SPECIAL PROJECTS
Interactive Web & DVD
Asian/Pacific American Survey Project website
Asian/Pacific American Survey Project
In May 2008 the A/P/A Institute in collaboration with the Tamiment Library at NYU was awarded a grant from the Metropolitan New York Library Council's Documentary Heritage Program to survey historical records documenting the history of the Asian/Pacific American Community in the New York metropolitan area. From this grant, we were able to appoint two Master's students in the NYU Archives and Public History Program (Hillel Arnold and Y.H. Nancy Ng Tam) and assign our second year Graduate Assistant in A/PA Archives, I-Ting Emily Chu, (funded by a past endowment from the CV Starr Foundation) for year one of the project. The Asian/Pacific American Documentary Heritage Archives Survey is the first systematic attempt to map available and potential Asian/Pacific American archival collections in the New York metropolitan area. The project seeks to address the underrepresentation of East Coast Asian America in historic scholarship and archives by working with community-based organizations and individuals to survey their records and raise awareness within the community about the importance of documenting and preserving their histories. This website, by digitally bringing together descriptions of the often fragmentary and scattered documentary heritage of the New York Asian/Pacific American community, hopes to serve as a central resource for information about these surveyed hidden collections.
A/P/A Institute would like to thank all of the community organizations and individuals who allowed our students to survey their collections this past year. We are happy to announce that the Metropolitan New York Library Council has approved funding for one Master's student to continue the surveying work along with returning archives student, Y.H. Nancy Ng Tam, for the upcoming year. If you are interested in having your historical records surveyed for this project, please email apa.archives@nyu.edu for more information.
In May 2008 the A/P/A Institute in collaboration with the Tamiment Library at NYU was awarded a grant from the Metropolitan New York Library Council's Documentary Heritage Program to survey historical records documenting the history of the Asian/Pacific American Community in the New York metropolitan area. From this grant, we were able to appoint two Master's students in the NYU Archives and Public History Program (Hillel Arnold and Y.H. Nancy Ng Tam) and assign our second year Graduate Assistant in A/PA Archives, I-Ting Emily Chu, (funded by a past endowment from the CV Starr Foundation) for year one of the project. The Asian/Pacific American Documentary Heritage Archives Survey is the first systematic attempt to map available and potential Asian/Pacific American archival collections in the New York metropolitan area. The project seeks to address the underrepresentation of East Coast Asian America in historic scholarship and archives by working with community-based organizations and individuals to survey their records and raise awareness within the community about the importance of documenting and preserving their histories. This website, by digitally bringing together descriptions of the often fragmentary and scattered documentary heritage of the New York Asian/Pacific American community, hopes to serve as a central resource for information about these surveyed hidden collections.
A/P/A Institute would like to thank all of the community organizations and individuals who allowed our students to survey their collections this past year. We are happy to announce that the Metropolitan New York Library Council has approved funding for one Master's student to continue the surveying work along with returning archives student, Y.H. Nancy Ng Tam, for the upcoming year. If you are interested in having your historical records surveyed for this project, please email apa.archives@nyu.edu for more information.
Ground One: Voices of Post-9/11 Chinatown
"Ground One: Voices of Post-911 Chinatown" can make for an engaging and enlightening lesson material in a variety of classrooms from middle schools to universities. Educators can use the DVD (available at A/P/A Institute) to discuss and address the impact of prejudice and unequal access on the lives of ordinary Americans, as part of a unit that explores immigration experiences, as an example of the importance of oral histories, as a resource for lessons on community studies, Asian American and New York City history, current events, or as an approach to understanding the local impact of the 911 attacks. "Ground One" presents the specific experiences of residents in New York's Chinatown that are gateways to larger historical, societal, and human issues important for students to be exposed to.
"Ground One: Voices of Post-911 Chinatown" can make for an engaging and enlightening lesson material in a variety of classrooms from middle schools to universities. Educators can use the DVD (available at A/P/A Institute) to discuss and address the impact of prejudice and unequal access on the lives of ordinary Americans, as part of a unit that explores immigration experiences, as an example of the importance of oral histories, as a resource for lessons on community studies, Asian American and New York City history, current events, or as an approach to understanding the local impact of the 911 attacks. "Ground One" presents the specific experiences of residents in New York's Chinatown that are gateways to larger historical, societal, and human issues important for students to be exposed to.
A Deeper Look at the Hmong Hunter Incident
Casting a critical eye on current affairs, A/P/A Studies at NYU presents a forum that examines the surrounding circumstances of the recent Wisconsin hunter shootings where one hunter killed six others. The lone shooter was Hmong. The victims were white.
No one condones the actions of the shooter, Mr. Chai Soua Vang. At the same time, we firmly believe this case and the tragic murders and wounding deserve serious, fair, and fuller examination. We also believe it important to express national support for the Upper Midwest Hmong community during the difficult months to come. A/P/A Studies' central goal is to promote cross-cultural communication and understanding.
EDUCATIONAL DVD: A program DVD is available at nominal cost. For more information, please call the Institute at (212) 998-3700.
