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Title: Jeanette Chow Interview, January 26, 2020
Date: January 26, 2020
Creator: Dan Kerr; Jeanette Chow
Description: Native Washingtonian Jeanette Chow talks about her family's involvement in DC's Chinatown and the changes she's seen in the area. Her father came to the District as a teenager to join her grandfather in the laundry business. She remembers spending Sundays in Chinatown with her family in the 1960s and 70s, where they would get dim sum, go to the Chinese Community Church, and shop at Chinese grocery stores. Jeanette remembers how the construction of the Convention Center and the subway in the 70s and 80s changed the area and led to the growth of non-Chinese businesses. She discusses her involvement with the Eastern Wind Newsletter, the first Chinese American newsletter in DC, and reflects on a piece she wrote about the changes in the DC Chinatown community in the late 70s. She talks about the importance of affordable housing for immigrants in order to maintain Chinese heritage and culture in Chinatown. She ends by saying how the older, family organizations have to accomodate the needs of the younger generation. She also thinks it's important for families to educate children in Chinese language and culture.
Subject: Lunar New Year Festival; Chinatown (Washington, D.C.); Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association; 1882 Foundation; Chinese Americans; Ethnic identity; Chinese identity; Chinese heritage; Chinese culture; Anacostia Community Museum; Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum; Dr. Samir Meghelli; Eastern Wind (Asian American community newsletter of Washington, D.C.); Public transportation; Metro; Gallery Place-Chinatown (DC Metro); Convention Center; Wah Luck House; H Street (Washington, D.C.); North Capitol Street (Washington, D.C.); Chinese laundries; Chinese immigrants; immigrants; Ethnic identity; Chinese identity; Chinese culture; family associations; Local businesses; Chinese-owned businesses; Affordable housing; Gentrification; Urban development
Country: United States
Collection: Lunar New Year Festival 2020
URI/handle: http://hdl.handle.net/1961/humanitiestruck:2035
mods_typeOfResource_mt: mixed material

Title: Jennifer Low Interview, January 26, 2020
Date: January 26, 2020
Creator: Dan Kerr; Jennifer Low
Description: University of Michigan design student and DC resident Jennifer Low talks about her "Dear Chinatown" project and what Chinatown means to her. "Dear Chinatown" is a making and sharing project for the DC Chinatown community to declare what they love about the neighborhood. Jenn thinks it is important to generate insights from the people who actually live in a place and learn what matters to them. For her, Chinatown is a place where people feel belonging and can claim as their own. She hopes to see increased visibility of the people who created Chinatown and its culture in the future, and envisions it as a public space that can be used by the community and fufill their everyday needs.
Subject: Lunar New Year Festival; Chinatown (Washington, D.C.); Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association; 1882 Foundation; Chinese Americans; Chinese immigrants; Project PDA: Love Letters to D.C.’s Chinatown; Ethnic identity; Chinese identity; Chinese culture
Country: United States
Collection: Lunar New Year Festival 2020
URI/handle: http://hdl.handle.net/1961/humanitiestruck:2036
mods_typeOfResource_mt: mixed material

Title: Lance Tran Interview, January 26, 2020
Date: January 26, 2020
Creator: Dan Kerr; Lance Tran
Description: Recent DC transplant Lance Tran discusses the meaning of Chinatown to him. Growing up in Missouri, he reflects on not having big celebrations of his culture. He remembers going to Chinatown for the first time in San Francisco and being struck by the sense of community and the pervasiveness of Chinese culture. Lance sees Chinatown as a way to connect with his culture, speak Cantonese, and as a place of refuge. He talks about the future of Chinatown, and hopes that the city can strike a balance between creating a place that is open and welcoming for everyone, while not displacing original residents. He says that we need to be mindful of issues like gentrification.
Subject: Lunar New Year Festival; Chinatown (Washington, D.C.); Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association; 1882 Foundation; Chinatown (San Francisco, CA); Chinese New Year's Day parade; Chinese culture; Chinese identity; Ethnic identity; Chinese immigrants; immigrants; Urban development; Gentrification; Affordable housing
Country: United States
Collection: Lunar New Year Festival 2020
URI/handle: http://hdl.handle.net/1961/humanitiestruck:2037
mods_typeOfResource_mt: mixed material

Title: Regina Chow McPhie Interview, January 26, 2020
Date: January 26, 2020
Creator: Dan Kerr; Regina Chow McPhie
Description: Native Washingtonian Regina Chow McPhie discusses her family history in DC's Chinatown and reflects on the necessity of perserving Chinese heritage in the area. She talks about how her family was involved in Chinatown from its earliest days, and how her grandfather helped start the Lee Family Association. She says that her grandfather and other immigrants were relegated to domestic work, such as the laundry business, due to racial discrimination and a hatred of the Chinese. Regina talks about how Chinatown has significantly diminished. She remembers visiting Chinatown and connecting with thousands of other Chinese in the 60s and 70s, whereas now only about 300 Chinese live in the area. While she admires the DC government's efforts to preserve Chinatown, she thinks they can do more, perhaps with money collected from parking tickets. She says now that Chinatown is struggling to exist. Regina sees a dichotomy between the older and younger generations in terms of the importance of preserving heritage. She views this as extremely important: "if you don't have your heritage, you don't have your history. You don't exist."
Subject: Lunar New Year Festival; Chinese New Year's Day parade; Chinatown (Washington, D.C.); Chinatown (San Francisco, CA); Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association; 1882 Foundation; Chinese Americans; Ethnic identity; Chinese identity; Chinese heritage; Chinese culture; Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association; Transcontinental Railroad; Racial discrimination; Domestic workDomestic work; Anacostia Community Museum; Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum; Dr. Samir Meghelli; Harry Chow (community activist); Penny Lee (documentary producer); Wah Luck House; Mary E. Surratt Boarding House; Chinese laundries; Chinese-owned businesses; Local businesses; Chinese immigrants; immigrants; Ethnic identity; Chinese identity; Chinese culture; family associations; Lee Family Association; Affordable housing; Gentrification; Urban development
Country: United States
Collection: Lunar New Year Festival 2020
URI/handle: http://hdl.handle.net/1961/humanitiestruck:2038
mods_typeOfResource_mt: mixed material