Collection
Southeast Asian Digital Archive Oral History Project
The Southeast Asian Digital Archive Oral History Project records the life stories of Cambodian and other Southeast Asian residents of Greater Lowell, Massachusetts.[1] It is held at the Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts Lowell, as collection UML 17.[2]
History
The Southeast Asian Digital Archive at the University of Massachusetts Lowell launched the project in the summer of 2019, and it continues.[1][2] Its purpose is to collect, preserve and share personal accounts from Southeast Asians living in Greater Lowell, and to make their stories available to younger generations, researchers, teachers, students and the public.[1] The collection is still in progress, and its record is updated as new material becomes available.[3]
Overview
Most of the interviews are with Southeast Asians who came to Greater Lowell between the 1970s and the 1990s. A smaller number are with Southeast Asians elsewhere in Massachusetts and with people who worked alongside Southeast Asian communities.[1] The project gathers stories of how people arrived in Greater Lowell and built homes, families and communities there. Elders speak of life in their home countries, in refugee camps, in relocation centers and in the United States.[1]
Several themes run through the project. It records people who improved health care for Southeast Asian refugee communities from the 1980s to today, and community members who found their way through health care systems. It records community members who dealt with the courts from the 1980s to the 2000s, and people who worked with them, as well as the school experiences of students, families, teachers and other educators in the same years.[1] It also records the history of the Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival, held since 1996, and the people who have organized it. The festival celebrates the importance of water and boats to Khmer, Lao, Thai and Vietnamese cultures.[1]
Material coverage
As of 2020, the collection guide listed three oral histories in one records box, recorded between April and August 2019, with Sue J. Kim and Tyler Sar as interviewers.[2] Maryellen Cuthbert, a private defense attorney, spoke with Sue J. Kim in April 2019 as Oral History #19.01, about her legal training and her cases involving Southeast Asian communities in the Lowell area. Thel Sar spoke with Kim the same month about his early life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, his resettlement in the United States, his education, his community activities and his family.[2][3] He also spoke of his work at the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association and the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services, and of becoming one of the first probation officers of Cambodian descent at Lowell District Court. The collection guide numbers his interview Oral History #19.0; the Omeka collection page numbers it #19.02.[2][3]
Sivaing Suos spoke with Tyler Sar in August 2019 as Oral History #19.05, about her early life in Cambodia, her immigration, her education, her work in mental health and with families facing domestic violence, and her family.[2] Niem Nay-kret spoke with Sue J. Kim in September 2019 as Oral History #19.06, about her early life, the Khmer Rouge years and her healthcare work in the United States. Her recording is published on the archive's Omeka site.[3][4] Some interviews include mentions of weapons, abuse, assaults and violent situations.[3]
Chornai Pech and Monita Chea are credited with making the collection available online.[3]
Catalog and access
The collection identifier is UML 17, and items carry numbers in the form uml17_19.06_001. The library makes the material available for private, educational and research use; other uses need permission from the rights holders.[2][4] As of 2020, the archive's website was www.uml.edu/seada and its email address was seada@uml.edu.[2]
- Southeast Asian Digital Archive: collection on Omeka
- Southeast Asian Digital Archive: Oral Histories
- UML 17 collection guide (draft finding aid)
Selected recordings
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 UMass Lowell, Southeast Asian Digital Archive, Oral Histories
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 UMass Lowell collection guide UML 17
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Southeast Asian Digital Archive, Southeast Asian Digital Archive Oral History Project, 2019-Ongoing
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Niem Nay-kret oral history item record