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26. Interview with Khou Xiong

Creator:
Xiong, Khou
Date Created:
1991-11-13
Description:
Khou Xiong is a Hmong woman, 61 years old. She was a mother and housewife in Laos. She moved to Minneapolis in 1979 and presently completes Hmong handiwork sent from Laos, whose profits from sale are returned to Laos. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Khou Xiong talks of her immigration and acclimation to the United States. She notes differences in family relations, particularly in the behavior and attitudes of her children in the United States and those still in Laos. Khou Xiong ends the interview with a piece of advice for Hmong women. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Interview translated by May Herr.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

27. 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

28. Interview with Howard Woo

Creator:
Woo, Howard F.
Date Created:
1981-10-09
Description:
Howard Woo was born in 1905 in San Francisco and came to Minnesota with his adoptive parents in 1906. His father, Yee Sing Woo (Woo Yee Sing, in Chinese name order), arrived in Minneapolis in 1882. He was a pioneer settler, successful businessman, and early leader in the Chinese community. The elder Woo married May Seen Liang (Liang May Seen) in San Francisco and brought her to Minneapolis in 1893. Both were active in the Chinese Sunday School at Westminster Presbyterian Church, a Sunday afternoon meeting place for early Chinese immigrants and their families attending religious services and English classes. Howard Woo attended Emerson School in Minneapolis during his elementary years and graduated from West High School in 1922. He entered the University of Minnesota in 1923 and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1927. He returned to the university to study architecture (which was then available only at the undergraduate level) and received a bachelor of architecture degree in 1931. Also in 1931 Woo married Lolita Young, a Chinese American from Portland, Oregon. Few jobs were available for architects during the Depression, and Woo turned to the family restaurant, known as John's Place, for employment. With the onset of World War II Woo found a job at the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant, as a gauge engineer, and later in the war years he worked as a draftsman for the Maico Corporation, which had a government contract to develop a metal detector for shrapnel. It was not until after the war that Woo was able to use his architectural training. In the early 1950s Woo became a partner in a newly formed industrial design company, Harold Darr Associates. The firm was quite successful but was dissolved in the early 1960s when Harold Darr joined the Char Lynn Company. Woo again returned to John's Place, which had become one of the Twin Cities' most popular Chinese restaurants. He remained at the family restaurant until it was closed in 1967 because the owner of the property wanted to build a parking lot in its place--a great loss to the Twin Cities community. After John's Place was closed, Woo retired to pursue a number of personal interests, including book collecting, particularly first editions and works of fine presses in which the craftwork is of special interest. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents' background - his father's many businesses, including the Hand Laundry, Canton Cafe, Yee Sing and Co., and Yuen Faung Low (John's Place) - his mother's curio shop - his early life in Minneapolis - his years at the University of Minnesota - discrimination against Chinese in the Twin Cities during the early years of settlement - and intermarriage among the third generation. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: No oral history collection on the Chinese community in Minnesota would be complete without the testimony of Howard Woo. He was probably the first Chinese child to live in the state, and his father was an important leader of the Chinese community in Minneapolis.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

29. Interview with Michael Hong Wong

Creator:
Wong, Michael Hong
Date Created:
1979-06-07 - 1979-07-03
Description:
Michael Hong Wong was born in Austin, Minnesota, in 1948. His grandfather emigrated from Guangdong Province in southern China to Albert Lea, Minnesota, in 1927, by way of Canada and Seattle, Washington. At the time of Michael Wong's birth, his grandfather, father, and uncle were partners in a Chinese restaurant in Austin, but a few years later the family moved to Fargo, North Dakota. Because this city was a crossroad in the movement of military personnel during and after World War II, business opportunities were good, and the elder Wongs worked at the Pheasant Cafe, one of five Chinese restaurants in Fargo during the 1940s and early 1950s. When Wong was about five years old, the family moved back to Minnesota, where they established the Wong Cafe in Rochester. Wong attended public elementary schools in the city and graduated from John Marshall High School in 1966. He entered the University of Minnesota the following fall and graduated in 1970 with a bachelor of fine arts degree, majoring in painting. Later he returned to the university for graduate study and received a master of fine arts degree, with a major in photography, in 1975. During his undergraduate years at the university, Wong was actively involved in the Asian American Alliance, organized on the campus during the 1960s. In 1976 Wong returned to Rochester and worked in the family restaurant, while his wife, Isabel Joe, completed an internship in dietetics at Methodist Hospital. In 1977 they returned to the Twin Cities, and Wong taught for two years at the Minnetonka Art Center (now the Art Center of Minnesota). He also engaged in freelance photography and was one of the early members of the Minnesota Asian American Project, a pan-Asian organization in the Twin Cities area. In 1980 and 1981 Wong was employed by Weigen Graphic Center in Minneapolis and also continued his work as a freelance photographer. He has frequently photographed special events in the Asian community, including those of the most recent arrivals, the Indochinese. He also participated in the collection of photographs for an exhibit entitled Asians in Minnesota" that opened in the spring of 1982 at the Minnesota Historical Society and was sponsored by the Society
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

