Founded in 1972 when women artists had few spaces to exhibit, A.I.R. (Artists in residence, Inc.) Gallery is the first artist-run nonprofit gallery for women artists in the United States. Within the A.I.R. collection are materials pertaining to its Asian and Asian American women artists.
Actors’ Equity Association Records
The Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) is the labor union of professional theatrical performers and stage managers. The collection consists of all of the earliest records of the organization as well as general files, membership records, contract files, claims, and correspondence with other unions, guilds and federations.
AFL-CIO Printed Ephemera Collection
The AFL-CIO was created from the merger of two major labor organizations. The American Federation of Labor (AFL), a craft-oriented union, had been formed in 1886, while the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) had broken away from the AFL in the late 1930s after internal disputes. The two unions merged in 1955 and George Meany was elected as the first president of the new AFL-CIO. Meany was succeeded in 1979 by Lane Kirkland.
AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council Records
The New York City Central Labor Council is an organization that furthers the rights of workers to organize in unions and bargain collectively; to advocate legislation which is beneficial to workers and oppose that which is not; and to correct abuses and to insure the workers their just rights. The collection contains reference material, reports, correspondence, flyers and copies of proposed legislation on a wide range of topics of concern to the labor movement: housing, health care, safety issues in the workplace, immigrant rights, political campaigns and matters relating to collective bargaining rights.
Karl Ichiro Akiya (1909 – 2001) was a labor and community activist. He moved to New York after his internment at Camp Topaz, Utah and worked for nearly thirty years at the Bank of Tokyo. The collection consists of subject files, writings, notebooks, artwork, photographs, and ephemera documenting Akiya’s life and work in the United States and Japan.
Robert Alexander was a New York based photographer who captured most of the major experimental choreographers, dancers, and performers of the seventies and eighties, including Stuart Sherman, Kenneth King, Simone Forti, David Gordon, Valda Setterfield, Laura Foreman, Carter Frank, Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Douglass Dunn, Rudy Perez, Meredith Monk, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, and A/P/A artists Yoshiko Chuma, Min Tanaka, and Ping Chong. By the mid-eighties Alexander was doing less and less dance photography and more photography of the city. The collection includes thousands of slides of Manhattan dating from this period, many of which reveal Alexander’s interest in ordinary street scenes and people.
Tomie Arai is an artist and community activist and Legan Wong was active in the New York Asian American Movement during the 1970s and 1980s.. The collection documents Arai and Wong’s activist work in the mural, anti-war, Asian American Studies, and greater Asian American movements in New York.
Arkipelago is a New York City-based volunteer-run cultural organization that promotes critical dialogue and community engagement in issues of concern to the Philippines and the Filipino Diaspora. The Arkipelago Collection totals 4 linear feet and consists of a range of materials documenting its “artivist” activities, including meeting agendas and minutes, events programs, leaflets, VHS films, banners and flags, photographs, and electronic files.
Chronicling the collective’s shows from 1998-2009, the Asia Pacific Forum Records measure 4.75 linear feet and document the collective’s approximately 500 on-air shows. Of particular significance are the full-length unedited interviews with notable Asian Americans including activist Yuri Kochiyama, novelist Jessica Hagedorn, and musician and activist Chris Iijima. These interviews are recorded on cassette tapes, compact discs, mini-discs, and reel-to-reel audio tapes and are contained in approximately 1.75 linear feet, along with airchecks (recordings of APF’s live broadcasts) from 1998-2009. In addition, VHS tapes and DVDs, which were sent to APF for consideration, are contained within this measurement.
Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA) Records
The Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA) is decidated to combating discimination against people with HIV/AIDS, preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS within the Asian and Pacific Islander communities, and providing care and treatment for Asian and Pacific Islanders living with HIV/AIDS. The organization’s records measure 377.0 linear feet and include the organization’s client, financial, development, human resources, programmatic, and outreach, files from 2003 to the present.
Asian American Arts Alliance Records
The Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) is a non-profit arts service organization dedicated to strengthening Asian American artists and arts/cultural groups in New York City through funding, promotion and community building. The collection consists of fiscal and donor files, organizational and artist grant files, administrative files, photographs and other visual media documenting A4 events and artists, publicity materials, A4-generated publications, and a collection of A/PA books.
Asian American Arts Centre Records
The Asian American Arts Centre (AAAC) is a New York City-based community arts organization dedicated to promoting the preservation and creative vitality of Asian American cultural growth through the arts and its historical and aesthetic linkage to other communities. Created in 2007, the AAAC Artist Archive preserves documentation from 150 selected artists who exemplified the major issues that compose the subject of Asian American art.
