Series 1: Oral histories, 1993 - 1994, inclusive; 1993, bulk

In this interview, the narrator discusses Chinese assimilation to American culture by contrasting her own experiences with those of her younger sister and of her parents. She notes class and lifestyle differences among the different Chinese immigrants of New York City and delineates them by their home provinces, their education levels, their native language, and "old" versus "new" immigrants, while also considering "ABCs" or American-Born Chinese. She discusses ethnic tensions between Chinese American and Hispanic American neighbors in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The narrator also states that she feels she has become culturally American. Interview conducted by Gregory Ruf.

In this interview, the narrator relates her life story with a backdrop of generations of her family's history. She describes Vietnam; living in Saigon, the Vietcong takeover, her family's process of fleeing, and immigrating to America as a refugee. The narrator discusses her entrepreneurial pursuits by evaluating each business that she started along with each demise. She looks at the real estate business in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn; providing general rent information and identifying the future prospects for the area and its Chinese American residents. Interview in Mandarin conducted by Gregory Ruf.

In this interview, the narrator provides an overview of her life; both before and after immigrating to New York City from Hong Kong. She discusses her childhood and private schooling in Kowloon, her decision to move to America with her husband and her trip to New York City in the 1960s. The narrator recounts the evolution of her career; from typist, to bridal gown seamstress, to art gallery owner. She offers her thoughts on parenting and practical home economics and provides an overview of the financial situation faced by Chinese immigrants and small business owners. Interview in Mandarin conducted by Gregory Ruf.

In this interview, Lou Castaldo discusses his father's business; Vinnie's Pizzeria was established during the early 1970s in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He recounts his father's coming to America and life before starting the business. Castaldo describes the various ethnic cultures and neighborhoods he observed while growing up in Brooklyn; including significant events, activities, hobbies, family life and traditions. Castaldo recalls a significant period of change in Sunset Park, beginning in 1979; from a European American neighborhood comprised of Germans, Greeks, Irish, Italians, and Norwegians to an Asian American neighborhood, largely of Chinese heritage. He evaluates other influences that factored into the changing neighborhood; escalating crime rates and drug use, business closures, new Chinese American ownership of businesses and housing, cultural differences and language barriers, and national politics supporting or allowing illegal aliens to enter and live in the United States. He surveys the Sunset Park community's actions to create a more global and shared sense of community—a melting pot of cultures. Interview conducted by Gregory Ruf.

In this interview, Guo Wa "Grace" Chan discusses her immigration and life in New York City. She focuses on her experiences as a businesswoman, detailing the launch of her video rental store. She mentions her husband's ventures in the restaurant industry. Chan describes the entrepreneurial competition in Brooklyn's Chinatown and real estate prices, commercial as well as residential. An educationally-focused mother, Chan evaluates the educational decisions she has made and the quality of local public and private schools. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview Kwok-Wai "David" Chan relates his experience as a Chinese immigrant to New York City. He describes his reasons for emigrating, the family's arrival to Brooklyn, and hardships faced soon after. He discusses his education and the value his family places in higher education -- something he calls a Chinese value. Chan details his career as an entrepreneur; including failures, challenges, and accomplishments. Throughout the interview, Chan discusses the community changes he's watched over the last few decades. Interview conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, Yan Chen talks about her life in Mainland China where she was born and grew up; the family home, farm, her family, extended family, and many farm animals. Chen recalls how, at age ten, she and her family came to the United States through the help of extended family. She remembers that her parents were hoping to make a lot of money in America without having to work too hard. The interview mainly consists of Chen discussing her relationship to the two areas where she lived—the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan and the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn—and her sense of place within them. She describes her family experiences, her education and friendships, demographic shifts within the neighborhoods, problems with bullying, crime and gangs, Chinese home ownership, and the establishment of Chinese businesses; all factors which helped to stabilize the Chinese community and allowed her family to prosper. Interview conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, Huan Reng "Benson" Chin discusses his involvement in the Sino-Japanese war; conducting espionage for the Chinese Communist Party. He recalls his military education in Marxism/Leninism and fighting in World War II. Chin speaks of the Chinese Cultural Revolution; including detention in labor camps, mass starvation, and numerous civilian suicides. Chin evaluates life after his 1984 immigration to New York City; Chinatowns of the boroughs, Sunset Park street crime, and looking forward to retirement. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, Wong Lai Chow describes her life's history; which spans the Japanese invasion of China, World War II, the Korean War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and her immigration to America in 1980. She recalls her career as an educator during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, being charged with "illicit relations with a foreign country," and re-education at a hard labor camp. Chow also speaks from her perspective of an active retiree in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. She discusses neighborhood crime, the Chinese mafia, and unlicensed dentists of Sunset Park. Chow also observes the challenges faced by her children, who came to America without command of English or many marketable skills. Interview conducted in Cantonese by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, Michael Chow describes his journey to America, taken when he was age twelve. He discusses his experiences of adversity; homesickness, missing family members, learning English, assimilating to American culture and the American education system, traveling and sightseeing, playing ball games, and receiving an American name. As he makes friends, Chow says he enjoys America, and favors it over China. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, June Flodsand recounts her life as a working-class, first-generation American, a devout Lutheran of Norwegian parentage. She remembers an innocent childhood of family chores, a first job as a soda jerk, and weekly participation in church and its activities. As an adult, Flodsand married a fellow Lutheran and continued a life devoted to work, church, Norwegian-themed festivities, and socializing. Flodsand laments the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park's transition from a dominant Scandinavian culture to a largely Chinese and Hasidic population. She was interviewed at the Lutheran Church where she is a member. Interview conducted by Gregory Ruf.