30. Interview with Isabel Suzanne J. Wong

Creator:
Wong, Isabel Suzanne Joe
Date Created:
1982-06-08
Description:
Isabel Suzanne Joe was born in 1950 in north Minneapolis. Her father was born in China and came to the United States as a young man, returned to China to get married, and served in the U.S. military in Europe during World War II. After the war his wife and their son came from China to join him in Minnesota, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s several other children were born while the family was living in north and northeast Minneapolis. Isabel Suzanne Joe married Michael Wong, whose interview is also part of this oral history project. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Her family's background in China - their reasons for coming to the United States - growing up as the only Asian family in northeast Minneapolis - her brothers and sisters - and various degrees of acculturation within the family. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Isabel's young child is present at the interview and interrupts the interview at times.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

31. Norden Society members Falk and Lind, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Creator:
Wolf, Roman W.
Date Created:
1900?
Description:
Norden Society members Falk and Lind pose in costume.
Contributing Institution:
American Swedish Institute
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

32. Interview with Maurice and Anna Lee Wolff

Creator:
Wolff, Maurice
Date Created:
1969-06-14
Description:
Anna Lee (Mrs. Maurice) Wolff was born in Minneapolis in 1886. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1908 and married Maurice Wolff in 1909. In 1914 she was the first president of the Women's Auxiliary of the Temple of Aaron. In 1918 she was a founder of the local organization of the National Council of Jewish Women, and for two terms she was president of the Minneapolis World Affairs Council. At the time of the interview she had been a member of a local writers' group for twenty-five years. Maurice Wolff was born in Minneapolis in 1884. His parents were very active in Temple Shore Tov (later Temple Israel). He graduated from high school in 1902 and went to work for the Rothchild advertising agency about five days later. He worked there until 1919, when he went to work in his wife's family's business. Later he was business editor of Lancet Publications, which included the medical journal Lancet. Wolff was president of the Jewish welfare board during World War I and was active in Masonry and skating. He was also a member of the board for Family and Children's Services of Hennepin County and lectured in advertising at the University of Minnesota, College of St. Thomas, and local business colleges. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Anna Lee Wolff--her early life in Minneapolis - activities in public and religious affairs - general absence of anti-Semitism - and her pacifist beliefs. Maurice Wolff--his career in advertising - interests in skating and social clubs - community service - and an absence of anti-Semitism. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: MHS received the interview material in 1972 from Mrs. Nathan Berman of the Minneapolis Federation for Jewish Service. The interview consists of two parts: part one is an interview with Anna Lee Wolff, and part two is an interview with Maurice Wolff.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

33. Interview with Faamati Winey

Creator:
Winey, Faamati
Date Created:
2012-02-28
Description:
Faamati Winey was born in Samoa in 1976. At the time of the interview she was the owner of four Snap Fitness franchises. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Early life and family - education - meeting her husband - her Snap Fitness franchises - coming to Minnesota - languages spoken at home and learning English - Samoan traditions and history - the village she grew up in - Samoan foods - life in Minnesota and life in Samoa - Samoans and rugby, and playing in Minnesota - Samoans and gambling - her passion for camping, mountaineering, and scuba diving and playing sports - her goals for the future climbing Mount Everest and starting a new business.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

