WING YOUNG HUIE:

Wing Young Huie was born in Duluth, Minnesota in 1955. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he obtained a B.A. in journalism in 1979. In 1989, he became a full-time photographer, and garnered national and international acclaim for his documentary photography of various diverse communities and major street corridors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, as well as Asian American communities throughout the United States. His work is documented in his publications: Frogtown: Photographs and Conversations in an Urban Neighborhood (1996); Lake Street USA (2001); Looking for Asian America: An Ethnocentric Tour (2007); The University Avenue Project, Volumes 1 and 2 : The Language of Urbanism: A Six-Mile Photographic Inquiry (2010); and Chinese-ness: The Meanings of Identity and the Nature of Belonging (2018).

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The first part of the photograph collection and archive includes photoprints and materials from Wing Young Huie's early work in his hometown of Duluth, Minnesota, editorial assignments for Minnesota publications, and freelance photography work with various Asian community focused newspapers and organizations (1975-mid 1990s). The bulk of the collection continues with photoprints and project documentation for his documentary photography projects, including: Frogtown: Photographs and Conversations in an Urban Neighborhood (1991-1996, 1998), Lake Street USA (1996-2002), the University Avenue Project, Volumes 1 and 2 (2007-2011), the Federal Reserve Project (2002), Arts on Chicago Project (2013), Looking for Asian America (2000s), Schalemer Flying Horse Project (2000), "A Mighty Fortress" Far from Lake Wobegon Project (2006), and Chinese-ness: The Meanings of Identity and the Nature of Belonging (2017-2018). The last portion includes photoprints from Huie's commissioned work with the History Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he photographed subjects as part of the play production "The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin" (2017), and his commissioned photographic documentary work for the project ME=WE: A Community Portrait with the Naper Settlement museum in Naperville, Illinois (2017-2018).

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These papers are organized by project:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions:

Wing Young Huie retains intellectual Property Rights of the majority of the material with the exception of some correspondence and materials written by others about him. MNHS has permission to distribute materials, including visual images and paper materials, for personal use and for research and publication for non-profit, educational purposes. All requests for commercial use will be forwarded to Wing Young Huie.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Wing Young Huie Photograph Collection and Archive. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: AV2023.18; AV2024.41; and AV2025.31

Processing Information:

Processed by: Leif Kopietz, December 2024 and January 2026

Catalog ID number: 9989860440204294

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Includes editorial assignments from various Minnesota publications, personal projects of which some were never published or exhibited, Huie's initial photographs from an Introduction to Photography course at St. Scholastica College (Duluth, Minnesota), photographs of Huie's parents and neighborhood in Duluth, and photographs of random street scenes in the Twin Cities during Wing Young Huie's formative years in becoming a photographic artist (1975-1990).

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Predominantly editorial assignments for Asian Business & Community News, a bi-monthly publication based in the Twin Cities. Wing Young Huie describes his role, "Although I was a freelancer I was listed in their masthead as 'Photographer/Chinese editor.'" The section also consists of assignments from various local organizations focused on Asian communities (mid 1980s-mid 1990s).

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Documentary photography project where Wing Young Huie spent two years photographing and interviewing the residents of the ethnically diverse and working class neighborhood of Frogtown in St. Paul, Minnesota. The project led to a public exhibition held in a parking lot in the Frogtown neighborhood and his publication Frogtown: Photographs and Conversations in an Urban Neighborhood (1996).

Includes photoprints, contact sheets, and project documentation, which cosists of: local newspapers and newsletters for research; notes and research information on subjects to photograph; exhibition and fellowship catalogs and flyers; exhibition comments; maps, facts, and demographic information regarding the Frogtown neighborhood; and information regarding Huie's book publication with the Minnesota Historical Society.

Frogtown photoprints:

Digital images

F0 to F117-7. 12 folders.

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In 1996, Huie began photographing and interviewing the diverse individuals and communities that made up the six-mile Lake Street corridor of Minneapolis. In 2000, Huie featured his work as a large-scale public art exhibition, displaying his photographs throughout businesses and buildings on Lake Street, and his work was eventually published in the book Lake Street USA (2001).

Includes photoprints and project documentation for the Lake Street USA, which consists of oral history interviews and transcripts, coffee shop journals, educational materials, project ephemera, posters, zines, materials written by and about Wing Young Huie, and correspondence.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

2

Lake Street Series photoprints:

Digital images

L00-24A to L79-10A. 7 folders.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

3

L80-25 to L179-18. 7 folders.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

4

L180-13A to L258-10. 7 folders.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

5

L260-13A to L359-35. 7 folders.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

6

L360-34A to L468-12. 7 folders.

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Street photography project, which documented the cultural and socio-economic life in the six-mile span on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. His photographs were displayed on buildings as an outdoor public gallery throughout the street corridor. A projection site was also established for the exhibition where digital images where displayed of his photographs, and local musicians and performance artists provided a soundtrack for the exhibition. The exhibition lasted from May to October 2010. The project was published in the book The University Avenue Project, Volumes 1 and 2 : The Language of Urbanism: A Six-Mile Photographic Inquiry (2010).

Includes photoprints and the project documentation consisting of: project information and summaries; planning meeting minutes; sites, events, and venue information; information regarding intern, volunteer, fundraisng, and public relations programming; and information regarding musician license agreements and related materials for soundtracks for the exhibition (2009-2011).

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

8

University Avenue Project photoprints:

Digital images

U00-Akido to U199-28. 11 folders.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

9

U200-3 to U285-13. 5 folders.

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Wing Young Huie photographed the Hmong community of the Twin Cities for the article "Between Two Worlds: How Do Credit Markets Work? An investigation into credit availability in the Minneapols-St. Paul Hmong community," which was published in the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis 2002 Annual Report.

