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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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177 results for: Immigration

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Image of Arrivals from Alaska, Seattle, December 25, 1952
Photograph

Arrivals from Alaska, Seattle, December 25, 1952

The 1952 McCarran Act combined various disparate United States immigration laws into a single statute. One effect of the law required that residents of the Territory of Alaska arriving in the continental U.S. had to prove their identity. Seattle's first test of the new law was the arrival of the S.S. Baranof from Seward, Alaska.Here, District Immigration Director John P.…
ID Number:2000.107.095.22.01
Date:1952
Image of New citizens of the United States, July 4, 1963
Photograph

New citizens of the United States, July 4, 1963

Each year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service holds ceremonies for new immigrants to become U.S. citizens. In 1963, the July 4th naturalization ceremonies were held at the Aqua Theater at Green Lake.Here, three new citizens stand between American Legion Commander (Seattle Post 1) Dan P. Danilov and John. P. Boyd, district director of the INS, who had presented the certificates.…
ID Number:2000.107.095.22.02
Date:1963
Image of Saechao family, Burien, June 16, 1983
Photograph

Saechao family, Burien, June 16, 1983

The 15-member Saechao family, shown here, arrived in Seattle in early 1983. They had fled from the Vietnamese army in Laos in 1975, leaving the Mien village where they were prosperous farmers, to walk for 15 days to Thailand. The family spent six years in Thai camps before being sponsored to come to Burien, Washington. There, the large family lived…
ID Number:2000.107.110.15.01
Date:1983
Image of Soukasone and Vilae family at table, Bellevue, July 19, 1981
Photograph

Soukasone and Vilae family at table, Bellevue, July 19, 1981

Approximately 4,500 Southeast Asian refugees settled in King County in 1981, of whom nearly half were from Laos. They were among the 24,000 Southeast Asians to come to Washington State between 1975 and 1981, in the aftermath of the Vietnam War.The Vilai and Sousakone families were among those who fled Laos and arrived in Washington in 1981. Here, Silioth, 4,…
ID Number:2000.107.110.15.02
Date:1981
Image of Hmong refugees waiting for meeting, Seattle, March 27, 1982
Photograph

Hmong refugees waiting for meeting, Seattle, March 27, 1982

The Hmong are a people whose historical homeland is in Southeast Asia and southern China. Hmong people came to Washington as refugees after the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Many Hmong were recruited by the US to fight in these conflicts and were forced to flee after the North Vietnamese victory in 1975. By 1982, about 8,000 Hmong…
ID Number:2000.107.110.16.01
Date:1982
Image of Xow Yang at work in Discovery Park, Seattle, 1982
Photograph

Xow Yang at work in Discovery Park, Seattle, 1982

The Hmong are a people whose historical homeland is in Southeast Asia and southern China. Hmong people came to Washington as refugees after the Vietnam War and the Laotian Civil War. Many Hmong were recruited by the US to fight in these conflicts and were forced to flee after the North Vietnamese victory in 1975. By 1982, about 8,000 Hmong…
ID Number:2000.107.110.16.02
Date:1982
Image of Somvilay family reunion at SeaTac airport, Seattle, January 13, 1983
Photograph

Somvilay family reunion at SeaTac airport, Seattle, January 13, 1983

The Somvilay family of Laos was living in a refugee camp in Thailand in 1980 when their 16-year-old daughter, Manichanh, was kidnapped and brought to Bangkok. Manichanh eventually escaped and returned to the camp, but her family had already emigrated to Seattle. The Somvilays learned their daughter was alive in late 1981, and the process to rescue her from the…
ID Number:2000.107.110.16.03
Date:1983
Image of Yao Unaf Saeturn farming near Woodinville, July 21, 1982
Photograph

Yao Unaf Saeturn farming near Woodinville, 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:2000.107.110.16.04
Date:1982
Image of Shoua Chang working on her farm near Woodinville, 1984
Photograph

Shoua Chang working on her farm near Woodinville, 1984

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:2000.107.110.16.05
Date:1984
Image of Da C. Le, editor of the Vietnam Times, in his office, Seattle, January 1992
Photograph

Da C. Le, editor of the Vietnam Times, in his office, Seattle, January 1992

In 1992, Da Le was editor of the Vietnam Times, a Vietnamese language newspaper based in Seattle. Le's paper advocated for normalizing relations between Vietnam and the US and for the end of a trade embargo imposed by the US against Vietnam. In response, a group called the Movement Against Assistance to Communist Vietnam distributed a leaflet among Seattle's Vietnamese…
ID Number:2000.107.111.17.02
Date:1992
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MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
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