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326. Interview with Shruti Mathur

Creator:
Mathur, Shruti
Date Created:
2000-07-09
Description:
Shruti Mathur was born in the U.S. Her parents emigrated from India. Her mother was one of the founding members of SILC. As a child, she attended SILC for about 10 years and later served as a teacher's aide. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Personal background; participation in SILC; parents as teachers; experiences as a teacher's aide; experiences as a student; language fluency; General Knowledge; cooking; yoga; Indian movies and music; Festival of Nations; Indian dances; social connections; trips to India; milk and cookie break; attendance demographics; Indian culture; SILC Day; future plans.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

327. Interview with Sia Y. Thao

Creator:
Thao, Sia Yang
Date Created:
1999-12-01
Description:
Sia Yang is the mother of Khias Yang. Her clan name is Yang and her husband's clan name is Vang. She is fifty-five years old and has seven children, five are living. She is widowed. She did not attend school. Her family immigrated to the U.S. in April 1980. She was born in Phuam Yav, Laos. She is a White Hmong. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Biographical information and religious affiliation. Childhood-school attendance, duties at home, community service, skills taught, social activities as a child, aspirations as a child. Hmong women's roles-decision making inside and outside of home and clan, women in leadership roles and how they are seen in the community, what women do to support their families, family planning, when women feel respected or disrespected. The war and living in refugee camps-memories of fleeing Laos, of refugee camps, difference in treatment of men and women in the camps. Adjustments since coming to the U.S.-skills needed to adjust, learning English, skills from Laos and Thailand that are adaptable or useable in the U.S., citizenship, leadership roles for women in the U.S. versus Laos, public contributions by Hmong women. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The interview was conducted predominantly in Hmong. The Hmong transcript and an English translation are bound together for this interview.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

328. Interview with Simi Ahuja

Creator:
Ahuja, Simi
Date Created:
1998-04-10
Description:
Simi Ahuja was born in Pennsylvania, but grew up in Minnesota. She graduated from college in Minnesota and works in health care administration. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, familiarity with parents' language, involvement in a women's group of second-generation children - family values - Indian community connections - spiritual life - self-acceptance, holiday celebrations - family trips to India - university experiences - future plans, advantages and challenges of being a second-generation child - struggle to balance cultural and familial expectations.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

329. Interview with Sinmin and Betty Wu

Creator:
Wu, Sinmin
Date Created:
1979-12-02
Description:
Sinmin Wu was born June 1, 1931, in the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province, China. Betty Wu (Yun Aur) was born December 15, 1938, in the city of Tianjin, in Hebei Province. Both left China for Taiwan during the Communist Revolution in the 1940s. They were married in Taiwan in 1959 and soon left for Malaysia, where Sinmin became a teacher in a Chinese girls' high school. Their first child was born in Malaysia. Sinmin went to the United States in 1961 for graduate study in mathematics at Southern Illinois University. He received a master of arts degree and accepted a teaching position at the University of Minnesota, Morris, in 1965. Betty and their daughter arrived in Morris in 1966. Two additional children have been born to the family in the United States. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The Wus discuss the experience of Chinese Americans in small towns outside the Twin Cities area - their activities and sense of acceptance in university and community affairs - development of their children's identities in an area where few other Chinese live - and the role of Asian families in resettlement of a Vietnamese refugee family in Morris in late 1979 and 1980. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: This interview focused on acculturation in a small town as opposed to an urban area, on family life, and on the concerns of a transplanted Chinese family for the future of their children. It should be noted that although they have no worry about the Americanization of their children, they also want their children to know their own cultural heritage and language.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

330. Interview with Sister Jancy and Sister Tresa Jose

Creator:
Sister Jancy
Date Created:
1995-01-21
Description:
Sister Jancy and Sister Tresa Jose were born in India where both attended school and college. They immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1970s at the request of their church superiors. Both attained graduate degrees from a Minnesota university while working. Sister Jancy is the assistant principal and Sister Tresa Joe is a teacher at a Catholic school in Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Their decisions to become nuns - travel to Minnesota - family reactions to their immigrating to America - arriving in Minneapolis - teacher education in Minnesota - involvement with Malayali groups - differences between life in the United States and life in India - learning American teaching techniques - keeping in touch with family in India - being viewed primarily as nuns rather than as Indians - sharing responsibilities around the house - learning to drive - cooking American and Indian meals - values - changes in Catholic teachings - retirement plans - and trips back to India.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

