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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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Miu Fei Li
Oral history interview conducted by Ka-Kam Chui
December 19, 1993
Call number: 1994.007.20
0:53 - 自我介绍,从1981年定居美国,回忆在香港的时间 Self-introduction, settled in America since 1981, recollecting time spent in Hong Kong
3:53 - 移民到美国的理由,期待,和忧虑 Reasons, expectations, and concerns towards immigrating to the United States
10:25 - 来到美国住在孔子大厦,对唐人街的第一印象,环游纽约 Arriving in America and living in Confucius Plaza, the first impression of Chinatown, touring New York
15:37 - 在亚治烈街的针织厂工作,加入国际女服缝纫工会的福利 Working for sewing factory on Eldridge St., benefits for joining the Local 23-25 union
22:34 - 蓝十字会保险, 对国际女服缝纫工会的个人看法和态度 Blue Cross Insurance, opinions and attitudes towards Local 23-25
37:01 - 织衣工厂业从1981到1993年的发展, 13年的工作经验 The development of garment industry from 1981 to 1993, 13 years of working experience
41:53 - 受访人对针织工厂运行的描述 Li's description of a sewing factory's operation
66:33 - 她的生活环境及条件,列车式公寓,保证金,8大道,第一次婚姻 Li's living conditions, railroad apartment, key money, 8th Ave, first marriage
93:32 - 受访人描述她与第二任丈夫的邂逅及婚姻 Li's descriptions of her encountering her second and current husband
104:28 - 寻找搬入她现在私人拥有的房子,八大道的邻里,她的孩子们 Finding and moving into her current private home, the 8th Ave neighborhood, her children
Interview Description
Oral History Interview with Miu Fei Li
Miu Fei Li was born in Mainland China in 1959. In 1981 she followed her husband to New York City and settled in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan. She became a professional seamstress, joined the local seamstress' union, and had two children. After finding work out-of-state, Li's husband became addicted to gambling; after racking up tens of thousands of dollars of debt, they divorced. In 1993, Li married a fellow divorcee whom she met while on vacation in Hong Kong. At the time of the interview that same year, Miu Fei Li was living with her new husband and their combined four children in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn.
In this interview, Miu Fei Li discusses life since her 1981 immigration to New York City. She tells of the decision to immigrate to America as a twenty-two year-old newlywed; initial impressions of Manhattan; and attempts to learn English. She describes life and working conditions experienced as a garment factory seamstress and the benefits of being a union member. She talks about her work schedule; which played roles in fostering her husband's gambling addiction and their subsequent divorce. Li speaks of her second marriage. She also evaluates real estate cnditions in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn circa 1993. Interview in Cantonese conducted by Ka-Kam Chui.
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
Li, Miu Fei, Oral history interview conducted by Ka-Kam Chui, December 19, 1993, New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community records, 1994.007.20; Brooklyn Historical Society.People
- International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union
- Li, Miu Fei
Topics
- Chinese Americans
- Divorce
- Emigration and immigration
- Factories
- Home economics
- Immigrants
- Social history
- Working class
Places
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Chinatown (New York, N.Y.)
- Guangdong Sheng (China)
- Sunset Park (New York, N.Y.)
Finding Aid
New Neighbors: Sunset Park's Chinese Community records