Asian American Federation Records
The Asian American Federation, founded in 1990, is a nonprofit organization that works to advance the civic voice and well-being of Asian Americans in the New York metropolitan area. The organization is composed of 46 member agencies. The Asian American Federation collection totals 171 linear feet and documents the organization’s fiscal conduit, research, and advocacy functions.
Asian American Journalists Association – New York Chapter
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), a non-profit educational and professional organization, provides networking opportunities and support for Asian/Pacific American (A/PA) journalists and students of journalism, raises awareness within the A/PA community of news media, and monitors the media for accuracy and fairness in its coverage of Asian/Pacific Americans. Spanning in date from 1987 to 2007, the collection includes correspondence, minutes, photographs, press clippings and releases, event flyers, and various subject files relating to its workshops and media watch campaigns.
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Records
Founded in 1974, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans.
Asian American Writers’ Workshop Records
Asian American Writer’s Workshop (AAWW) was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit literary arts organization dedicated to the creation, publishing, development, and dissemination of Asian American creative writing. The collection totals 179 linear feet and consists of the records documenting the organization’s programming, and its resource library of Asian American poetry, fiction, and non-fiction books and journals.
Asian CineVision (ACV) is a non-profit media arts organization that develops, promotes and preserves films made by or about peoples of Asian descent. The collection contains correspondence, staff meeting notes, grant applications and a complete run of both Bridge and CineVue.
Asian Garment Workers in New York City Oral History Collection
New York University undergraduate Bichiluyen Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant, conducted these interviews with New York City immigrant garment workers from Vietnam, China, the Philippines and California as part of an internship in the history department in 1989. The collection consists of four interviews.
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) Records
Dedicated to the needs and concerns of Asian Pacific American (APA) workers the foundations for the creation of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) were laid in 1990 when a number of APA labor activists presented the AFL-CIO with a proposal to better address a continued under-representation among APA workers in the labor movement by forming a national APA labor organization. Following the lessons learned from the examples of APA labor leaders in history, they understood the necessity of forming labor alliances, and sought to get more APA workers into unions, especially, those working in historically important industries such as garment factories and restaurants. The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Records measure approximately 62.5 linear feet and document many of the activities of the national office of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) from the early years through 2008.
Asian Women in Business Records
The non-profit organization, Asian Women in Business (AWIB), was founded in 1995 to provide resources and support for Asian women entrepreneurs. AWIB’s Records total 14.0 linear feet and consist of books, press files, materials relating to its annual dinner and other events, newsletters, and quarterly and annual reports.
Asian Women United (AWU) is a New York City-based collective of Asian American women activists and educators that organized in 1978 when the Asian Women’s Caucus was split into two groups. The materials in this collection include: the Asian Women United newsletter (In Touch), flyers from events hosted by Asian Women United, flyers from events done in coalition with other groups, workshop notes, meeting notes, administrative files, correspondence, and newspaper articles.
Asian/American Center (A/AC) at Queens College Records
The Asian/American Center (A/AC) at Queens College, City University of New York, is committed to producing and supporting community-based research on the diverse populations that make up the Asian diaspora in the Americas. The Asian/American Center (A/AC) Records total 76.5 linear feet and contain over 2,500 titles, including books, periodicals, working papers, monographs, and VHS tapes by or about Asians from North, Central, and South America as well as the Pacific, Carribbean, and Asia.
Asian/Pacific/American Institute Records
The Asian/Pacific/American (A/P/A) Institute was founded in 1996 in response to student interest combined with New York University’s commitment to global excellence. The records of the Asian/Pacific/American (A/P/A) Institute, dated 1994-2003, document the activities of the Institute from its founding in 1996 and reflect student events, faculty affairs and collaboration with the A/P/A studies program.
8th Avenue – Sunset Park Oral History
The collection consists of 28 interviews that the Brooklyn Historical Society in partnership with the Chinatown History Museum (now Museum of Chinese in America) conducted regarding the Chinese community in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Conducted between 1993 and 1994, the 38 tapes are approximately 90 minutes each in length and record interviews in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
The Cecily Brownstone Papers are a diverse collection of materials, including: correspondence, press releases, photographs, publicity, articles and recipes authored by Brownstone, general food-related articles and recipes authored by others, calendars, notes, manuscript recipe books, photocopied cookbooks, bibliographical inventories, a menu collection, a postcard collection, a recipe box collection, a pamphlet collection, and videotapes relating to the food industry. Of particular relevance to the A/PA survey project are author files on Asian and Asian American cookbook authors and her personal notes on Asian cuisine.
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communties Archive
CAAAV was founded in 1986 in response to an increase in violence against Asian communities throughout the United States. Now known as CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, CAAAV is involved in community organizing efforts that reflect a wide range of political, social, and economic issues affecting Asian and Asian American communities. CAAAV’s archival collection ranges from 1987 to 2009 and includes administrative material, planning documents for campaigns like Women Workers Project and the Youth Leadership Project, back issues of the VOICE newsletter, and video footage documenting interviews, events, rallies, protests and demonstrations, gatherings, and news coverage.