331. Interview with Slovie Kissen-Marver

Creator:
Kissen-Marver, Slovie
Date Created:
1986-11-07 - 1986-11-10
Description:
Slovie Kissen was born April 23, 1905, in St. Paul. Her father was Rabbi Wolfe Kissin, who came to St. Paul from London via Kansas City, Missouri, to open a private Hebrew school, Rev. Kissin's Parochial School. Later he became principal of the newly organized Capital City Hebrew School. Slovie Kissen had three sisters, Leah, Sternie and Sarah, and two brothers, Joe and Alfred. The family moved to Duluth in 1911 and returned to St. Paul in 1913. Next they lived and farmed on a five-acre farm called Slingerlands, Mahtomedi, White Bear Lake. Kissen graduated from Mechanic Arts High School, and on December 28, 1924, she married Bernard Bernstein. (He changed his name back to Marver, his family's original name, in 1940.) They have three sons. The family operated various clothing and general stores in St. Paul and South Dakota. Kissen-Marver was also involved in many community service organizations, including the Ramsey County Mothers' March on Polio, the state and national boards of the United Nations Association, the St. Paul Inter Club Council, and the board of the St. Paul YWCA. She also was a dramatics teacher for community playgrounds and in Catholic schools. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background and religion - family involvement in farming - family life and child-rearing - her father's career as a rabbi, fundraiser, businessman and horticulturist - her education - her courtship, marriage and three sons - Bernie Marver's businesses - her life in small towns - and work on various community services. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Two male voices on the tapes are Bernard Marver and one of the Marvers' sons. The MHS manuscripts collection contains one folder of letters and other documents from Slovie Kissen-Marver.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

332. Interview with Sok Yorm and Phorm Phuong

Creator:
Yorm, Sok
Date Created:
1992-07-31
Description:
Sok Yorm and Phorm Phrong are a married couple who lived and grew up in Battambang. In 1975, they were farmers and had two children, ages 11 and 12. They were separated by the Khmer Rouge and not allowed to see one another. Mr. Yorm had to bury three dead bodies from their village who were killed by the Khmer Rouge. The family was reunited after the Vietnamese entered Cambodia in 1979 and spent five years in Khao I Dang refugee camp. Their eldest daughter was delayed in coming to America, but they are all now living in Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Moving Image
Format:
Oral histories

333. Interview with Sova Niev

Creator:
Niev, Sova
Date Created:
1992-07-30
Description:
Sova Niev was born in 1968. She, her parents and four siblings were sent by the Khmer Rouge to a different village and were then separated into different work camps. She survived despite not receiving any treatment when she was very ill. Her mother and brother were beaten by the Khmer Rouge for attempting to grow and find other sources of food and both of them eventually passed away while they were still in the Khmer Rouge camps. Niev came to the United States in 1982 and has worked for the Khmer Association in Minnesota. She visited Cambodia in 1992.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Moving Image
Format:
Oral histories

334. Interview with Stanley V. Chong

Creator:
Chong, Stanley V.
Date Created:
1979-06-28
Description:
Stanley Chong was born in 1912 in Yakima, Washington. His father, Sam Chong, had immigrated to the United States from a rural village in the Taishan District of Guangdong Province in South China. His mother, Yut-tai Lee, was an American-born daughter of a Chinese pioneer immigrant to Portland, Oregon. Stanley lived on his parents' ranch in the Yakima Valley until the age of about seven, when he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents and a widowed aunt in Portland. He attended Shattuck Elementary School and Lincoln High School in Portland and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1933. In 1934 Chong moved to Minneapolis, where his aunt operated a small enterprise known as the Chinese Gift Shop. Later he managed the shop with the help of Marvel Hum, whom he married in 1941. (See interview of Marvel Hum Chong, also in this oral history project.) During World War II the shop was closed when Chong was drafted into the army and the couple moved to the West Coast. In 1944 they returned to Minneapolis and opened the International House of Foods, a successful wholesale and retail business in Asian and Middle Eastern foods that they operated until 1981, when it was destroyed by fire. Chong was one of the organizers of the Chinese American Club in the Twin Cities in the post-World War II years and became the first president of the Chinese American Association in Minnesota (CAAM), organized in the 1960s. He was also active in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, organized in the early 1970s. The Chongs have one daughter, Sui-linn, born in 1946. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Chong compares the differences in childrearing methods of early immigrants such as his parents and maternal grandparents, and those used by himself and his wife in rearing their own daughter - he also describes the Chinese community in Minnesota from the 1930s to the 1970s, including community organizations of the post-World War II years. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Stanley Chong is one of many Chinese from the West Coast who have settled in Minnesota. He makes several observations about the differences between the West Coast and the Midwest in terms of discrimination and business opportunities for Chinese during the pre-World War II years.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