Includes a copy of the annual report, flyers, and the photoprints (2002).

Federal Reserve Project photoprints:

Digital images

FED_1-7 to FED_37-12. 5 folders.

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Documentary photography project and exhibition of the Chicago Avenue corridor between the cross streets of 32nd and 38th streets in Minneapolis (2013). Huie shot and prepared the exhibition as part of the Arts on Chicago event, which was organized by The Third Place gallery.

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

10

Arts on Chicago Project. 7 photoprints.

Digital images

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In the early 2000s, Wing Young Huie and his wife Tara embarked on a nine month road-trip to interview and photograph Asian American communities in 40 states and Canada. Their journey was chronicled in the publication Looking for Asian America: An Ethnocentric Tour (2007).

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

10

Looking for Asian America photoprints:

Digital images

A1-24A to A185-9. 3 folders.

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Wing Young Huie met Schalemar Flying Horse at an art workshop in the Phillips Neighborhood in Minneapolis. Huie asked to photograph Schalemar, her family, and the surrounding Native American community she lived in, which he shot over a three month period (approximately 2000).

Location

Box

B152, Row 7

10

SCH_1-35A. 1 photoprint.

Digital images

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The exhibition "'A Mighty Fortress' Far from Lake Wobegon: 21st Century Lutherans at the Confluence of Religion and Ethnicity" was a collaboration between photographer Wing Young Huie and ethnomusicologist Allison Adrian, which documented Lutheran immigrant congregations recently formed in the Twin Cities region. The exhibition was held at the Andersen Library Gallery at the University of Minnesota in partnership with the Immigration History Research Center (IHRC) in 2006.

"A Mighty Fortress" photoprints:

Each folder includes a photoprint description of the church and accompanying photoprints.

Digital images

Addis Hewot Ministries.

Annual Service of Christ Lutheran Church.

Bread of Life Lutheran Church - hearing impaired.

Christ Lutheran on Capitol Hill - Khmer Choir.

Christ the Redeemer Lutheran Church.

Grace International Lutheran Church.

Hmong Central Lutheran Church.

Hmong Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Laos Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Latvian Evangelical Church of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Lutheran Church of Christ the Redeemer in Minneapolis.

Lebanon Lutheran Church.

Luther Memorial Lutheran Church.

El Milagro/The Miracle Lutheran Church.

Minneapolis Laestadian Lutheran Church.

Minnesota Faith Chinese Lutheran Church.

Norwegian Memorial Lutheran Church.

Oromo Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Sudanese Service at St. Matthew Lutheran Church.

Swahili Service at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

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Documentary photography project where Wing Young Huie explored Chinese identity, including his own, through photography and interviews with people of Chinese descent in Minnesota, the broader United States, and China. The project resulted in an exhibition and the book publication Chinese-ness: The Meanings of Identity and the Nature of Belonging (2018).

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In 2017, Wing Young Huie was commissioned by the History Theatre of St. Paul, Minnesota as part of the play production of "The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin," by Jessica Huang. Huie describes the theme and his role with the play production, " ...an important play called The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin, which evoked the stigma, fear, and secrecy of being illegal immigrants and its effects on those closest to them. Playwright Jessica Huang dramatized the true story of a paper son who settled in Waseca, Minnesota. I was commissioned by the theater to photograph and collect the stories of descendants of families affected by the Chinese Exclusion Act. I had all the people I photographed hold photos from their family archives. The pictures I took were exhibited, mural sized, on the outside walls of the History Theatre, and in the lobby was an interactive display where audience members were invited to add their ancestral photos and stories, transforming the exhibition into a shrine of remembrance."

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The Naper Settlement, an outdoor history museum in Naperville, Illinois, commissioned Wing Young Huie to photograph the Asian diaspora in Naperville, Illinois. He photographed members of the Chinese, Japanese, and Indian American communities of Naperville. Subjects were photographed at their choice of location and with objects or activities of cultural significance.

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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 -- Portraits -- Exhibitions.

Lutherans -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works.

Documentary photography -- Illinois -- Naperville.

Documentary photography -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Documentary photography -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Documentary photography -- Minnesota -- Duluth.

Photographers -- Minnesota.

Portrait photography -- Illinois -- Naperville.

Portrait photography -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.

Portrait photography -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Portrait photography -- Minnesota -- Duluth.

Street life -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions.

Street life -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Pictorial works -- Exhibitions.

Chinese Americans -- Ethnic identity.

Chinese Americans -- Minnesota -- Interviews.

Chinese Americans -- Minnesota -- Pictorial works.

Chinese Americans -- Minnesota -- Biography.

Chinese Americans -- Illinois -- Pictorial works.

Japanese Americans -- Illinois -- Pictorial works.

East Indian Americans -- Illinois -- Pictorial works.

Persons:

Adrian, Allison, author.

Organizations:

Ruminator Books (Firm : Saint Paul, Minn.), publisher.

Public Art Saint Paul (Organization : Saint Paul, Minn.), author.

Minnesota Historical Society. Press, publisher.

Naper Settlement, author.

Meetings:

University Avenue Project (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Places:

Chicago Avenue (Minneapolis, Minn.) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works.

Frogtown (Saint Paul, Minn.) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works.

Lake Street (Minneapolis, Minn.) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works.

Thomas-Dale Neighborhood (Saint Paul, Minn.) -- Social life and customs -- Pictorial works.

China -- Relations -- United States.

United States -- Relations -- China.

United States -- Ethnic relations.

Document Types:

Interviews.

Oral histories (document genres)

Photographs.

Posters.

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