On this wall, we remember and honor all Vietnamese people who lost their lives for freedom while on the ocean or in foreign lands and who lost their lives in prison in pursuit of liberty and democracy.

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES:

PROJECT: The Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation 500 Oral History Project Proposal

I. An Overview

 After taking over South Vietnam, the Vietnamese Communist government burned books, re-wrote history, and imprisoned many writers, educators and intellectuals. We not only lost our homeland--we lost our history, our heritage, and our identity.

For several reasons, South Vietnam did not receive enough media coverage during the war. Unfortunately, the situation was not much improved after the war ended. Even today, despite a presence of 2 million Vietnamese Americans in the US, our story continues to be marginally covered in printed and visual media, especially textbooks. Furthermore, most of the information that is available to the public is misconstrued.

The Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation (VAHF) was founded in 2004 with the goal of restoring our lost identity. The aim is to improve awareness about Vietnamese Americans, by collecting, preserving, promoting, and celebrating Vietnamese American history and heritage. The best sources of history are the Vietnamese Americans who are living witnesses. Therefore, the oral history is the best method to capture these experiences. Unfortunately, many witnesses who were alive during the war are nearing 60 years of age and older, so we must do it quickly and diligently before the history gets lost in time.

II. Goal

Our mission is to collect five hundred (500) truly courageous and inspirational personal stories of success and struggles of Vietnamese Americans who have risked their lives to escape communist oppression to find freedom and then toiled tirelessly to find financial success and happiness for themselves and for their families in the United States. Their first hand stories told in their own words and from their personal point of view will be shared with their children as well as other groups of Americans. We will publish these stories in an anthology to be used by teachers and professors in their teaching of Vietnamese American history as well as American history. In addition, we will share these stories by hosting seminars and providing exhibits of these stories at community centers and academic institutions throughout the country. Finally, we will send copies of the anthologies to libraries throughout the country as well as post them on our website to give students and educators an opportunity to read and share these stories.

III. Time Frame

 

 

Overview:

Start Date	July 2009	begin planning and fundraising
Midpoint	April 2010	Archived interviews ready for presentation at Asian American Studies Conference at UT
Completion	Jun 2011	Review of Project success, future goals, establish follow-on project updates for future interviews, printing and archiving.
Personnel Training	Jan -Feb. 2010	Train volunteers on interviewing process
Supply Purchasing	Jan -Feb. 2010	Bidding and Purchasing equipment

Fundraising and Marketing:

Phase I		July 2009	presentation to uNAVSA National Conference Atlanta, Georgia.
Phase II		Aug-Sept 2009	Regional presentations to various Vietnamese and Asian Organizations
Phase III		Oct-Dec 2009	National media campaign for public support via Viet Radio and other media

Interviewing:

Phase I		Aug-Oct 2011	First Group 125 interviewees
Phase II		Nov- Jan 2011	Second Group 125 interviewees
Phase III		Feb.-April 2011	Third Group 125 interviewees
Phase IV		May- June 2011	Last Group 125 interviewees

Archiving and Printing

Phase I		Archive and Edit Interviews from phase I, II, III, and IV
Phase II		Ongoing Design and layout of book, bids to print Final Product
Phase III	June 2011-2013	Printing, Editing, and Distribution of Final Product

Presenting:

TBA	Preliminary Product presented at uNAVSA's 2012 Conference

IV. Partner Institutions

• Center for Asian American Studies at University of Texas at Austin

• The Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation

• The Union of Northern Vietnamese Student Association/p>

V. Partner Institutions Responsibilities

• Each organization will: -train volunteers to conduct oral histories with local Vietnamese immigrants and refugees -identify oral history participants and conduct the interview (with a translator if necessary) -transcribe the interviews -donate audio interviews, notes, transcriptions and permission forms to the Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation

• The VAHF will: -provide necessary oral history materials, questions, and permission forms -promote the project and its goals to a national audience -preserve the oral history materials for the public use

VI. VAHF 500 Oral History Project Boards

• Advisory Board
  Academic Professionals who will provide guidance and training for interview teams
  
  -Madeline Hsu, Ph.D. Director, Center for Asian American Studies, UT Austin
  
  -Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez Ph D. Mass Communication Oral History and Interview Consultant, Associate Professor Journalism, UT Austin
  
  -Suzy Seriff, Ph D. Anthropology and Folklore, Museum Consultant and Curator Sr Lecturer Anthropology, UT Austin
  
  - Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Co-Director of DVAN (Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network).
  