34. Interview with Jane Wilson

Creator:
Wilson, Lucia Jane
Date Created:
2002-10-11
Description:
Jane Wilson came to Minnesota in the early 1940s. She taught English to Chinese immigrants at the Westminster Presbyterian Church for about twenty years starting in mid-1940s as a function of the Chinese Sunday School program. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Chinese Sunday School held by Westminster Presbyterian church in Minneapolis as a vehicle to teach English and other skills, her role as teacher, and other ways she helped the Chinese and Asian community - various celebrations she has attended.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

35. Tutoring report, Unity Church Unitarian, St. Paul, Minnesota

Creator:
Whipple, John
Description:
Report to Indochinese Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) that includes tutoring statistics.
Contributing Institution:
Unity Church Unitarian
Type:
Text
Format:
Memorandums

36. Midsummer at Phalen Park, St. Paul, Minnesota

Creator:
Wendt, Anna
Date Created:
1915
Description:
The photograph shows participants at the 1915 midsummer ceelebration at Phalen Park.
Contributing Institution:
American Swedish Institute
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

37. Maypole at Phalen Park, St. Paul, Minnesota

Creator:
Wendt, Anna
Date Created:
1915
Description:
This image of the maypole at Phalen Park's 1915 midsummer celebration was made with parts of two images.
Contributing Institution:
American Swedish Institute
Type:
Still Image
Format:
Black-and-white photographs

38. Interview with Lee Vu

Creator:
Vu, Lee
Date Created:
1992-09-19
Description:
Lee Vu is an eighteen year old woman who immigrated to the United States with her family in 1989. She is a student at Edison High School. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Lee Vu talks of her family, her studies and her hopes for the future. She lists ways her life is different in America than in Thailand.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

39. Interview with Olga Viso

Creator:
Viso, Olga; United States
Date Created:
2/16/2011
Description:
Olga Viso was born in Melbourne, Florida. She attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida as an art major. Viso later attended Emory University for graduate school and afterwards became a curator at the High Museum. She later held the position as director of the Hirshhorn Museum for twelve years before becoming the executive director of the Walker Art Center. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - art as her passion - childhood - education - lack of diversity in Melbourne - Cuban exile - Cuban cooking - museum experience - Latino artists - Latino community - networking - community involvement - local art - immigrants - Walker Art Center as a resource for artists - organizations - global image of the Walker - multiculturalism - and embracing her heritage.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

40. Interview with Diana Villarreal

Creator:
Villarreal, Diana
Date Created:
1976-08-06
Description:
Diana Villarreal was born in Texas in 1928 and moved to Minnesota in 1955. She is president of the Spanish Speaking Cultural Club, which was formed in 1971 by about four people and grew to a membership of about 25 within its first few years. Subjects discussed include: The Spanish Speaking Cultural Club's philosophies, financing, meetings, goals, activities and plans for the future - her activities since coming into the community - and the ways in which the activities led to her involvement with the club. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Tape speed vacillated in sections, resulting in poor voice reproduction but not severely hampering comprehensibility.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

41. Interview with Bill Villarreal

Creator:
Villarreal, Bill
Date Created:
1976-07-27
Description:
Bill Villarreal was born in Sabinas, Hidalgo, Mexico, in 1909 and came to the United States in 1923. He settled in Albert Lea in 1948. Subjects discussed include: His early years working in agriculture in the United States - his involvement in clubs and societies in southern Minnesota, including the League of United Latin American Citizens - his role in founding the Azteca Club - the education and careers of his children - the need for Mexican Americans to be organized - and philosophies and viewpoints on progress and reform of society and its subcultures. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

42. Interview with Alberto Villarreal

Creator:
Villarreal, Alberto
Date Created:
1976-07-12
Description:
Alberto Villarreal was born in Blue Earth, Minn., in 1933 and grew up in Iowa and Albert Lea, Minn. He has worked in a packing house, a foundry, construction, a hospital and a furniture store. Since 1960 he has been a member of the Albert Lea Police Department. Subjects discussed include: Education, work and family history - involvement with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) - and the Azteca Club.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