Casting a critical eye on current affairs, A/P/A Studies at NYU presents a forum that examines the surrounding circumstances of the recent Wisconsin hunter shootings where one hunter killed six others. The lone shooter was Hmong. The victims were white.
No one condones the actions of the shooter, Mr. Chai Soua Vang. At the same time, we firmly believe this case and the tragic murders and wounding deserve serious, fair, and fuller examination. We also believe it important to express national support for the Upper Midwest Hmong community during the difficult months to come. A/P/A Studies' central goal is to promote cross-cultural communication and understanding.
EDUCATIONAL DVD: A program DVD is available at nominal cost. For more information, please call the Institute at (212) 998-3700.
Mapping Projects
Chun Kong Chow
Learn about Chun Kong Chow (1892-1984), born in Shan Pui village, Toi San (Tai Shan) district, Quan Dong province, China. Chow migrated with his family to the United States from Australia in 1926. A merchant who operated the New York City branch of Sun Goon Shing Company store at 55 Mott Street for several decades, Chun had a central role in the development of the New York City Chinatown community during the 20th century.
Learn about Chun Kong Chow (1892-1984), born in Shan Pui village, Toi San (Tai Shan) district, Quan Dong province, China. Chow migrated with his family to the United States from Australia in 1926. A merchant who operated the New York City branch of Sun Goon Shing Company store at 55 Mott Street for several decades, Chun had a central role in the development of the New York City Chinatown community during the 20th century.
A Poet and a Laundry Man: Tung Pok Chin
Investigate the life of Tung Pok Chin 1915-1988, who emigrated to the U.S. as a paper son in the summer of 1934, first settling in Boston and then in New York City. He is the author of the memoir "Paper Son, One Man's Story" (Temple University Press, 2000).
Investigate the life of Tung Pok Chin 1915-1988, who emigrated to the U.S. as a paper son in the summer of 1934, first settling in Boston and then in New York City. He is the author of the memoir "Paper Son, One Man's Story" (Temple University Press, 2000).
From Sweatshops to Unions: Wing Fong Chin
This interactive site maps the life of Wing Fong Chin, who arrived in New York City from Hong Kong in 1950 as the wife of Brooklyn laundry worker and poet Tung Pok Chin. Chin found work as a seamstress in a Chinatown garment sweatshop during the fall of 1955. She became an active component of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union ("ILGWU"), which was attempting to unionize the garment shops in Chinatown. In 1965, the ILGWU named Chin to the Executive Board of Local 23-25. Take a look into the life of a woman who navigated and became a key player in the unionization of the garment industry in Chinatown.
This interactive site maps the life of Wing Fong Chin, who arrived in New York City from Hong Kong in 1950 as the wife of Brooklyn laundry worker and poet Tung Pok Chin. Chin found work as a seamstress in a Chinatown garment sweatshop during the fall of 1955. She became an active component of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union ("ILGWU"), which was attempting to unionize the garment shops in Chinatown. In 1965, the ILGWU named Chin to the Executive Board of Local 23-25. Take a look into the life of a woman who navigated and became a key player in the unionization of the garment industry in Chinatown.
Student Work
"Getting In"
GettingIn.com is the work of my terrific Fall '05 students in 'Chinatown' and the American Imagination class at New York University. During Friday morning sessions, we explored the history of New York Chinatown, the ways in which New York Chinese were politically excluded and marginalized from the life of the city and the nation, the impact exclusion and segregation had on the education of Chinese youth, and the impacts on what was (and wasn't) taught in American schools about China and Chinese.
We wanted to move beyond a classroom understanding and examine what the legacy of such policies have been on immigrant Chinese today—many of whom know little if anything about the earlier history. So, students interviewed a range of students and community workers to get their views of issues and needs. Right before Thanksgiving the class decided it wanted to focus on helping young immigrants learn some of the ins and outs of getting into college - what middle class American kids often take for granted. Tapping their own experiences, this website began to take shape.
GettingIn.com is designed with two audiences in mind:
NOW is for immigrant Chinese New Yorker students wanted to learn some tips on getting into college-information useful for non-immigrants and non-Chinese New Yorkers as well!
THEN is for anyone interested in how the past lives in the present - especially teachers, guidance counselors, parents, and anyone who wants to understand more about the Chinese Exclusion Act(s), racial segregation, Chinatown schooling, and resources for curriculum.
Finally, I want to heartfelt thank my class for going above and beyond typically classroom work. You're a great group who worked as team! (Not easy time wise or given the way university life is so atomized and individualistic.)
Best wishes, Jack Tchen
"Independent Projects in the A/P/A Archives"
In January 2008, undergraduate students from Professor Jack Tchen's as well as Professor Sukhdev Sandhu's A/P/A Studies classes expressed interest in continuing their class paper/project research from the previous semester by using the Yoshio Kishi / Irene Yah Ling Sun Collection just acquired by A/P/A Institute and in process at the NYU Fales Library. As a result, a new class was created for the Spring 2008 semester and co-taught by the first two Graduate Assistants in A/PA Archives, Dylan Yeats and I-Ting Emily Chu.