• Notable Vietnamese American leaders of other organizations who will help to provide access and contact to potential interviewees
  
  -Nancy Bui, President of VAHF
  
  -Le Xuan Khoa Ph D. Anthropology
  
  -Kieu Chinh, Actress, Cultural and Humanitarian Activist
  
  -Doan Dinh, Chairman of Republic of Vietnam Veterans Associations Coalition of Washington DC & Vicinity
  
  -Truc Ho, CEO of Saigon Broadcasting Television (SBTN) (to be confirmed)
  
  -Nam Loc, Director of Catholic Charities in Los Angeles, CA (to be confirmed)
  
  -Khuc Minh Tho, Chairwoman of Family of Political Prisoner Association
  
  -Nguyen Ngoc Bich, Professor at George Mason College, Fairfax, VA.
  
  -Duong Phuc & Vu Thanh Thuy, Directors of Saigon-Houston Radio.
  
  -Isabelle Thuy Pelaud, Associate Professor Asian American Studies Department at San Francisco State University (to be confirmed)
  

• Vietnamese American political office holders who will lend their help in bringing public awareness to the project
  -Joseph Cao, US Congressman of Louisiana (to be confirmed)
  
  -Tran Thai Van, California Assembly Member
  
  -Hubert Vo, Texas State Representative
  

• Executive Board
  -Co-Chair: Lee Nguyen (VAHF)
  
  -Co-Chair: Linda Ho Peché (CAAS)
  
  -Co-Chair: TBD (Representative from uNAVSA)
  

VII. VAHF 500 Oral History Project Teams

• Planning Team
  The planning team will oversee the broader logistics for the project.
  -Lee Nguyen (Team Leader)
  -Nancy Bui
  -Cam Van Nguyen
  

• Promotions and Fundraising Team
  The promotion and fundraising team will oversee publicity for the project and create fundraising opportunities.
  -Nancy Bui (Team Leader)
  -Louise Hoang
  -Ann Pham

Training Team
The training team will provide oral history resources and materials.
-Linda Ho Peche (Team Leader)
-Anthony Pendleton
-Vinh Tran

• Execution Team
  The execution team will oversee the actual implementation of the oral history interviews.
  -Jason Wang (Team Leader)
  -Charlie Lee
  -Representative from (uNAVSA)

• Archives Team
  The archive team, will manage the audio interviews and archiving process.
  -Loan Nguyen (Team Leader)
  -Andrew Lam
  -Thai Nguyen

• Publishing Team
  

• The publishing team will oversee final editing and publication of the product.
  -Linda Ho Peche (Team Leader)
  -Nancy Bui.
  -Suzy Seriff Ph D

VIII. Contributing Organizations

• The Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network

• The Vietnamese Culture and Science Association

IX. VAHF 500 Oral History Project Scope

• The 500 Oral History Project will include Vietnamese Americans of diverse backgrounds from the following categories: -Political Refugees before 1975: 10 interviewees (Vietnamese political refugees, who were granted asylum to the United States before April 30, 1975.)

• First Wave Refugees April 1975: 30 interviewees (Vietnamese refugees who fled their country after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 and were processed through the Guam Refugee Camp.

• The Boatpeople: 100 interviewees (Over a million people who fled on small boats or walked out through Laos and Cambodia to Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, or Indonesia. About half of these people died during their escape.)

• Orderly Departure Program (ODP): 20 interviewees (The United States supported the Orderly Departure Program to allow Vietnamese Americans to sponsor their immediate relatives. Approximately half a million people were allowed to immigrate to the United States under this program.)

• Ameriasians: 50 interviewees (Over 125,000 children of United State soldiers were left behind after the war. These children were allowed to immigrate with their immediate family under the Homecoming Act signed by President Ronald Reagan.)

• Humanitarian Operations (HO): 100 interviewees (After the end of the war all South Vietnamese military and government officials were imprisoned without trial and many remained imprisoned for many years as punishment for their loyalty and service to their country. With the support of the Vietnamese American Community the United States government allowed over 300,000 of these political prisoners to immigrate with their families to the United States.)

• Special Forces: 10 interviewees (Special Forces from the ARVN Military that conducted clandestine operations inside North Vietnam for the purpose of gathering intelligence for the ARVN and United States Military.)

• Former American Employees: 10 interviewees (People who were punished by the communist government for their ties and employment with American owned companies.)

• Asylum: 10 interviewees (Vietnamese who obtained permission to enter the United States for opposing the communist government.)

• War Brides: 10 interviewees (Vietnamese wives of American Military personnel who were allowed to apply for immigration status.)

• Vietnamese Americans in The Arts: 100 interviewees (Artists from all mediums with Vietnamese Heritage.)

• Continuing Immigrants: 10 interviewees (Vietnamese who continue to immigrate today under various immigration statuses, including H1B visas for professionals.)

• Notable Vietnamese Americans: 50 interviewees (Vietnamese Americans who have achieved excellence in various sectors of society.)