VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Vietnamese Community Oral History Project. Oral history interviews of the Vietnamese Community Oral History Project. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV2011.15

Processing Information:

Processed by: Jennifer Huebscher, September 2011.

Catalog ID number: 007414746

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Hue Van Lien was born in rural Vietnam. After his father passed away when he was thirteen he moved to Saigon. At that time he began working for an electrical company and got married. He got his GED when he arrived in Minnesota and is now the president of Modern Manufacturing and Engineering, Inc. Hue has four daughters.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include childhood in Vietnam; fall of Saigon; living in refugee camps; immigrating; learning English; charity work; Vietnamese culture; family; and returning to Vietnam.

Interviewed by: Phước Thị Minh Trần.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Thùy Dương Nguyễn-Trần was born in Minneapolis and raised in Richfield, Minnesota. Nguyễn-Trần graduated from University of Minnesota in the College of Biological Sciences with a biochemistry degree. She also attended the College of Liberal Arts and received a B.A. in physiology. At the time of this interview, Nguyễn-Trần was attending medical school to become a pediatrician.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include family background; education; social injustice in Vietnam; speaking Vietnamese and English; connecting with her grandmother; Vietnamese culture and foods; Vietnamese community involvement; Buddhism; Hoang Anh Vietnamese Dance Group; time management; differing rules and values of Asian and American cultures; racism; diversity; and moving out on her own and becoming more independent.

Interviewed by: Simon-Hòa Phan.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Brother Simon-Hòa Phan was born in Saigon, Vietnam. Phan left Vietnam near the end of the war via helicopter from the United States embassy before the country fell to the Communist Party. Phan and his family sought refuge in Colorado and California. He later made his way to Minnesota to join the Benedictine monastery and completed college in seminary before acquiring a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and Master's of Fine Arts in film. He teaches at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include family background; Vietnam War; immigration; childhood memories; family business; seeking refuge from the Communists shelling the air force base; warfare and traumatic experiences; education; Asians in Vietnam and America; film and art; religion; celebrating Vietnamese culture; feeling discrimination as a minority; Vietnam Culture Camp; speaking Vietnamese and English; and the Vietnamese community.

Interviewed by: Phước Thị Minh Trần.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Hung Duc Phung was born in Central Vietnam but moved around due to his father's occupation as a Ranger. He escaped Vietnam at nineteen and lived in the Philippines and Hong Kong until moving to Minnesota. Phung has a Master's in Education and works as a guidance counselor. He lives in Bloomington, Minnesota, with his wife and two daughters.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include his name change; childhood; moving; war; education and propaganda; escaping Vietnam; religion, family; Vietnamese mothers; advocating for refugees and students; and the Vietnamese Cultural and Science Association.

Interviewed by: Simon-Hòa Phan.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Lisalan Thai was born in Da Lat, Vietnam. After experiencing the fall of Da Lat and Saigon, she left Vietnam with her son. She settled in Minnesota with the help of four Catholic Churches and an adoptive family and at the time of this interview is a real estate agent.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include childhood; family; fall of Da Lat and Saigon; immigrating; being "adopted"; divorce; going back to school; real estate; and the American Dream. This interview is accompanied by The Adoption of the Thai Family by Bernice Herron, Lisalan's "adopted" mother. It recounts Bernice's life and her efforts to adopt a Vietnamese family after the Fall of Saigon.

Interviewed by: Phước Thị Minh Trần.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Emigration and immigration.

Immigrants -- Minnesota.

Asian Americans -- Minnesota.

Asians -- Minnesota.

Vietnamese -- Minnesota.

Vietnamese Americans -- Minnesota.

Vietnamese Americans -- Minnesota -- Social life and customs.

Persons:

Herron, Bernice.

Lien, Hue, interviewee.

Nguyễn-Trần, Thùy Dương, interviewee.

Phan, Simon-Hòa, interviewee, interviewer.

Phung, Hung Duc, interviewee.

Thai, Lisalan, interviewee.

Trần, Phước Thị Minh, interviewer.

Document Types:

Interviews.

Oral histories (document genres)

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