Eugene Moy with Munson Kwok copying photos

Howard Quon and father in Sanchez Alley

Tom Shee Bin, Chinese herbalist, with family

Nellie Yee Chung, birthday party

The Southern California Chinese American Oral History Project, jointly sponsored by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center (AASC) and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, was initiated in September 1978.  The goal of the project to address the archival gaps concerning Chinese American history and the Chinese American experience in the greater Los Angeles area, focusing mainly in the period prior to World War II. With guidance and support by UCLA AASC and its director, Lucie Cheng Hirata, CHSSC staff and volunteers led by Munson Kwok and Suellen Cheng collected 165 interviews spanning almost 400 cassette tapes, over 1700 pages of accompanying transcripts and indices, and over 1600 supplemental photographs, documents, and ephemera over several years. The public can now hear the voices of Chinese American residents speak about the formation and their experiences within Los Angeles's five historic Chinatowns: Old Chinatown, City Market, China City, East Adams, and New Chinatown, as well as family histories, socioeconomic conditions, religious and cultural activities, and relationships within their communities and with the community at large.

Audiotapes were digitized by UCLA Library with the help of a Haynes Foundation grant secured in 2015.

Photos were digitized by CHSSC staff in 2022 with funding from Cathay Bank.

CHSSC Staff and Volunteers

Access and Use Policy

The collection (physical or digital) may be used for fair use for educational or research purposes (in the classroom, for a course-based assignment, scholarly research, and/or family research) without requiring written permission.  With use for educational purposes, both the AASC and the CHSSC should still be acknowledged as creators of this collection.

Requests for the reproduction of the oral histories in any form, in whole or in part, for anything beyond fair use must be made in writing to the AASC Director or the CHSSC President.  Written requests must provide the name and affiliation of the applicant, the portion of the collection for which permission is requested, the purpose of the applicant’s request, and the possible results of the applicant’s work using the collection.  Permission will be granted in writing.  The AASC and the CHSSC will notify the other party about these requests and whether or not permission was granted.