Note: Students enrolled in the course selected an "artifact" from the Collection that reflected their interests, and created a research paper based on that item. At the conclusion of the semester, the students presented their papers in the A/P/A Institute's 7th Floor Gallery in front of family, friends and peers.
Here are their finished papers:
Immigration Policies and the Essentializing of Asian Women (Or How Suzy Wong made it to San Francisco)
By Tara Sarath
Beats of Yellow Peril
By Juliana Son
Honors Thesis
Under Re-Construction: Chinatown's Battles and Government Relief Efforts After 9/11
Janice Chua, A/P/A Studies Major Honors Thesis 2008
GettingIn.com is the work of my terrific Fall '05 students in 'Chinatown' and the American Imagination class at New York University. During Friday morning sessions, we explored the history of New York Chinatown, the ways in which New York Chinese were politically excluded and marginalized from the life of the city and the nation, the impact exclusion and segregation had on the education of Chinese youth, and the impacts on what was (and wasn't) taught in American schools about China and Chinese.
We wanted to move beyond a classroom understanding and examine what the legacy of such policies have been on immigrant Chinese today—many of whom know little if anything about the earlier history. So, students interviewed a range of students and community workers to get their views of issues and needs. Right before Thanksgiving the class decided it wanted to focus on helping young immigrants learn some of the ins and outs of getting into college - what middle class American kids often take for granted. Tapping their own experiences, this website began to take shape.
GettingIn.com is designed with two audiences in mind:
NOW is for immigrant Chinese New Yorker students wanted to learn some tips on getting into college-information useful for non-immigrants and non-Chinese New Yorkers as well!
THEN is for anyone interested in how the past lives in the present - especially teachers, guidance counselors, parents, and anyone who wants to understand more about the Chinese Exclusion Act(s), racial segregation, Chinatown schooling, and resources for curriculum.
Finally, I want to heartfelt thank my class for going above and beyond typically classroom work. You're a great group who worked as team! (Not easy time wise or given the way university life is so atomized and individualistic.)
Best wishes, Jack Tchen
"Independent Projects in the A/P/A Archives"
In January 2008, undergraduate students from Professor Jack Tchen's as well as Professor Sukhdev Sandhu's A/P/A Studies classes expressed interest in continuing their class paper/project research from the previous semester by using the Yoshio Kishi / Irene Yah Ling Sun Collection just acquired by A/P/A Institute and in process at the NYU Fales Library. As a result, a new class was created for the Spring 2008 semester and co-taught by the first two Graduate Assistants in A/PA Archives, Dylan Yeats and I-Ting Emily Chu.
Course Description:
In this course, students will develop and execute independent projects that utilize and contribute to the A/P/A Archives. This semester, we will focus our projects on the xenophobia of the "East" so central to the creation of a "West." A/P/A Institute at NYU recently acquired the Kishi/Sun Collection, which is the largest collection of novels, books, magazines, comics, films, toys, and music that depict A/PA's in the world. While the collection is not yet available to the public, students in this Topics course will have access to this amazing resource, and their research will help shape and promote future use of the collection. Over the semester, students will primarily work on their own independent research projects with one-on-one consultation from instructors, archivists, librarians, and researchers. Possible projects could include a research guide to "Yellow Peril" literature, a short film analyzing the depictions of South Asian Women in popular media, or a podcast engaging the use of accents in comedy. As the semester progresses, students will workshop their projects as a group to revise and refine their work. Ideally, by the end of the semester, students will have produced work polished enough for presentation and on the A/P/A Institute website.
In this course, students will develop and execute independent projects that utilize and contribute to the A/P/A Archives. This semester, we will focus our projects on the xenophobia of the "East" so central to the creation of a "West." A/P/A Institute at NYU recently acquired the Kishi/Sun Collection, which is the largest collection of novels, books, magazines, comics, films, toys, and music that depict A/PA's in the world. While the collection is not yet available to the public, students in this Topics course will have access to this amazing resource, and their research will help shape and promote future use of the collection. Over the semester, students will primarily work on their own independent research projects with one-on-one consultation from instructors, archivists, librarians, and researchers. Possible projects could include a research guide to "Yellow Peril" literature, a short film analyzing the depictions of South Asian Women in popular media, or a podcast engaging the use of accents in comedy. As the semester progresses, students will workshop their projects as a group to revise and refine their work. Ideally, by the end of the semester, students will have produced work polished enough for presentation and on the A/P/A Institute website.
Note: Students enrolled in the course selected an "artifact" from the Collection that reflected their interests, and created a research paper based on that item. At the conclusion of the semester, the students presented their papers in the A/P/A Institute's 7th Floor Gallery in front of family, friends and peers.
Here are their finished papers:
Immigration Policies and the Essentializing of Asian Women (Or How Suzy Wong made it to San Francisco)By Tara Sarath
Beats of Yellow PerilBy Juliana Son
Honors Thesis
Under Re-Construction: Chinatown's Battles and Government Relief Efforts After 9/11Janice Chua, A/P/A Studies Major Honors Thesis 2008