By outlining the experiences of the two prior generations, Tony Giordano explains in the interview how his family of Italian heritage came to be in Brooklyn. He focuses in on his father's occupations; ultimately one as a bus driver. Giordano describes his upbringing in terms of his family's apartment housing, Brooklyn neighborhoods, vacations on Long Island, education from first grade through college, and his Roman Catholic religious experience. The interview is in depth on his experience of losing faith in organized religion and later discovering a devotion to God. Contributing to this struggle with religion, Giordano talks about a failed first marriage, custody challenges over his son, a rekindled relationship, and a happy, interfaith marriage and family. He focuses on the ethnic heritage and late twentieth century makeup of the Sunset Park community and his role as a civic leader. The influx of large numbers of Chinese into Sunset Park in the late 1980s has created what Giordano calls the "Third Chinatown." Interview conducted by Gregory Ruf.

In this interview, Yee "Curie" Hoen describes her life as a single, female Chinese immigrant living alone in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. Hoen recounts the process of getting a job as a disk jockey at a Chinese radio station and her promotion to supervisor of the Programming Department. She discusses neighborhood ethnic relations and crime (including being mugged). Hoen tells of her leisure activities; singing karaoke and opera, attending Sunset Park's traditional Chinese festivals, and watching soap operas. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, Mak Shui Ka discusses her life's history in Communist China; upbringing, schools, her family, and persecution, as well as her successes as a conscripted cadet. Mrs. Ka describes her life in America, which brought her first experiences with poverty and grave anti-Chinese discrimination. She describes anti-Chinese treatment by Italian members of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. In response, Ka helped organize a community protest event and delivered a speech that vowed constant vigilance. She details extensively another incident of discrimination in which police stormed an apartment in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan, then beat the family inside; including a pregnant woman. Ka was called as a community first responder; taking photographs and witness testimony, and helped prosecute the police members. In relation to Sunset Park, Ka also references her real estate transactions, the rent prices and taxes, and neighborhood crime. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

This brief interview was conducted at the Kang family's dry cleaning shop, located at 5214 Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn. In the interview, Harrison Kang mentions his family's emigration from South Korea to New York City. He describes different aspects of the evolution of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park; from relative quietude to a bustling area of immigrants and small business. Kang discusses the neighborhood's change from a mix of Norwegian and Hispanic residents to a primarily Chinese population. By the time of the 1993 interview, Sunset Park was considered Brooklyn's Chinatown. Kang provides an overview of the different ethnic groups endemic to different area streets. Interview conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, Fai Ling "Alice" Lee discusses the development of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn; from a sleepy, dilapidated, majority-Norwegian area in the 1970s to a thriving Chinese diaspora in the 1980s and 1990s. She describes the economic and working conditions faced by her father, who worked in a Times Square Chinese restaurant, and her mother, a seamstress in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan. The interview focuses on real estate investing in Sunset Park; home prices, mortgages, rental income, and risks. Lee also mentions her position as a bilingual educator at P.S. 314 in Sunset Park. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, using a pseudonym, "Johnny Lee" recounts his life history. He recollects being raised in Hong Kong by his mother while his father worked in America. He remembers his time at Chinatown's Seward Park High School's bilingual program, classmates who dropped out to join Chinese gangs, after-school work as a button-sewer in garment factories, college work as a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant, and the decision to leave City College to pursue full-time work at an Off-Track Betting location. Lee discusses the boom in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan's garment factories, the increase in competition, and resultant deflation in real wages and living standards. He talks about working-class income, real estate prices, his family's decision to purchase a home, and the rejuvenation of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn and its Eighth Avenue small businesses. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, Yee Ming Leung describes his teenage assimilation to American culture; a childhood of "Chinese" activities such as catching crabs on Coney Island or stealing nuts from neighbors' trees, as well as playing baseball and watching football or movies with his new American friends. Leung recalls his life as a businessman and, later, a restaurateur. He discusses his campaign and motivations for running for a seat on the School Board, Chinese attitudes towards voting, and his activities as an activist and member of Community Board 4. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, Miu Fei Li discusses life since her 1981 immigration to New York City. She tells of the decision to immigrate to America as a twenty-two year-old newlywed; initial impressions of Manhattan; and attempts to learn English. She describes life and working conditions experienced as a garment factory seamstress and the benefits of being a union member. She talks about her work schedule; which played roles in fostering her husband's gambling addiction and their subsequent divorce. Li speaks of her second marriage. She also evaluates real estate conditions in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn circa 1993. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, J.L. (Anonymous) and Ning-Yuan Li provide viewpoints on their different lives that led them to America. Li, fine art painter, describes his early education and sensibilities as an artist and recalls the Chinese Cultural Revolution's impact on fine art in China. J.L., from Taiwan, relates his life story; the era of the "Anti-Japan War," his career as a soldier, and time spent in Paraguay running a small wrist-watch business. Joined by J.T. (Anonymous, also a narrator of her own oral history), J.L. and Li discuss their shared experience as residents of Brooklyn's Chinatown; working conditions for Chinese immigrants, language barriers, armed robberies, and the American systems of education and juvenile corrections. Interview in Mandarin conducted by Gregory Ruf.