335. Interview with Stefan Peterson

Creator:
Peterson, Stefan
Date Created:
2003-10-02
Description:
Stefan Peterson married an Indian and thus became involved in the Indian community. He became actively involved with the Festival of Nations and was later appointed president of the India Association of Minnesota [IAM]. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Education - meeting and marrying his wife - becoming involved in the Indian community in Minnesota - volunteering for the Festival of Nations - learning about Indian culture and traditions - visiting India - being approached about the presidency of IAM and activities involved in during presidency - membership - India Day activities - support for service projects - organizational structure and political involvement of IAM - reasons for success of IAM - changing IAM's name from India Club - immigration - and the future of IAM.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

336. Interview with Stella Alvo

Creator:
Alvo, Stella
Date Created:
1975-07-24
Description:
The main interest of this interview was Ms. Alvo's organization of Mi Cultura, a bilingual and bicultural day care center for children in St. Paul. Subjects discussed include: Mi Cultura Day Care Center - the human resources to be found in St. Paul's West Side community.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

337. Interview with Sua V. Yang

Creator:
Yang, Sua Vu
Date Created:
2000-01-22
Description:
Sua Vu Yang is the mother of MayKao Hang and the daughter of See Lee. Her maiden clan name is Vu and she married into the Yang clan. She is fifty-one years old and has five children. She has graduated from high school and completed other courses. She studied for two years at Northeast Metro. She is employed making hearing aids for the deaf. She is separated from her husband whom she married when she was fifteen. She immigrated to America about twenty-three years ago. She lived in Huab Xis Vees, Seng Khouang, Laos. She is a White Hmong that wears Phuam Paj. Subjects discussed include: Biographical information and religious affiliation. Childhood-school attendance, duties at home, community service, skills taught, social activities as a child, aspirations as a child. Hmong women's roles-decision making inside and outside of home and clan, women in leadership roles and how they are seen in the community, what women do to support their families, family planning, when women feel respected or disrespected. The war and living in refugee camps-memories of fleeing Laos, of refugee camps, difference in treatment of men and women in the camps. Adjustments since coming to the U.S.-skills needed to adjust, learning English, skills from Laos and Thailand that are adaptable or useable in the U.S., citizenship, leadership roles for women in the U.S. versus Laos, public contributions by Hmong women. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The interview was conducted predominantly in Hmong. The Hmong transcript and an English translation are bound together for this interview.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

338. Interview with Sudhansu Misra

Creator:
Misra,Sudhansu
Date Created:
1993-06-07 - 1994-05-05
Description:
Sudhansu Misra was born in India where he attended high school and graduated from college. He continued his studies in Ohio and Michigan. He came to Minnesota where he and his wife operate a heath care facility. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: His early desire to live abroad - education - family reaction to his travel to America - extended families - arranged marriages - departing India and traveling to Ohio - education experiences in Michigan - communicating with family in India - efforts to make him feel comfortable in Ohio - making friends with Americans - early work experiences, seeing discrimination, decision to remain in U.S. - experiences acquiring visa and security clearance - visits to India in early 1960s. Marriage, differences between American and Indian child rearing practices - instilling Indian culture - involvement in the India Club and School of India for Languages and Culture (SILC) - experiences in Florida - organizing Indians in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area - India Club in Minneapolis - work with Council of Asian and Pacific Minnesotans - Hindu community - Indian dancing - social activities - separation by language groups - benefits and disadvantages of belonging to Indian associations - his current work - impact of being an immigrant on work - important family values - mixing of Eastern and Western values - changes in the local Indian community - older immigrants - and retirement plans.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