Interdisciplinary artist Andrea Callard collaborated with Sam Sue on “The Tenement: Place for Survival, Object of Reform” in 1988, an installation that was part of a larger project artist Martha Rosler envisioned to engage artists, activists, and theorists in discussions about the then politically-charged issue of homelessness in New York City. The Andrea Callard Papers contain materials relating to Callard’s career as an artist and art educator as well as her involvement in artist organizations.
May Chen (1948- ) is a labor organizer who for more than twenty years has been actively engaged in outreach and advocacy for immigrant workers. Totaling 6.5 linear feet and spanning the dates 1989 to 2005, the collection documents Chen’s work as a labor organizer within the Chinese immigrant community.
Rocky Chin is a civil rights attorney who has served as an active community leader advocating for labor and human rights. Materials span from 1969 to 2008, documenting Chin’s work as a civil rights and public interest attorney, community activist, labor and human rights advocate, professor, and community organizer. Other collected materials document broader Asian American movements and their historical development in the United States.
Tung Pok Chin and Wing Fong Chin Papers
Tung Pok Chin (1915-1988) immigrated to the U.S. as a “paper son” in 1934 and later established his own laundry business in Brooklyn, New York, with the assistance of the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance (CHLA). He was the first Chinese person in New York City to enlist in the U. S. Navy. Mak Ting Fong (married name, Wing Fong Chin, b. 1928) first arrived in the United States in 1950 with her husband, Tung Pok Chin. She joined Local 23-25 of the ILGWU in 1957 and became increasingly active in the Local’s affairs, serving as vice-president and, from 1983, Executive Board chairperson. The collection consists of subject files, oversize posters, books and ephemera.
Chinese-American Labor and Immigration Collection
The Chinese-American Labor and Immigration Collection was given to the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives in the late 1980s. The collection consists of subject files; which include clippings, printed material and correspondence; relating to immigration, labor, women’s issues, Asian student organizations, and health services.
Dr. Gloria Wong Chung (1925-2007), a leader in the struggle for healthcare and empowerment in New York City’s Chinatown and one of the first female Asian/Pacific American psychiatrists, was born in Taishan, Guangdong Province. Measuring one linear foot, the collection spans in date from 1947 to 2004 and comprise of materials in various formats documenting Dr. Chung’s struggles to promote healthcare and empowerment in New York City’s Chinatown and her work as one of the first female Asian/Pacific American psychiatrists.
Coalition for Asian American Children and Families Records
The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children’s advocacy organization, aims to improve the health and well-being of Asian Pacific American children and families in New York City. The collection consists of publications, resource and research files, minutes, financial information, files on CACF programs and projects, publicity materials, photographs and administrative files.
Creative Time is a nonprofit arts organization founded in 1973 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific works by professional artists for public presentation in vacant spaces of historical and architectural interest throughout New York City. The Creative Time Archive is an extremely diverse collection that comprehensively documents the on-going history of Creative Time.
After studying art and philosophy at Kenyon College, artist David Diao began working at the influential Sam Kootz Gallery, where he immersed himself in abstract expressionism. Since the 1960s, Diao has actively engaged with questions across multiple movements and traditions, including formalism, modernism, minimalism, abstract expressionism. His papers measure approximately 3.0 linear feet and consists of grant applications, financial records, correspondence, and significant quantities of digital files, including letters and photographs of completed works.
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Exposure & Education Program Records
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development is a non-profit Korean American community advocacy organization that seeks to promote the unity and self-determination of the Korean people through grassroots organizing and community development. The collection contains materials relating to the organization’s annual exposure and education programs titled Korea Exposure & Education Program (KEEP) and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Exposure & Education Program (DEEP) and includes study materials, participants’ forms, songbooks, photographs, itineraries, fundraising materials, and clippings.
Often credited for introducing bhangra and British Asian music to North American audiences, DJ Rekha is a producer, activist, and musician. The DJ Rekha Papers contain files on marketing, publicity, events and programming, artist biographies, and administration.
Epoxy was an Asian American artists’ collective founded in 1982 by artists originally from Hong Kong, including Bing Lee, Eric Chan, Chung Kang Lok, Jerry Kwan, and Ming Fay. Members hoped that by collaborating, they would be reflective of cross-cultural influences. Totaling 0.5 linear feet, the collection includes reference materials, drawings, handwritten notes, press releases, press coverage, catalogs, slides, and photographs. In addition, there are a few pieces of artwork: a rubber tree sculpture, a cardboard tube piece, and some rubber stamps.
