chinese gang-related activities, the...

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,...

Abstract In this interview, Yu Rong Zhu discusses his first sixty years of life, in which he witnessed the Japanese Invasion, the Chinese Civil War, and the Cultural Revolution. He reflects on the decision to move to America, his first two years in San Francisco, and his subsequent move to Brooklyn Chinatown (or the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn). Zhu compares the lifestyle, living conditions, and apartment rental situation in the Chinatown communities of Brooklyn and Manhattan. He considers...

Scope and Contents

244 photographs scanned at 600dpi from one of the donor's albums labeled "Mae 1943-47" and "Mae and Ho 1946-49"

Scope and Contents

81 handwritten letters and one card from Hsio Ho Chao to his wife Mae Eng Chao, 1951-1952 81 handwritten letters and 1 greeting card.

Abstract

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.