Southeast Asian Archive: Collection Strengths

Major Topics

The collections are broad and interdisciplinary in documenting the social, cultural, religious, political, and economic life of Americans of Southeast Asian origin. The subjects listed below are representative of the Archive's breadth and scope:

People:

Places:

Subjects:

Selected Archival and Manuscript Materials

Archival and manuscript collections are described in detail in searchable collection guides in the Online Archive of California. The collections below represent the breadth and diversity of these non-circulating materials. Follow the links to view the full text of their guides.

• Bonner (Mitchell I.) Photographs and Ephemera, 1975-2001
  Textual materials and photographs primarily documenting the San Francisco Bay Area’s Southeast Asian American communities, focusing on Laotian Americans.
• Hà (Kim) Papers, 1983-1999
  Manuscript of Kim Hà’s published account of her family’s escape from Vietnam by land to refugee campus in Thailand.
• Marshall (Brigitte) Files on Southeast Asian Refugees, 1981-1995
  Printed and audiovisual materials documenting refugees (primarily Hmong) in camps in Thailand and their resettlement in California, mainly in the Central Valley.
• Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) Records, 1975-2003
  Files of this major center located in Washington, D.C., which was established to assist resettlement of refugees nationwide.

Vertical Files (Newsletters, Brochures, etc.)

The Vertical Files are a vast collection of newspaper and journal articles, newsletters, and ephemera (fliers, brochures, pamphlets, programs, etc.) that occupy more than 55 file drawers in the Archive.  Most materials are in English; the files also include an extensive collection of newsletters in Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian.

The following subjects are among those best represented; please refer to the Southeast Asian Archive Vertical File Thesaurus for additional topics.