In this interview, Paul Mak discusses his personal assimilation into mainstream American culture. He details his career as a civil servant serving the Chinese community of Eighth Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park; helping educate new immigrants assimilate by teaching them American customs, smoothing out relationships with neighboring ethnic groups (particularly the Latino community), and working to develop Brooklyn's Chinatown by facilitating the migration of garment factories from Manhattan to Brooklyn. He also describes his time as a community board member. Interview conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, Edmundo Quinones discusses his life as a first-generation working-class Puerto Rican American. He reflects on the challenges he's faced as a Latino growing up in a White neighborhood; particularly discrimination, and strengthening his Latino identity while avoiding mainstream assimilation. He provides an overarching view on the American dream: class mobility (both upward and downward), ethnic relations, and neighborhood change. He describes the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge's transformation from a predominantly poor Scandinavian enclave, to a Latino area called Sunset Park, to a bustling, predominantly Chinese American community. Interview conducted by Gregory Ruf and Fabiana Chiu.

In this interview, Po Yee Ung discusses her external world. She recounts her professional life: a Hong Kong career in business, and a New York City career in journalism. Ung evaluates Eighth Avenue's potential as a business and cultural center for Chinese immigrants in Brooklyn, and its deficiencies as a community resource. Ung recounts instances of petty neighborhood crime. She describes the neighborhood's aesthetic and real estate conditions. She talks about her affinity for Spanish-speaking sections of the neighborhood; particularly Hispanic food, customs, and people. Throughout the interview, Ung declines to answer questions that she views as too personal, or which may indicate her general whereabouts. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.

In this interview, Chun Wai "Billy" Wong discusses his arrival to America and living in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn as compared to his birthplace of Hong Kong, China. He cites reasons why he likes living in New York. Wong describes the culture and lifestyle of the working Chinese community; the differences between Mainland Chinese people and Chinese people from Hong Kong, the means in which the Chinese travel back and forth from the neighborhoods, shopping at food stores, and banking. Wong evaluates the economic changes in the two communities; new garment factories in Brooklyn, unionization, and health insurance in the factories in New York. Wong speaks about his job as a public school youth counselor; the characteristics of different groups of Chinese youth and problems with gang activity. He recalls his education as a computer programmer in the City University of New York's colleges and work after graduation. He recounts his shift to study dance at Hunter College while working as a youth counselor. Wong talks about Chinese-American family life; including home ownership and celebrating various American holidays within their community. He also sees changes in Sunset Park as it becomes more populated. Interview conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview Reverend Fook "Samuel" Wong discusses his life as an evangelical Baptist preacher in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. He talks about the innermost lives of the immigrant Chinese community he works with daily, detailing their "stages of immigration," as they assimilate to American culture. He details the domestic and financial challenges faced by overworked immigrants. Wong speaks on other issues, including corrupted youth, Chinese gang-related activities, the diversity of Brooklyn's Chinatown, and ethnic tensions between the area's Hispanic and Chinese residents. He also describes the Fuzhou people of China. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Mary Lui.

In this interview, Guillermo and Norma Wong discuss their unique situation as a Chinese-Peruvian family living in a Chinese-Latino section of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn; facing anti-Chinese slurs made by Latino residents, for example. They describe the ethnic makeup of their neighborhood, the politics of ethnic identity, racism, and discrimination. The Wongs recall the challenges of making it in America; finding housing, learning English, finding a job, and understanding American culture. Interview conducted by Gregory Ruf and Fabiana Chiu.

In this interview, Yu Rong Zhu discusses his first sixty years of life, in which he witnessed the Japanese Invasion, the Chinese Civil War, and the Cultural Revolution. He reflects on the decision to move to America, his first two years in San Francisco, and his subsequent move to Brooklyn's Chinatown (or the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn). Zhu compares the lifestyle, living conditions, and apartment rental situation in the Chinatown communities of Brooklyn and Manhattan. He considers neighborhood crime, inter-ethnic relations, and the difficulties of life as a Chinese immigrant. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Mary Lui.