Abstract Cori Xiong and Hen Chan started the Mala Sichuan Bistro restaurant business in Houston, Texas. The two met while studying at University of Texas Austin. Xiong’s father was a food engineer in Sichuan, China and convinced Xiong to start her own family business. With the help of family, Xiong was able to bring authentic Sichuan flavors to the United States. All the chefs that work in her restaurants have studied at a culinary school in Sichuan. Xiong and Chan both believe that regional Chinese...

Abstract Husband and wife Daniel Carter and Marilyn Sontag moved together to Chinatown in 1970, where they continue to live and work today—Carter as a musician and writer and Sontag as an abstract artist and part-time gallery coordinator. In their interview, they describe their meeting in Italy and their decision to subsequently relocate to New York City. The couple illustrates Chinatowns community of artists present during the 70s and 80s, and describes the ways in which that atmosphere has changed....

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 Dirk Westphal is an Ohio-born artist and currently lives with his family in New York City. Here, he discusses moving to New York in the early 1990s after graduating from college. He eventually settled into a commercial loft-style studio on Centre Street, a locale he identifies as a sort of mixed community of industrious artists and manufacturers. Westphal said that much of his art was a personal reaction to his surroundings, the Chinatown community – his fish photographs, for example, were...

Abstract In this oral history Don Kao discusses his life living in Chinatown along with his involvement in Asian American and gay rights activism organizations. Kao first discusses his family background along with the professions his parents had. He compares the different cities he grew up in along with the schools he went to during his childhood. The interview continues as Kao comments on the racism in the community he grew up in along with meeting other Chinese Americans. His experiences during the...

Abstract Doron Wong grew up in Boston, Massachusetts in a Cantonese family. His parents emphasized the importance of understanding one’s heritage. Wong’s interest in cooking started when he took a job as a teenager at a local pizza restaurant. He later went to culinary school and studied with David Burke in New York. Moving forward, Wong worked around the world including cities such as Boston, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He was strongly influenced by CiCi Li, whom he met in Singapore. Wong thinks that...

Abstract Dr Ee Tay sits down with MOCA to discuss her childhood, upbringing, and influences in her personal life that made her decide to choose a career in medicine. She remembers her time spent in hospitals and nursing homes with her mother that influenced her to choose a career in medicine, specifically as a pediatrician. She has helped the underserved and underprivileged elders in her community through her various projects. She helped her hospitals overcome barriers of communication and distance...

Abstract Fani Jacobson was employed for 53 years at the Daily Forward, a Yiddish newspaper, located in a landmark building near Seward Park. Jacobson was also involved in the socialist organization formerly known as the Workmen’s Circle (now called Workmen’s Circle Arbeter Ring). She describes the Lower East Side as a mixed neighborhood comprised of mainly Italian and Jewish sections. She particularly enjoyed the intimate shopping experience and going to the Garden Cafeteria nearly every day for...

Abstract Father Raymond Nobiletti has served as Pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration in Manhattan’s Chinatown since 1991 and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. Previously, he spent 15 years as a missionary priest in Hong Kong, where he had the opportunity to learn the language and be with the people on many levels through their problems and difficulties. Recently celebrating its 175th anniversary, Transfiguration, over the years, has welcomed waves of new immigrants. “We’re known as The...