Families with Children from China – New York Records
Founded in 1993 by a group of adoptive families, Families with Children from China – New York (FCC NY) fosters community among families with children who were adopted from China, provides resources to families at all stages of the adoption process, and celebrates the lives and experiences of adoptees.
Founded in 1978 by Stefan Eins, Fashion Moda quickly became an important voice in the art world during the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The Fashion Moda Archive is part of the Downtown Collection at Fales Special Collections Library, New York University. In its entirety, it is comprised of business files, nearly 400 photographs of exhibitions and artists, approximately 3200 35 mm slides documenting exhibitions and other events, grant proposals, artist resumes, correspondence, video tapes of the cable TV series “Making Coincidences,” press releases, newspaper articles, reviews, and artworks kept by founder Stefan Eins and others at Fashion Moda.
David Fender was a member of the Socialist Workers party and a number of its political factions and offshoots. The collection contains extensive correspondence, manuscripts and articles, subject files and records of the Fourth International.
Filipino American Human Services, Inc. Records
Founded in 1993, Filipino American Human Services, Inc. was the first social services organization to serve the Filipino and Filipino American community in New York City. The organization’s records total 92.5 linear feet and contain the organization’s current and archived administrative files, books, videos, magazines, and event and press files.
Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY) Records
Founded in 1990, Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY) is a membership-based organization dedicated to empowering gay, bisexual, and transgender Asian and Pacific Islanders through a range of social, educational, peer-support, cultural, and political activities. GAPIMNY works in coalition with other community organizations to help educate the API and LGBT communities on issues of race, sexuality, gender, and health. The collection consists of film footage on DVD, printed materials, and news clippings.
Canton-born modernist painter Yun Gee (1906-1963) immigrated to San Francisco in 1921 at the age of fifteen to join his merchant father, Gee Quong On. In 1906, Gee’s father was among the thousands of Chinese immigrants to claim US citizenship following the San Francisco earthquake. Despite facing his share of discrimination as an artist of Chinese descent, he also broke barriers by often being the first Chinese artist to exhibit in galleries in San Francisco, Paris, and New York. The collection includes correspondence, scrapbooks of press clippings, reviews, and a 14 reel to reel.
Over the span of his fifty-year career, Sidney Gluck has been a successful businessman, professor, artist, and public interest advocate. The collection contains periodicals, subject files, printed materials and books relating to Gluck’s work and interest in China and Cuba.
Godzilla Asian American Art Network Records
Godzilla: Asian American Art Network is a New York-based art collective co-founded in 1990 by Ken Chu and Margo Machida that promotes networking and mutual support among Asian and Pacific Islander American artists and professionals. The collection consists of documents pertaining to the administrative and artistic aspects of Godzilla, and to a lesser extent, related arts organizations.
Legendary comic book writer and artist Larry Hama (b. 1949) is recognized for his lasting contributions to American comic books and popular culture in general. He is the creative force behind titles like G.I. Joe, The ‘Nam, and Bucky O’Hare, but his creative influence extends to other titles and fields.The bulk of this collection consists of 15.0 linear feet of comic books and other publications spanning 1967 to 2011. A large portion consists of works created by Hama himself, including issues of G.I. Joe, and Bucky O’Hare. Second largest bulk of materials represent portfolio work including storyboards, drafts and illustrative works for the comic book and entertainment industries. Approximately 4.0 linear feet consist of collected magazines.
The Leo Hershkowitz Collection was created by Leo Hershkowitz, a New York City historian, who collected the materials from various sources. The collection consists largely of primary documents from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries relating to the social history of New York City.
HN Han (Hsiang-Ning Han) is an internationally renowned artist, documentarian, curator and art educator, known for his evolving artistic style and creating his own form of pointillism with a spray gun. Totaling 16.5 linear feet, the HN Han archive offers rich documentation to reconstruct the Lower East side art scene with film recordings and photographs of museums and small art galleries, exhibits and artist gatherings from 1968-1985.
Hunter College Asian American Studies Program Archive
The Asian American Studies Program at Hunter College at the City University of New York was established in 1993 as the result of a student initiative. Founded by Peter Kwong, the program offers a minor in Asian American Studies and classes focusing on Asian and Asian American issues. The Hunter AASP Archive consists of documents related to the program’s founding, administrative records, and student activist materials.
Indo-American Arts Council Records
The Indo-American Arts Council is a not-for-profit resource arts organization that provides platforms for artists, filmmakers, dancers, and writers of Indian origin to showcase their work to audiences across the United States. Its records include promotional materials, administrative files, and documentation related to the organization’s various public events, including its annual Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival.
Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue Archive
The Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue (IACD) was founded in 1997 by actress, playwright, and Stanford and NYU professor Anna Deavere Smith. The IACD Archive contains administrative records focused primarily on the practical issues of organizing the summer sessions for the years 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Japanese American Association of New York Collection
The Japanese American Association of New York, Inc (JAA) is a nonprofit organization serving the Japanese and Japanese American community through a variety of activities, including social services, education, scholarships and cultural events. The Japanese American Association’s collection is composed of a reference library, which contains historical materials documenting the history of JAA as well as the Japanese American community in New York City; and the records of the Japanese American Association, which include newsletters, administrative files and publicity materials.
Japanese American Help for the Aging Records
Japanese American Help for the Aging (JAHFA) was a non-profit organization and standing committee of the Japanese American Association (JAA) that provided health, educational, informational, language, and social services to the elderly Japanese community in New York City. The JAHFA Records total 2 linear feet and document the organization’s campaigns, fundraising efforts, programming, and publicity coverage.
Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI) Records
The Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI) was formed in 1981 by Midori Shimanouchi Lederer to address the lack of social services for aging Japanese Americans with limited English language skills and little access to information about social service programs. The collection contains administrative materials, including minutes, correspondence, grant applications and employee files as well as financial information such as budgets, audits and payroll information.
A non-profit organization founded by Socheata Poeuv in 2007, Khmer Legacies’ mission is to document testimonies of Khmer Rouge survivors to create an archive as an educational resource for researchers, students and the global community. The Khmer Legacies records measure a total of 3.0 linear feet, consisting of recorded testimonies, digital project files, administrative files and research materials on the Khmer Rouge.
Isaku Kida (1905-1996) immigrated to the United States from Japan in 1930 and Emi Kida (1908-2001) immigrated in 1958. The majority of the collection (approx. 4 boxes) consists of copies of The Hokubei Shimpo—New York Nichibei, the central English language newspaper of the Japanese American Left. Both managed The Hokubei Shimpo (renamed New York Nichibei in 1945), which ran from 1945 through 1993, the paper documented the life of New York’s postwar Japanese American community, serving not only as a place to obtain community news but also as an important outlet for Asian American writers.
Yoshio Kishi/Irene Yah Ling Sun Collection
Yoshio Kishi (1931- ) is an award-winning New York City-based film and sound editor who for four decades has been an avid collector of materials that trace the depiction of Asian Americans in U.S. intellectual and popular culture and of materials produced by Asian American activists to counter such stereotypical images. The collection encompasses more than 10,000 items, including books, journals, manuscripts, pulp magazines, films, photographs, political cartoons, sheet music, recordings, artifacts, and other ephemera originating from the mid-1700s to the 1990s.
Korean American Family Service Center (KAFSC) Records
Located in Flushing, Queens, the Korean American Family Service Center (KAFSC) is a community-based, non-profit organization that assists individuals impacted or potentially impacted by domestic violence, and, more generally, “supports and empowers adults, youth and children to lead safe and healthy lives based on dignity, compassion and mutual respect.” Established in 1989 by Sookja Bang, Elizabeth Jo, Heung Soon Kang, Kwanghee Kim, Kyung Hee Na and Sun Sook Oh, the organization was modeled after the Legal Aid Center for Women in Korea, which was founded by Dr. TaiYoung Lee. KAFSC was first located in office space donated by the Korean Methodist Church & Institute on West 115th Street in Manhattan.
Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (KCS) Records
A community-based social service agency, the Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Inc. (KCS) was founded in 1973 to serve New York’s Korean population. Focused on addressing the needs of immigrant and low-income individuals and families, KCS provides aging, community, and public health services.
Charles Lai and Patricia Eng, East Coast Asian Student Union Collection
Charles Lai was a founding member of the East Coast Asian Student Union (ECASU), a network of Asian American student groups based at east coast colleges and universities. The collection measures 0.25 linear feet and spans in date from 1978 to 1987.
Midori Shimanouchi Lederer Papers
Midori Shimanouchi Lederer was the founder of the Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI), a social service agency for New York’s elderly Japanese and Japanese American residents. The Midori Shimanouchi Lederer Papers include photographs, correspondence, oral, video and cassette tapes documenting Lederer’s professional career and many contributions as a long time volunteer community worker within the Japanese and Japanese American community.
Robert Lee and Eleanor Yung Papers, Asian American Arts Centre Collection
Partners Robert Lee, an author and curator, and Eleanor Yung, a choreographer and acupuncturist, were both involved in establishing the Asian American Arts Centre (AAAC). The Robert Lee and Eleanor Yung Papers measure approximately 1,746.5 linear feet and document the founding and early years of several Asian American arts organizations based in New York City including the Asian American Arts Centre (AAAC) (formerly known as the Asian American Dance Theatre (AADT) and Asian Arts Institute (AAI)).
