ASIANS IN GREATER MINNESOTA ORAL HISTORY PROJECT:

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

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

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Originals:

Original digital sound recordings, Minnesota Historical Society Oral History Office.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV2012.5

Processing Information:

Processed by: Jennifer Huebscher, August 2012 and October 2013

Catalog ID number: 007560841

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Bingkun Chen was born December 4, 1961 in Hegang in Heilongjiang province China. Bingkun has a PhD in Pathology from Kochi University in Japan and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. He works for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in China; religion; early education and medical school in China and then Germany and Japan; coming to the Minnesota to work for the Mayo Clinic; working for the Mayo Clinic; family in Minnesota; going back to China; living in Rochester, Minnesota; the Chinese community in Rochester; being grateful and diversity.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Benita Clark was born in 1967 in Bohol in the Philippines.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in the Philippines; parents and grandparents occupations, and her perceived lack of being impoverished; language, religion, and her responsibilities as a child; education, moving to Manila; having a long distance relationship with her husband before she even met him; coming to the United States to meet her husband for the first time; fitting into the community and raising her daughter; going back to the Philippines to visit her family; things she is grateful for.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Kilamphong Kounlavong was born in Savanhnakhet, Laos.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include escaping Laos in 1975; living in a Thai refugee camp; coming to Warroad, Minnesota from Thai refugee camps; Lao community in Warroad, Minnesota; going back to visit family in Laos.

Interviewed by: Saymoukda Vongsay.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Kei-Leung Albert Lun was born in 1947 in Shanghai, China. He came to the United States to attend college and worked for IBM.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include language and dialects in Shanghai; early life in China, and Hong Kong; how John F. Kennedy’s assassination; Martin Luther King’s assassination; going to college in the US; the Vietnam War; events of the 1960s in the United States; family history; experiencing racism and prejudice; lack of an Asian community when he came to Rochester, Minnesota and then the area becoming more diverse; Rochester starting its Diversity Council, and his involvement; his view of the younger generation of Asians in Rochester; staying in Rochester despite experiencing racism; using his IT skills to help the community; Jeremy Lin; working for IBM; how being introverted can keep some Asians from advancing in their careers; how grateful he is to be an American.

Interviewed by: Saymoukda Vongsay.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Vichita Ounchith was born in 1983 in Lafayette, Louisiana. His parents are immigrants from Laos. He is a high school football coach in Warroad, Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in Louisiana and California; family history in Laos and coming to the United States; being a junior monk in a Cambodian temple; moving to Minnesota as a child; living in Warroad, and being accepted by the white children; comparing California to Minnesota; going to school and ESL (English as a Second Language) classes; playing sports; experience playing college football; how proud he is to have graduated from college; teaching Lao and being active in the community; traveling back to Laos and feeling like a foreigner; coaching sports in Warroad; being in a leadership role within the school; not being involved in the Lao community.

Interviewed by: Saymoukda Vongsay.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Ashok Mahendra Patel was born in 1962 Kampala, Uganda. His parents were immigrants from Indore, India.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life and family; living in Uganda, India, and Canada; home life, doing chores, and being a kid; education, medical school, and coming to work for the Mayo Clinic; being involved in the community; calling Minnesota his home.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Phiengtavanh Savatdy was born in 1981 in Vientiane, Laos. She enlisted in the Army National Guard, and attended St. Cloud College.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in Laos; nicknames giving to her as a child; coming to the United States; coming to Minnesota and going to public schools in Minneapolis; being different and wanting to fit in; educational achievements; becoming a citizen and enlisting in the National Guard; coming home from Iraq and going to college; being active in extracurricular groups in college; not being active in the local Lao community; personal, and career goals and goals for the Lao community.

Interviewed by: Saymoukda Vongsay.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Kim Sin was born in Takéo, Cambodia in 1977. He started the Cambodian Association of Rochester, Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in Cambodia and family; living in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge War; living in a refugee camp; coming to Minnesota; adjusting to living in Minnesota as a child; being behind in school; starting the Cambodian Association of Rochester, Minnesota (CARM); involvement in the community and assimilating; never quite being treated as an American; accepting his own identity; future generations of children coming to Minnesota; starting a non-profit organization; helping out all people, not just certain groups; judging people fairly.

