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Oral histories are intimate conversations between and among people who have generously agreed to share these recordings with BHS’s archives and researchers. Please listen in the spirit with which these were shared. BHS abides by the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History as agreed upon by the Oral History Association and expects that use of this material will be done with respect for these professional ethics.
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[Last name, First name], Oral history interview conducted by [Interviewer’s First name Last name], [Month DD, YYYY], [Title of Collection], [Call #]; Brooklyn Historical Society.
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Anonymous
Oral history interview conducted by Gregory Ruf
July 01, 1993
Call number: 1994.007.03
0:36 - 口述者的出生地，出生时间，成长地，家庭成员，以及全家人赴美以前在香港的生活情况 Narrator's birthplace and age, being raised in Hong Kong: family members and life
19:05 - 对美国的初步印象，在布鲁克林prospect park附近的生活体验 Impression of the US and life near Prospect Park, Brooklyn
30:55 - 在唐人街的生活体验: 租房和工作 Life in Chinatown: house renting and work
36:31 - 在八大道附近的生活情况: 租房，工作，工作市场和租房市场的情况 Life near 8th Ave., Brooklyn: renting, work, job market and private rental market
40:20 - 对比布鲁克林，曼哈顿和皇后区的唐人街，以及他们的发展情况 Comparison and development of the Chinatowns in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens
47:41 - 在制衣厂的工作情况 Work at a garment factory in Brooklyn
55:55 - 子女的年龄和婚姻情况 Children’s ages and marriage
57:03 - 画廊的生意:缘起，心得，对未来的期许和对商业租赁市场的意见 Gallery business: origin, experience, expectation, and opinion on commercial rental market
64:42 - 现在布鲁克林的华人生活情况: 租房情况，活动区域，工作类型和娱乐生活 Chinese American life in 1993 Brooklyn: renting, activity, work, and entertainment
74:16 - 华人和别的族群的关系，以及华人的家庭观念 Chinese Americans' relationships with other groups of people and their family values
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Anonymous
In her forties when the interview occurred in 1993, the narrator was born in Mainland China and moved with her family to Kowloon, Hong Kong when she was a young girl. The daughter of school teachers from China's educated class, she was taught in private schools, nurtured a love of painting, and studied English in college. In the 1960s, she moved with her husband to New York City, and ultimately settled in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. A mother of four, the narrator also worked outside the home; as a typist, then a bridal gown seamstress, and eventually the owner of a small art gallery.
In this interview, the narrator provides an overview of her life; both before and after immigrating to New York City from Hong Kong. She discusses her childhood and private schooling in Kowloon, her decision to move to America with her husband and her trip to New York City in the 1960s. The narrator recounts the evolution of her career; from typist, to bridal gown seamstress, to art gallery owner. She offers her thoughts on parenting and practical home economics and provides an overview of the financial situation faced by Chinese immigrants and small business owners. Interview in Mandarin conducted by Gregory Ruf.
Brooklyn Historical Society collaborated with the Chinatown History Museum (now the Museum of Chinese in America) in order to conduct a series of oral histories with residents of the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. The Cantonese, Mandarin, and English language interviews focused on what was then a new presence of Chinese and Asian immigrants concentrated along Eighth Avenue. Among the topics that are explored in the interviews are tensions between different groups of Chinese immigrants, crime and safety in the neighborhood, Sunset Park's relationship to Manhattan's Chinatown, and how long-term residents of Sunset Park had adjusted to the area's "newcomers."
Citation
Anonymous, Oral history interview conducted by Gregory Ruf, July 01, 1993, New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community records, 1994.007.03; Brooklyn Historical Society.Topics
- Art
- Artists
- Business enterprises
- Chinese Americans
- Economic conditions
- Education
- Emigration and immigration
- Immigrants
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Chinatown (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Chinatown (New York, N.Y.)
- Hong Kong (China)
- Kowloon (China)
- Sunset Park (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community records