339. Interview with Sumaya Yusuf and Bibi Abdalla

Creator:
Abdalla, Bibi
Date Created:
2004-06-02
Description:
Sumaya Yusuf and Bibi Abdalla have both worked with the Minnesota Historical Society by conducting interviews for the Somali Skyline Tower Oral History Project. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Respect for parents and elders; how Somalis in the United States are losing their culture; uniqueness in Somali culture; the importance of poetry and songs; trying to maintain Somali language and traditions; Somali culture relating to African-American culture; Somalis and Americanization.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

340. Interview with Sunanda Iyengar

Creator:
Iyengar, Sunanda
Date Created:
1999-01-20
Description:
Sunanda Iyengar was born in India where she attended school and college. She immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1990s, and works in the health care industry. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - early life - school days - family values - cultural values - first impressions of U.S. and travel remembrances - experiences in college level schooling in India and the U.S. - first job in India compared and contrasted to first job in U.S., impressions of current employer - future plans - benefits and opportunities compared and contrasted to those in India - maintaining Indian culture - Indian associations and activities.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

341. Interview with Sung Won Son

Creator:
Son, Sung Won
Date Created:
1979-12-19
Description:
Sung Won Son was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1944. He was the fifth in a family of six children. His father was a banker. Son arrived in the United States in 1962 to study at the University of Florida. After his graduation in 1966 he entered a graduate program at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and completed a master of arts degree in economics. He also earned a doctorate in economics at the University of Pittsburgh. From 1969 to 1974 he taught economics and business at Slippery Rock State College in Pennsylvania, and in the 1970s he served as senior economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors in Washington, D.C. In 1974 Son joined the Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis, becoming the senior vice-president and chief economist in 1977. Son was married to the late Barbara Stevens and is the father of two daughters. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Son discusses the reasons he came to the United States, and to Minnesota in particular - the harsh Minnesota winters as a factor in the open social climate for Asians in the state - the unusually high number of large business corporations with headquarters in the Twin Cities - the lack of significant discrimination against Asians - and the unique situation of the early Korean community, considered to be well-organized and stable compared to larger Korean settlements on the West Coast. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Son is well-known in Minnesota and elsewhere as an economic forecaster and has made numerous television and radio appearances. His analyses of national and state economies also appear frequently in the press.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

342. Interview with Suruchi P. Kelly

Creator:
Kelly, Suruchi Patankar; United States
Date Created:
1997-10-03
Description:
Suruchi Patankar Kelly was born in India. Her family moved to Minnesota in the 1970s. She attended high school in Minnesota, then college and medical school in Massachusetts. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, experiences living in London, pride in Indian heritage. Family values, schooling, religion, experiences at college, Bharata Natyam dance. Plans for the future. Advantages and disadvantages of growing up in two different cultures.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

343. Interview with Susana de Leon

Creator:
de Leon, Susana; United States
Date Created:
2010-04-08
Description:
Susana de Leon was born in northern Mexico, in Zacatecas. De Leon attended normal school for four years for teaching. Afterwards she moved from California to Minnesota. She continued her education at the University of Minnesota and is currently an immigration attorney. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - childhood - education - Latino food and culture - jobs held - financial struggles - bilingual in Spanish and English - friendships - immigration - personal relationships - teaching - Minnesota winter - college recruiting - working with people with disabilities - West Side Latino community in Minnesota - folkloric Mexican dancing - and being proud of her heritage.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

344. Interview with Susan March

Creator:
March, Susan
Date Created:
2011-01-02
Description:
Susan March was adopted and grew up in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. She received her bachelor's degree from Mankato State University. She currently works as an Executive Administrative Assistant at Deluxe Corp. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Adoption - growing up in a Caucasian family - being Korean child in a predominately white neighborhood and school - her Korean identity - Korean Adoptee Ministry Center - going back to Korea - Americans adopting Koreans - finding her biological parents - her career - differences between adoptees and immigrants.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

