Collection
Southeast Asians in Lowell Collection
The Southeast Asians in Lowell Collection holds George Chigas's 1987 to 1989 record of Cambodian refugee crafts and ceremonies in Lowell, Massachusetts.[1] It is held at the Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts Lowell, as collection UML 2.[2]
History
In 1987 George Chigas documented the traditional crafts and religious ceremonies of Cambodian refugees who had settled in Greater Lowell after the Cambodian genocide. The project was funded in part by the Historic Preservation Commission of Lowell, Massachusetts.[1][3] In 1988 and 1989 he coordinated a Lowell exhibit on Southeast Asians at the Whistler House Museum, which featured three artists.[1]
Chigas later served as associate director of the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University from 1998 to 2001. As of 2020, he was a senior lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.[4]
Overview
The collection fills one document case and one flat box. It is arranged in two series: Cambodian Traditional Crafts and Religious Ceremonies, 1987, and Southeast Asian Exhibit Photographs, 1988-1989.[1]
Material coverage
The first series holds an 84-page manuscript in nine chapters, with color photographs. Most chapters pair written text with photographs of a craft or ceremony in Greater Lowell. The photograph titles are Basket Making, Consecration of Buddha Statue, Kite Making, Money Tree Fund Raising Celebration, Needlework, Ordination of Novice Monk, Rain Retreat Ceremony and Woodworking. The Rain Retreat Ceremony and Money Tree Fundraising Celebration chapters are made up entirely of photographs.[1] The prints measure about 9 by 13 cm (3.5 by 5 in) and are arranged alphabetically by chapter title.[1]
The chapter titled Folklore is a transcript of an oral history interview that Chigas conducted with Venerable Sao Khon about literature and folklore, with Heng Bun Chea as interpreter.[1]
The second series holds 20 photographs from the Whistler House Museum exhibit. Chigas took the photograph titled "The Craftsman – Carving." The other two photographers are Nate Thayer, a freelance journalist known for having interviewed Pol Pot, and James Higgins, a photographer based in the Lowell area.[1] The prints measure about 28 by 36 cm (11 by 14 in). Most are black and white and a few are in color, and they are arranged alphabetically by title. A few of the color photographs show the aftermath of violent events.[1]
Related collections
A similar collection was donated to and digitized by the University of Massachusetts Amherst.[1] There, the George Chigas Collection (MS 180) holds photographs Chigas took of Cambodian sites and ceremonies in Lowell, among them the ordination of novice monks, the consecration of a Buddha image, a festival kite and a community money tree celebration. Chigas donated it in September 1987, and it was processed in July 2017. It is open for research, and its photographs are digitized on Credo.[4]
Catalog and access
The collection identifier is UML 2, and the oral history carries the reference LFP TR-R022.[1] The whole physical collection can be viewed at the Center for Lowell History. Part of it is digitized on the Southeast Asian Digital Archive Omeka site, on Digital Commonwealth and on the Internet Archive.[1][2][5] Etsuko Benton, Monita Chea and Anthony Sampas are credited with making it available online.[2][5]
- Southeast Asian Digital Archive: collection on Omeka
- Digital Commonwealth: collection
- UML 2 collection guide
Selected recordings
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 UMass Lowell collection guide UML 2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Southeast Asian Digital Archive, Chigas, George. Southeast Asians in Lowell Collection, 1987-1989
- ↑ Lowell History: Cambodian Culture
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 UMass Amherst Special Collections and University Archives, George Chigas Collection
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Digital Commonwealth, Chigas, George. Southeast Asians in Lowell Collection, 1987-1989