Jonathan Blazon: Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations oral history collection: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids

Scope and Contents

In the interview, Blazon discusses his racial identity; experiences of racism and rejection from white Americans and Chinese Americans; parents' courtship and marriage; maternal relatives' Chinese restaurant in New Hampshire; and aspirations for his daughter to navigate her own mixed heritage. Interview conducted by Cynthia Lee.

Biographical note

Jonathan Blazon was born to a Chinese American mother and a French Canadian father and raised in Concord, New Hampshire and Brooklyn, New York. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City and the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. He worked as a director and managing partner at Primera Languages for Business in New York City.

Conditions Governing Access

Access to the interview is available onsite at the Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer Library and online on the Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations website: cbbg.brooklynhistory.org. The Brooklyn Historical Society does not have permission to license oral history audio recordings or transcripts to third parties.

Subjects

Topics

Chinese Americans |z New York (State) |z New York; French-Canadians |z New Hampshire; Bullying in schools |z New Hampshire; Chinese Americans |z New Hampshire; Race identity; Racially mixed people; Racially ambiguous people; Parenthood; Racially mixed families

Places

Park Slope (New York, N.Y.); Paris (France); New Hampshire

Related Archival Materials

Oral history interview with Jonathan Blazon's mother, Bette Yee, 2011.019.021.

Jonathan Blazon, 2012 February 25, inclusive