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Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

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584 results for: Asian American

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Image of Phuong Nguyen cooking in her restaurant, Seattle, September 1978
Photograph

Phuong Nguyen cooking in her restaurant, Seattle, September 1978

Phuong Nguyen, her husband Phi-Hung Nguyen, and their seven children arrived in Seattle from Vietnam in 1975. Phi-Hung, a former university professor in art and sculpture, enrolled in a program to help him find a new job, and Phuong enrolled in a restaurant management program. By 1978, Phi-Hung was working at a professional level in graphics design, Phuong had opened…
ID Number:2000.107.132.16.03
Date:1978
Image of Thien Nguyen in his lab at UW, Seattle, October 2, 1991
Photograph

Thien Nguyen in his lab at UW, Seattle, October 2, 1991

Thien Nguyen took his first course - calculus - at the University of Washington when only eight years old, and graduated at age 15 with a degree in bioengineering. He then entered the university’s highly selective MD/PhD program that combines medical practice with scientific research. After received his MD and PhD degrees from UW, Nguyen completed a residency in Neurology…
ID Number:2000.107.132.16.05
Date:1991
Image of Chizuko Omori at home in front of incarceration camp photos, Seattle, August 10, 1988
Photograph

Chizuko Omori at home in front of incarceration camp photos, Seattle, August 10, 1988

Chizuko May Omori (b. 1930), a young Nisei girl, was living with her family in Oceanside, California when World War II broke out. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Omori and her family were incarcerated in Poston concentration camp (known officially as the Colorado River Relocation Center) in Yuma County, Arizona. After release from the camp, Omori lived for a…
ID Number:2000.107.136.07.01
Date:1988
Image of Andy Padua at Pike Place Market, Seattle, May 19, 1977
Photograph

Andy Padua at Pike Place Market, Seattle, May 19, 1977

Andy Padua was a small farmer who ran a stall in Pike Place Market for more than 30 years. His stall sold onions, greens, and peppers. To his customers, Padua was known as “the Pepper Man,” due to the wide variety of peppers he grew. His peppers, winter melons, and ginger root were especially popular with Filipino and Chinese customers.…
ID Number:2000.107.137.19.02
Date:1977
Image of Thongdy family members clearing land for family farm, April 12, 1982
Photograph

Thongdy family members clearing land for family farm, April 12, 1982

This image shows five members of the Thongdy family on an 85 acre plot of land they plan to turn into a farm. The Thongdys were from Cambodia, but the brutal Khmer Rouge regime forced them to flee. The family hid in the jungles for several months before escaping to Thailand. They spent several years in a refugee camp in…
ID Number:2000.107.151.05.01
Date:1982
Image of Footong Tsoy Saelee and Choi Saechao selling produce at Pike Place Market, Seattle, July 21, 1982
Photograph

Footong Tsoy Saelee and Choi Saechao selling produce at Pike Place Market, Seattle, July 21, 1982

The Indochinese Farm Project began in 1982 with 18 acres of land along the Sammamish River. Funded in part by King County and the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (Market PDA), the Indochinese Farm project was a joint project of the Washington State Commission on Asian American Affairs and Bethany Presbyterian church. Through the project, refugees from Laos,…
ID Number:2000.107.151.05.02
Date:1982
Image of Buntha Nhep counseling Taing family at the Asian Resettlement Center, Bellevue, June 14, 1982
Photograph

Buntha Nhep counseling Taing family at the Asian Resettlement Center, Bellevue, June 14, 1982

In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, thousands of people from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos fled violence and persecution in their home countries and sought refuge in the United States and elsewhere. By 1982, there were 30,000 refugees from Southeast Asia living in Washington. Many spoke little or no English, had very little money, and were unemployed. When they left…
ID Number:2000.107.151.05.03
Date:1982
Image of Mekong Rainier Supermarket in Rainier Valley, Seattle, July 12, 1983
Photograph

Mekong Rainier Supermarket in Rainier Valley, Seattle, July 12, 1983

In the early 1980s, the demographics of Rainier Valley were changing quickly. The area had been mostly white through the 1960s. However, the Boeing bust in the early 1970s, combined with freeway building projects, began pushing Black residents of the Central Area further south into Rainier Valley where housing was more available and rents were cheaper. New construction and condominiums…
ID Number:2000.107.151.05.05
Date:1983
Image of March against admitting the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, Seattle, September 21, 1971
Photograph

March against admitting the People's Republic of China to the United Nations, Seattle, September 21, 1971

When the U.N. General Assembly opened its 1971 session in September 1971, a proposal was made to replace the Republic of China (Taiwan) with the People’s Republic of China (Mainland China). In Seattle, some two dozen Chinese people and allies protested the proposal by marching down Third Avenue from Virginia Street to Yesler Way. They called Mainland China an aggressor…
ID Number:2000.107.153.14.02
Date:1971
Image of Kiyo Sakahara, Seattle, March 27, 1974
Photograph

Kiyo Sakahara, Seattle, March 27, 1974

This image shows Kiyoshi (Kiyo) Sakahara (1920-2013), a leader in Seattle’s Japanese American community. She attended the University of Washington majoring in chemistry, but shortly before graduation her studies were interrupted by the forced removal of Japanese Americans. Sakahara was incarcerated in the Puyallup Assembly Center, then the Minidoka concentration camp. Sakahara and her family obtained early release and she…
ID Number:2000.107.159.13.01
Date:1974
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