345. Interview with Sylvia Garcia

Creator:
Garcia, Sylvia
Date Created:
2010-12-22
Description:
Sylvia Garcia was born in Crystal City, Texas but grew up in a migrant farming family. She married and settled in Moorhead, Minnesota where she raised her two children. Sylvia has a bachelor's degree in American Studies from Moorhead State University. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - migrant farming - education - community - Latino and American culture - raising her children - Latino foods - prejudices - Latino education in Moorhead - Spanish/English language barrier and medicine - Somali and Latino relations.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

346. Interview with Sylvia Peilen, United Jewish Fund and Council Oral History Project Phase 1, St. Paul, Minnesota

Creator:
Sylvia Peilen, 1896-1986
Date Created:
1978
Description:
Audio file of an interview with Sylvia Peilen conducted by Ann Greenberg. The interview includes: Peilen family history, including growing up on the East side and moving to the West side of St. Paul; Jewish-gentile relations; Sylvia Peilen's schooling and early employment history. Peilen also recalls her work with several different community service organizations, including Sholom Home, Youth Allyah, United Jewish Fund, the St Paul Jewish Community Center and Temple of Aaron.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

347. Interview with Tashi Khongertsang

Creator:
Khongertsang, Tashi
Date Created:
2005-08-24
Description:
Tashi Khongertsang was born in India and moved to Nepal with his parents. He attended school in Kalingpong, India. Khongertsang moved to Seattle as a teenager to live with family. He then moved to Minnesota in 1996. He is the owner of Tibet's Corner, the first Tibetan-owned restaurant in Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, family, attending school in India, moving to the United States, adjusting to life in the U.S., weather, first jobs in the U.S., opening a restaurant, generational differences within community, Tibetan food, educating Westerners, running a business, community, stereotypes, differences and similarities between Tibetans and Westerners, citizenship, preserving culture.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

348. Interview with Tashi Lhamo

Creator:
Lhamo, Tashi
Date Created:
2005-09-08
Description:
Tashi Lhamo was born in India and grew up in Mysore. She studied Tibetan medicine at the prestigious Tibetan Medical and Astrological Center in Dharamsala. Lhamo has practiced Tibetan medicine in India and in the United States. She moved to Minnesota in 2002. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, family, Tibetan medicine, studying at the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Center, moving to the United States, nursing, practicing Tibetan medicine in India and the U.S., teaching at the University of Minnesota, similarities and differences between Tibetan and Western medicine practices, common ailments of Tibetans, changes in Tibetan health, preserving culture, Tibetan Cultural Center, similarities and differences between India and the U.S., living with parents.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

349. Interview with Tashi Lhewa

Creator:
Lhewa, Tashi
Date Created:
2005-08-28
Description:
Tashi Lhewa was born in Mussoorie, Uttaranchal, India. He moved to Montana at the age of 17 and later moved to Minnesota. Lhewa obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and is attending the University of Minnesota Law School. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family, parents, attending school in India, moving to the United States, differences between schools in India and the U.S., diversity, deciding to move to Minnesota, college experiences, community, challenges, deciding to study law, parental influence, future plans, similarities and differences between living in small and large Tibetan communities in the U.S., Student for Free Tibet (SFT), overcoming cultural challenges, similarities and differences between Tibetan and American culture, Tibetan Cultural Center, Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota (TAFM), expanding community, Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), obligations of being Tibetan, civic duty, preserving culture, economic differences within the community, assimilation, parenting.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

350. Interview with Ted Guerrero

Creator:
Guerrero, Ted
Date Created:
2010-04-19
Description:
Ted Guerrero was born in Saint John's, Michigan. He was drawn to Minnesota to work on the farms and stayed for financial support offered by Moorhead State University. Guerrero received his bachelor's degree from Moorhead State University in guidance and counseling. Guerrero later worked for the University as a recruiter for minority students for over 35 years. He served as president of the Hispanic Caucus of Minnesota Education Association promoting bilingual education and ESL (English as a Second Language). Guerrero also served four years on the Minnesota State Board of Health under Governor Rudy Perpich. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - education - moving to Minnesota - jobs held - Minnesota winter - Hispanic music - speaking Spanish and English in the family - Latino culture - Tejano band - his five sons - education system in Minnesota - comparing North Dakota to Minnesota - cascarones - religion - Mexican food - diversity - racism renting a home - immigration - and networking.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories
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