Interviewed by: Saymoukda Vongsay.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Noi Sinkasem was born in Bangkok, Thailand on September 20, 1961. She owns Sawatdee Thai restaurant in Saint Cloud, Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life and family in Thailand; education; coming to the United States; applying to immigrate and waiting; going back to school in Minnesota; moving to Saint Cloud, Minnesota; owning Sawatdee Thai food restaurant in Saint Cloud; difficult owning a business and being a minority; her children.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Chanmany Sysengchanh was born in 1983 in a refugee camp in Napo, Thailand. His parents were refugees from Laos. He works for Saint Cloud University as part of a pre-college program for minorities.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include Early life and family; coming to Minnesota as an infant; his parents silence about their struggles in Laos and Thailand; living in a large Lao community in south Minneapolis from an early age; going to school, and not speaking English; excelling at school; struggling to identify as Lao or American; working for Saint Cloud State University and the importance of higher education; helping kids get into college; being a positive Asian role model in the school environment; his writing and poetry; being the first in his family to graduate high school; how tempting it was to sell drugs or steal; thinking college was out of his reach; Asians clubs and support groups; his influence on a younger generation of Lao kids; his hope for more Lao civil engagement in the community; being happy that he ended up in Minnesota.

Interviewed by: Saymoukda Vongsay.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Marissa Theis was born in San Simon, Pampanga, Philippines.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in the Philippines; her family; leaving the Philippines for Saudi Arabia to work; working as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia to financially support her family back in the Philippines; meeting her husband in an online chat room; coming to the United States and arriving in Baudette, Minnesota; running a business with her husband; her family coming to visit her in Baudette from the Philippines.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Hedy Tripp was born in 1948 in Singapore.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include early life in Singapore; family history; going to school in Singapore; getting married and divorced; coming to the United States; getting remarried in the United States; moving to Saint Cloud, Minnesota; worries about racism in Saint Cloud; teaching; comparing the educational systems in the United States and Singapore; working for groups such as the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum; having breast cancer; calling Minnesota home.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Saksady Xai Song Kham was born in 1958 in Pak Se Champassak, Laos. He describes crossing the Mekong River to escape to Thailand, living in a refugee camp, and traveling back to Laos to help his captured family escape. Kham describes adjusting to American culture upon his arrival in 1980; he is now an active union representative and a dedicated supporter and organizer of the Lao community in Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include life in refugee camp; crossing the Mekong River; life-threatening journeys to rescue family; adjusting to the Midwest; building and supporting the Lao community.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Bounlorm Soumetho grew up in Laos but escaped to Thailand after his land was taken from him at the end of the Vietnam War. Now residing in Minnesota, Soumetho is the former president of Lao Community of Worthington, Minnesota, and the current chairman of the Lao Buddhist Organization of Southwest Minnesota.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include: family, marriage, financial struggles, education, unemployment, immigration to Thailand and the United States, Vietnam War, Minnesota’s Lao community.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Terry Yang was born in 1956 in Luang Prabang, Laos. He and his family escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand in 1979, where they lived for one year before moving to the United States in 1980. Yang is currently the President of the Yang Wang Meng Association of United States, a national organization dedicated to connecting the Hmong community, building Hmong leaders, and preserving Hmong culture. Yang is also on the board for the Walnut Grove PTA.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include: escaping Laos; experiences in refugee camp; adjusting to life in America; family; Hmong cultural preservation and community-building.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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Use Restrictions: None.

Biographical Information: Toua Yang was born in Xhiangkhouang, Laos. Yang describes escaping to a refugee camp in Thailand, where he spent 10 years before moving to the United States. Yang is now a mental health case manager for the counties of Lyon, Redwood Falls, Yellow Medicine, and Murray.

Scope and Content: Subjects discussed include: escaping Laos; experiences in refugee camp; adjusting to life in America; family; health issues in the Hmong community; Minnesota’s education system and the achievement gap.

Interviewed by: Pa Yang.

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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:

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

Asian Americans -- Minnesota.

Asians -- Minnesota.

Cambodian Americans -- Minnesota.

Chinese Americans -- Minnesota.

East Indian Americans -- Minnesota.

Emigration and immigration.

Filipino Americans -- Minnesota.

Immigrants -- Minnesota.

Laotian Americans -- Minnesota.

Singaporean Americans -- Minnesota.

Thai Americans -- Minnesota.

Persons:

Chen, Bingkun K., Dr., interviewee.

Clark, Benita, interviewee.

Khan, Saksady Xai Song, interviewee.

Kounlavong, Kilamphong, interviewee.

Lun, Kei-Leung Albert, interviewee.

Ounchith, Vichita, interviewee.

Patel, Ashok Mahendra, interviewee.

Savatdy, Phiengtavanh, interviewee.

Sin, Kim, interviewee.

Sinkasem, Noi, interviewee.

Soumetho, Bounlorm, interviewee.

Sysengchanh, Chanmany, interviewee.

Theis, Marissa, interviewee.

Tripp, Hedy, interviewee.

Vongsay, Saymoukda, interviewer.

Yang, Pa Chia, interviewer.

Yang, Terry, interviewee.

Yang, Toua, interviewee.

Document Types:

Interviews.

Oral histories (document genres)

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