Abstract In this interview, David Eng and Ming Mui reflect on the rich history and challenges faced by their family business, Fong Inn Too, a retail and wholesale shop specializing in freshly made traditional Taishanese staples. Davids grandfather, a Taishanese native who immigrated from Cuba, founded the shop in 1931 with several partners. Managed later by Davids parents, the shop became known for its unique family recipes, which required extensive preparation and drew a loyal customer base. David...

Abstract Delamot Wah describes her life growing up with her mother in their family hand laundry store in Newark, New Jersey during the 1920s through 1950. Topics covered included Delamot dealing with racism as a mixed-race child, her work in the hand laundry from a very young age, and her family relations, as her mother had children with different partners, resulting in her having different step-siblings. Delamot relates stories of her Chinese stepfather, Charles Chin Wah, and describes how she was...

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 In his youth, Donald Seeto played basketball on the Chinatown teams sponsored by the Chinese Athletic Club (CAC) (after 1946, the Chinese Community Club). Seeto was a member of the Midgets Basketball Team representing Chinatown’s Fifth Precinct, which won the Police Athletic League (PAL) New York City Basketball Championship undefeated for an impressive 25 straight games in 1945. In this oral history, Seeto shares memories of playing and later coaching CCC basketball during the 1940s. He...

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 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 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...