43. Interview with Val Vargas

Creator:
Vargas, Val
Date Created:
2011-2-14
Description:
Val Vargas was born in Minneapolis. Vargas grew up in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and later in New Brighton. She attended Oklahoma City University and studied accounting. She worked at Metropolitan Economic Development Association as a business consultant and owns the Vargas Company. Vargas is the founder and current president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Jobs held - family background - Catholic religion - lack of Latino community in Minnesota - Latino culture and foods - Lake Street - being bilingual in Spanish and English - financial struggles growing up - childhood - Chicanos Latinos Unidos En Servicio - Choices - lack of services for Latino community - growing Latino population - emphasis on Spanish language - layoffs - budget cuts - and politics.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

44. Interview with Sandra L. Vargas

Creator:
Vargas, Sandra L.
Date Created:
2011-03-14
Description:
Sandra L. Vargas was born in Los Angeles before moving to Minnesota. Vargas attended the College of Saint Catherine in Saint Paul studying business administration and later the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University for a mid-career degree on public policy. She held positions working at the State Department of Economic Development and as Minnesota Department of Transportation Director of Administrative Services for the metro district. Vargas is currently the president and CEO (chief executive officer) of the Minneapolis Foundation. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Jobs held - family background - Latino community in Minnesota - immigration - religion - financial struggles growing up - childhood - importance of education - Set-Aside Program - relationships - Hispanic Chamber of Business - racism - English translators - Minnesota Chamber of Commerce - Minority Issues Advisory Council - Chicano Esperanza - Hispanic Women's Development Corporation - Latino parents conference - fellowships - and leadership.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories

45. Interview with Xang Vang

Creator:
Vang, Xang
Date Created:
2014
Description:
Interview with Xang Vang in which he discusses his work as a CIA operative during the Secret War in Laos 1961-1975 and his work in Minnesota as the Executive Director of the Lao Family Community of Minnesota. He also worked as a Hmong business entrepreneur and one of the first Hmong growers to sell produce at the St. Paul Farmers Market.
Contributing Institution:
Center for Hmong Studies
Type:
Moving Image
Format:
Oral histories

46. Interview with Sai Nou Vang

Creator:
Vang, Sai Nou
Date Created:
2015
Description:
Interview with Sai Nou Vang in which he discusses his work as General Vang Pao's personal bodyguard and house manager. He also discusses his role as Captain in the CIA Secret War in Laos 1961-1975.
Contributing Institution:
Center for Hmong Studies
Type:
Moving Image
Format:
Oral histories

47. Interview with Nhia Vang

Creator:
Vang, Nhia
Date Created:
2000-01-21
Description:
Nhia Vang is the mother of You Vang Yang and the grandmother of May Hang. Born in the Yang clan in Xubu, Laos, Nhia Vang reports she is 66 years old. She had eleven children, nine still living. She has lived in the U.S. and been widowed about twenty-five years. She is 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

48. Interview with Mao Song Lyfoung Vang

Creator:
Vang, Mao Song Lyfoung
Date Created:
2000-01-27
Description:
Song Lyfoung Vang is the aunt of Pacyinz Lyfoung. Her maiden clan was the Ly clan and she married into the Vang clan. She is eighty years old. She has twelve children, six are still living. One lives in Laos, three live in France, and two live in the U.S. She never attended school. She has been widowed since 1992. She was born in July 1919. 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

49. Interview with Dr. Chia Youyee Vang

Creator:
Vang, Chia Youyee
Date Created:
2014
Description:
Interview with Dr. Chia Youyee Vang in which she describes her work as a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and as the author of ""Reconstructing Community in Diaspora"" and ""Hmong in Minnesota.""
Contributing Institution:
Center for Hmong Studies
Type:
Moving Image
Format:
Oral histories

50. Interview with Cher Vang

Creator:
Vang, Cher
Date Created:
1992-02-03
Description:
Cher Vang immigrated to the United States from Laos in April, 1976. Currently, Cher Vang is the St. Paul Children's Hospital Hmong parent representative/interpreter. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Cher Vang talks about the immigration of his family to the United States. He describes what he thought life would be like in the U.S. before he arrived. Cher Vang also discusses the importance of his job at St. Paul Children's Hospital and what duties his job entails.
Contributing Institution:
Minnesota Historical Society
Type:
Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:
Oral histories
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