Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and Chinese American Museum
As part of our ongoing effort to build strong partnerships in the Southern California region, we (Christina Woo, Linda Vo, and I) visited the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and the Chinese American Museum, both located in Chinatown, LA.
During our meeting with Eugene Moy, who is involved with both CHSSC and CAM, we were given an overview of their efforts to preserve Chinese American stories through oral history collaborations with UCLA in the late 1970s and ongoing projects that feature profiles of Chinese Americans in the region.
CHSSC has collected over 160 oral histories and many more profiles which they have turned into documentaries, coffee table books, and other publications. As we consider the longe-range goals of our project and what its outcomes should be, we are exploring what other well-established organizations have done in order to learn from their successes and challenges.
During this visit, Eugene also set up an informal tour of the CAM for us, which is located in the old Chinatown, before its displacement by Union Station. Michael Truong, CAM Education Programs Manager, explained some of the behind-the-scenes work that went into curating the beautiful exhibitions at CAM. My favorite was the artwork on the second floor. This tour helped us see the possibilities of where our archival collection could go. A significant aspect of establishing this collection of Vietnamese American oral histories includes collecting photographs, documents, and other ephemera that narrators may wish to donate along with their stories. Once we have enough materials, a place like CAM may wish to house an exhibition about Vietnamese Americans.
A significant number of Vietnamese Americans in Southern California are Chinese-Vietnamese, multiply displaced by forces of migration and war over several generations. Some are embedded within Vietnamese America, speak Vietnamese and “blend” in with other Vietnamese Americans. Others retain a strong sense of Chinese ethnicity, language, and culture. The choices that families make about ethnic retention within Vietnamese America can help us nuance our collective ideas about the diversity in our community. I am eager to forge collaborations and friendships with CHSSC and CAM in order to build the project’s scope and increase its value to others within and beyond Vietnamese America.