Jay Leyda and Si-Lan Chen Leyda Papers
Si-Lan Chen was a dancer, choreographer and actor who pioneered the use of Chinese dance elements in modern dance and films such as Anna and the King of Siam (1946) and The Keys to the Kingdom (1944). The collection contains the combined papers of Jay Leyda and Si-Lan Chen Leyda, including correspondence, clippings, scripts, research files and articles.
The Ma-Yi Theater Company is a non-profit professional organization that gives voice to Asian American experiences through the development of plays and performances that push Asian American aesthetics beyond stereotypical Orientalist markers. The collection comprises of financial files, production series files, press and marketing files, artist and designer files, computer files, props and artifacts, publications, and documentation of past events.
Mark Hall Amitin/World of Culture for the Performing Arts, Inc. Archive
The materials in this collection make an important contribution to the representation of avant-garde performing and theatrical arts from the nineteen seventies through the early nineteen nineties. Mark Amitin participated in and represented several key avant-garde performing arts groups of this period, helping them to make contacts in other countries, to perform at important theatre festivals in the United States and Europe, and to secure funding for tours abroad and at home. He has also acted in, and directed, film, television, and theatre projects in the United States as well as in the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
Brooks McNamara began teaching at New York University’s Graduate Drama Department in 1968 and was instrumental in its transformation into the Performance Studies Department in 1980. The collection is comprised almost entirely of McNamara’s subject files on the expansive breadth of theater, drama, and performance with some materials focusing on Asian and Asian American theater.
Born in New York City in 1910, Saul Mills was a union activist, PR representative and journalist who was subpoenaed in 1956 to appear before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Internal Security Committee and questioned regarding his activities while an executive member of the Greater NY CIO Council, his association with the Chinese Communists (U.N. delegates) in 1945, his 1949 trip to China, and his business affiliations with Communist sympathizer, Frederick Vanderbilt Field. Of particular relevance in the collection is material which documents Mills’ travel to and observations of China during his 1949 visit as a representative of an export-import company.
MinKwon Center for Community Action Records, The
The MinKwon Center for Community Action is a grassroots, community-action non-profit organization based in Flushing, New York, serving the Korean and Asian American communities. The organization’s records measure 126.95 linear feet and document the The MinKwon Center’s programmatic, advocacy, media relations, and development efforts from 1984-2010.
The Mix Festival, originally known as the New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival, was created in 1987 to create an alternative to mainstream gay and lesbian film festivals and to highlight the important contributions that queer filmmakers have made to experimental and avant-garde film practices. The Mix Collection contains paper files and media related to the Mix Festival, a small portion of which pertains to work produced by A/PA filmmakers.
Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) Archive
The Museum of the Chinese in America started as the New York Chinatown History Project in 1980 by historian John (Jack) Kuo Wei Tchen, community organizer Charlie Lai, and artists, historians, and students who recognized that the memories and experiences of older members of the community were in danger of becoming permanently lost to later generations. They hoped to address this problem by creating opportunities for collecting, preserving, and displaying historical materials reflecting the lives of Chinatown residents and workers over its long and complicated history.
National Asian American Theatre Company Collection
National Asian American Theatre Company, Inc. (NAATCO) seeks to demonstrate the important contributions of Asian American theatre to American culture by presenting classic European and American plays performed by an all-Asian/Pacific American cast. The collection spans in date from 1989 to 2009 and includes subject files, stage manager books, files documenting the National Asian American Theatre Festival, and financial, development, and electronic files.
New York Asian Women’s Center Records
One of the first organizations in the United States to address the linguistic, social, and economic barriers that prevent many Asian immigrant women from accessing domestic violence services, the New York Asian Women’s Center (NYAWC) aims to empower Asian women to experience their lives free from violence. NYAWC’s records total 359.5 linear feet and contain client files, outreach and resource materials, development records, fiscal reports, human resource information, media clippings, and various programmatic files relating to NYAWC’s major direct service initiatives, including its shelters and 24-hour multilingual hotline.
New York Bureau of Legal Advice Records
Started as the New York Bureau of Legal First aid and lead by attorney Charles Recht and feminist Frances M. Witherspoon, the organization was started with a grant the Women’s Peace Party in 1917. Along with individuals, organizations like the People’s Council, the Socialist Party, the civil Liberties Bureau and the Workmen’s Council all provided sponsorship (although the People’s Council and the Civil Liberties Bureau soon withdrew support). Responding to the need created by conflict with new laws related to World War I, the New York Bureau of Legal First Aid was the firs organization to provide free legal advice and counsel to draft resisters, conscientious objectors, deserters and others who suffered infringements of their First Amendment Rights.
