Fales Archives - Asian/Pacific/American Archives Survey Project | A/P/A

William F. Wu Comic Book Collection

January 29, 2015March 10, 2015APA Staff

Date Range: 1942 – 1986
Survey Conducted: Wed, 2009-04-08
Creator: Wu, William F. (1951-)

History: William F. Wu is a Chinese-American science-fiction writer who has published thirteen novels and more than fifty short stories. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Wu attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate, and later returned to earn his Ph.D in American Culture. During this time he became active in East Wind, an Asian American student group. His doctoral dissertation titled The Yellow Peril (1981) documents evolving depictions of Chinese and Chinese-Americans in American fiction.Wu has been nominated for the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award and the Hugo Award, twice individually and once as a member of the Wild Cards. Hong on the Range, set in a futuristic version of the wild west, was chosen for the Wilson Library Bulletin’s list of science fiction “Books Too Good To Miss” and was a selection for the American Library Association list of Best Books for Young People, the New York Public Library’s Recommended Books for the Teen Age, and was also a Young Adult Editor’s Choice by Booklist Magazine.

Martin Wong Papers

January 28, 2015November 23, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1982 – 1999
Survey Conducted: Mon, 2008-12-01
Creator: Wong, Martin (1946-1999)

History: Acclaimed Chinese American artist Martin Wong (1946-1999) is 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. Wong was born in Portland, Oregon on July 11, 1946. He grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown district and attended Humboldt State University, graduating in 1968 from its Art Studio program with a focus on ceramics. He was involved in the Bay Area’s performance art scene through the 1970s, but after moving to New York in the early 1980s, began to focus almost exclusively on painting. Read more →

Serpent’s Tail/High Risk Records

January 28, 2015November 30, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1990 – 1997
Survey Conducted: Tue, 2009-10-06
Creator: Serpent’s Tail/High Risk Archive

History: High Risk Books was founded in New York City in 1993 by Ira Silverberg as an imprint of Serpent’s Tail Press in London. Dedicated to publishing challenging, innovative, and progressive literature, High Risk Books transcended the traditional boundaries of publishing to provoke and inspire a new generation of writers and readers. Ira Silverberg told The New York Times in a March 13, 1994 interview that he and his co-editor Amy Scholder wanted to “catch an area of the market that’s being overlooked by mainstream houses. We’re working with a lot of gay men, lesbians, and African Americans, because the voices of under served communities tend to shed more light on societal conditions than the voices of the people who have the franchise. That’s not to say we won’t publish straight white men.” While connected by a certain subversive impulse, authors as diverse as William Burroughs, Kathy Acker, June Jordan, Sapphire, Ameena Meer, Kenzaburo Oe and many others were published by High Risk.
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Chinese-American Labor and Immigration Collection

January 28, 2015March 4, 2015APA Staff

Date Range: 1970 – 1990
Survey Conducted: Thu, 2008-12-04
Creator: Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive

History: The Chinese-American Labor and Immigration Collection was given to the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives in the late 1980s.

Summary: 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. A small number of files contain minutes and other administrative materials from the Asian Labor Resource Center, including materials relating to the First and Second Asian Labor Conferences at Cornell University (1988-1989).

Total Size: 2 linear feet
APA-related Size: 2 linear feet
Languages of materials: Chinese and English
Arrangement: other
Location: Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University
Bibliographic Control: other
Collection Link: http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/wag_126/
Conditions Governing Access: Contact repository for detailed information on conditions governing access.
Preservation Note: The collection contains many clippings and other publications which are highly acidic and should be appropriately rehoused or reformatted.

Red Hot Organization Archive

January 28, 2015December 16, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1989 – 2004
Survey Conducted: Thu, 2010-01-28
Creator: Red Hot Organization

History: The Red Hot Organization is an international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. First founded as King Cole, Inc. by Leigh Blake and John Carlin in 1989, Red Hot Organization has since produced fourteen albums, related television programs and media events incorporating the talents of performers, visual artists, producers and directors to raise funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Read more →

Peeling Records

January 28, 2015November 30, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1995 – 2003
Survey Conducted: Sun, 2012-11-04 and Thu, 2009-09-17
Creator: Peeling

History: Peeling was a New York City based collective (1995-2005) 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. Originally founded in 1995 as “Peeling the Banana” by director/performer Gary San Angel at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the group developed many of its pieces through physical theater and improvisation work, which were later transcribed; others were written and further developed through group workshops. At the time, no other such group existed on the East Coast and many talented artists got their start in or had at one time been members of the group. With sold out performances at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Second Stage, Highways Performance Space (Los Angeles), the Desh Pardesh Festival (Toronto), as well as numerous colleges and universities, Peeling the Banana presented its poignant blend of poetry, theater, dance, and music to audiences across the country.

Brooks McNamara Papers

January 26, 2015November 23, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1896 – 1997
Survey Conducted: Thu, 2009-10-01
Creator: McNamara, Brooks

History: 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. He founded the Shubert Archives preserving the artistic and business records of the Shubert Brothers Sam, Lee and J.J. in 1976 and served as its Director for 20 years. McNamara’s research, writing, and curatorial pursuits resulted in numerous publications, exhibitions, productions, and archival collections. His life’s work spanned the fields of theatre history, popular entertainments, public celebrations, and New York performance history. After retiring in 1996, McNamara remained Professor Emeritus of Performance Studies and Director Emeritus of the Shubert Archive. He died in May 2009.

Mark Hall Amitin/ World of Culture for the Performing Arts, Inc. Archive

January 26, 2015December 16, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1946 – 2001
Survey Conducted: Fri, 2009-10-23
Creator: Mark Hall Amitin/World of Culture for the Performing Arts, Inc.

History: Mark Hall Amitin received his doctoral degree from the Universite Paris VIII in 1978. He went on to present lectures and workshops at universities in the United States, Europe, Canada, and Asia. He worked as a consultant and producer for several major theatre festivals, including the American College Theatre Festival, the Rhode Island Theatre Festival, the Festival Mondial du Theatre in Nancy, France, and the New Theatre Festival in Baltimore. He has published articles on theatre and performance in academic journals and contributed articles and reviews on film and theatre to books, magazines, and newspapers. 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.

Larry Hama Comic Book Collection

January 26, 2015November 23, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1967 – 2011
Survey Conducted: Tue, 2011-09-27
Creator: Hama, Larry

History: 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.

Yoshio Kishi/ Irene Yah Ling Sun Collection

January 26, 2015November 30, 2021APA Staff

Date Range: 1700 – 2005
Survey Conducted: Wed, 2008-10-01
Creator: Kishi, Yoshio (1932-2012)

History: Yoshio Kishi (1932-2012) is an award-winning New York City-based film and sound editor whose credits include such classics as Jerry Schatzberg’s “Panic in Needle Park” (1971), Alan Parker’s “Fame” (1980), Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull” (1980), and Wayne Wang’s “Dim Sum” (1985). For four decades, Kishi 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. His compulsion for collecting Asian Americana began in the mid-1960s when, in the midst of thinking about his identity, he began to regret not knowing more about his ethnic heritage.