New York Coalition for Asian American Mental Health Records
The New York Coalition for Asian American Mental Health (NYCAAMH) is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that offers mental health educational workshops and training, and a forum for mental health service providers and concerned individuals to network, share resources, and collaborate on culturally competent models of treatment for Asian Americans. The collection totals 11.25 linear feet and consists of administrative/Board documents, financial records, grants, program brochures, and resource files.
New York Taxi Workers Alliance Records
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) is a union fighting for structural change in the taxi driving industry, ranked by the Department of Labor as the most dangerous job in the country. Containing minutes and agendas from its organizing committee, strategy documents, legal case files, flyers, posters, photographs, membership forms, driver surveys, and press kits, the NYTWA Records offers rich historical documentation of a dynamically active labor union’s fights for “justice, rights, respect, and dignity” for its members through legal advocacy and strategic, collective action.
New York University Student Life Collection
The New York University Student Life Collection documents student life from the founding of the University up to present day. The collection contains annual reports, minutes, promotional materials, directories, handbooks, reports and yearbooks documenting student life at New York University. A large collection of photographs supplements the textual material on student life.
The NYPD Desi Society, the first South Asian American fraternal law enforcement organization in the United States, was formed at the gathering of about seventy South Asian American NYPD Police Officers on January 20, 2004. The organization was incorporated on November 4, 2004 to help improve mutual understanding between the NYPD and South Asian communities, increase the number of South Asian American officers in the NYPD, support NYPD officers of South Asian descent, and promote ethnic and racial tolerance within the NYPD. In 2006, the NYPD recognized the organization, and in 2008 the NYPD Desi Society was admitted as a member organization of the Police Society.
Oral History of the American Left: Radical Histories Collection
The Oral History of the American Left (OHAL) project was started in 1976 by the Tamiment Library at New York University. The purpose of this project was to expand the archive of American labor and radicalism through the creation of “living documents;” the memories of veteran activists.
Organizations of Chinese Americans – New York Chapter (OCA-NY)
The Organization of Chinese Americans – New York Chapter’s Records total 2.7 linear feet and consist of materials documenting OCA-NY’s civic participation, social justice and coalition-building projects, and cultural and social activities. Spanning from 1993-2007, the materials include internal communications such as newsletters, bylaws, annual reports, board meeting minutes, gala programs, handbooks and directories, packets from the national convention, and the OCA Chapter Officer’s Manual. Also included are letters to members providing information on events and updates, and a resolution about affirmative action.
Peeling was a New York City based collective of writers, performers, directors and producers. Using autobiography as a departure point, their collaborations were an exploration of contemporary Asian American identities through the development of original theater work. Spanning in date from 1995 to 2003, the collection includes video footage, photographs, original member-written scripts, event flyers, correspondence, performance contracts and other records documenting Peeling’s performances, workshops and retreats, and members’ work within and outside of Peeling.
Founded by internationally-renowned theater director, choreographer, writer, and multi-disciplinary artist Ping Chong, Ping Chong & Company has created and performed innovative works of theater at numerous prestigious venues nationally and internationally. The collection contains production files, administrative files and development files.
The Red Hot Organization Archive contains the production files of the organization’s projects, including administrative records and financial files, and merchandise such as CDs, videos, and t-shirts. Production files relating to Asian/Pacific/American artists and musicians are included.
SAKHI for South Asian Women Records
SAKHI for South Asian Women is a New York City-based not-for-profit dedicated to ending domestic violence against women. The organization’s records span in date from 1990 to 2009, and contain materials relating to the organization’s clients, direct services (including its Economic Empowerment program, Faith Base Initiatives, and Court Interpreter Program), community outreach, publicity, development, administration, volunteers and personnel, as well as publications on relevant topics.
SALGA-NYC, Serving the Queer Desi Community Records
SALGA-NYC, Serving the Queer Desi Community is committed to combating all forms of oppression and discrimination. The organization’s records total 0.75 linear feet and contain correspondence (notes, letters, and emails), publications (newsletters, bulletins, magazines, and newspapers), meeting agendas, flyers, media clippings, and other paper ephemera organized thematically in folders.
Serpent’s Tail/High Risk Records
The Serpent’s Tail/High Risk Archive is comprised of the correspondence, manuscripts and contracts of authors who published with High Risk Books, press binders on High Risk and Serpent’s Tail authors, business and administration files, production files, publicity, reviews, photographs, sales catalogs, posters, ephemera, and some audio/visual and printed material. Among the authors published by Serpent’s Tail/High Risk are Ameena Meer, Gopal Baratham, Atima Srivastava, and Kenzaburo Oe.
The Jack G. Shaheen Archive provides valuable documentation of the representations of Arabs and Muslims in U.S. popular culture and mass media from the early-20th to 21st century. The Archive contains nearly 3,000 moving images including motion pictures (both independent and major studio productions), documentaries, cartoons, newsreels, and television programs (e.g. comedies, dramas, children’s programming, and commercials) on DVDs, VHS tapes, and film prints. The majority of these moving images contain negative portrayals of Arabs and Muslims and, measuring 79.0 linear feet, comprise the bulk of the archive.
Born in 1961 in New York City, Noel Shaw is a filmmaker and writer whose work explores the experiences of the Filipino diaspora and highlights the diversity within it. The Noel Shaw Papers document the programming efforts and operational history of Arkipelago from 1992-2003.
Neil Sih was a Chinese Communist who became active in the Trotskyist Left Opposition in China. The collection contains an unpublished typescript titled “Five Years of the Left Opposition in China: An Attempt to Explain Its Failure to Make Progress,” which is a critique of the leadership and policies of Chen Duxiu, leader of the Left Opposition in China until he was jailed in 1932.
Yoland Skeete Research Files on Newark Chinatown
The Yoland Skeete Research Files on Newark Chinatown totals 9.5 linear feet. The collection encompasses historical research materials collection from 1999-2009. Materials include photographic compilations, oral history documentation and artifacts. All items within the collection reflect Skeete’s extensive effort to reconstruct the history of a once thriving Chinatown community that existed in Newark from the 1870’s – 1970’s.
Soh Daiko was founded in 1979 as the first taiko group on the East Coast by a diverse group of members of the New York Buddhist Church. The collection contains administrative records, grant applications, clippings, subject files, financial information, performance programs and flyers and cassette and video tapes which document Soh Daiko performances and rehearsals, as well as other Taiko groups and performers.
South Asian Journalists Association Records
In the Spring of 1994, four South Asian journalists and friends met in a New York City restaurant and founded the South Asian Journalists Association—an organization committed to providing networking opportunities for journalists of South Asian descent and those with an interest in South Asia and its diaspora. While the majority of SAJA’s records are electronic, the organization maintains 15.5 linear feet of physical files.
South Asian Women’s Creative Collective Records
In 1997, Jaishri Abichandani founded the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) to foster a sense of community among South Asian women artists and creative professionals in New York City. SAWCC’s Records total 11 linear feet and documents the organization’s programmatic efforts, fundraising campaigns, board meetings, and publicity coverage.
Harley Spiller Menu Collection
Harley Spiller (1960- ) moved to New York after college in 1981 to pursue a career in the museum field and began collecting Chinese menus on his nightly walks up and down the streets of the Upper West Side where he lived. The Harley Spiller Menu Collection consists of more than 10,000 items, with the bulk of menus spanning in date from 1981 to 2009 and about 1000 predating 1960.
United Automobile Workers of America, District 65 Photographs
Consisting of nearly 30,000 photographs taken by members of District 65’s Camera Club, the UAW District 65 Photographs span the period between the late 1930s and the early 1960s. Photographs document the day-to-day functioning of the union, member activities, and participation in political causes. In addition, reflecting the strong commitment to left and liberal politics, prominent celebrities and politicians are represented such as Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Robert F. Wagner, Paul Robeson, and Harry Belafonte.
Martin Wong (1946-1999) is an acclaimed Chinese American artist best known for his cityscapes of New York’s Chinatown and the Lower East Side, his championing of graffiti art as a legitimate art form in the 1980s and ‘90s, and his incorporation of homoerotic sensibilities into his paintings. His papers are comprised of over 100 sketches and drawings, more than 30 sketchbooks, correspondence, poetry and prose, biographical documents, source material, audio and videocassette recordings, photos, and graffiti tag-books, graffiti-related materials and parts of Wong’s personal library.
William F. Wu Comic Book Collection
William F. Wu is a Chinese-American science-fiction writer who has published thirteen novels and more than fifty short stories. The collection consists of comic books with Asian characters, collected over the course of several years.
George Katsumi Yuzawa was born in Los Angeles, California on February 21, 1915. His papers, spanning in date from 1908 to 2009, document the life and work of Japanese American activist George Yuzawa through meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, notes, legal documents, press releases, newsletters, clippings, event flyers and programs, posters, buttons, video, audio, books, and scrapbooks.
Artist Zhang Hongtu was born in China’s Kansu Province in 1943 and settled in New York City in 1982. His personal observations and experiences during the Cultural Revolution contributed to a growing sense of disappointment and dissolution with Chairman Mao and his policies. Through his art, Zhang deconstructs cultural icons across contents and contexts, creating his Material Mao series, and more recently, turning his focus on creating his own versions of established “classics” in Western and Asian art. His papers include personal journals, press clippings, exhibition reviews, catalogs, books, artwork, and computer files.