UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL
CENTER FOR LOWELL HISTORY
CAMBODIAN MUTUAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION OF GREATER LOWELL, INC.
PUBLICATIONS, CIRCA 1997-2019
UML 19
EXTENT: 14 computer files
ABSTRACT:
This collection includes digitized issues of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc.'s bilingual magazines Khmer Lowell and CMAA Lowell Magazine.
The collection is available for viewing: https://umlseada.omeka.net/collections/show/17.
The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc. (CMAA) was founded in 1984 as a nonprofit organization. Lowell had, and continues to have, a large Cambodian population and it was important for Cambodians to be able to seek and receive help from people with the same background. Through the years CMAA has offered various programs and services including English classes, job skills training, a daycare, citizenship classes, and youth programs.
CMAA’s current mission is to “improve the quality of life for Cambodian Americans and other minorities and economically disadvantaged persons in Lowell through educational, cultural, economic and social programs.” Current programs and services include, but are not limited to, Cambodian After School Program, Citizen Assistance, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), First Time Home Buyer’s Training, Khmer Language Class, Monorom Family Support Program, Rising Stars Support Program, Translation Services, and Young Professional Program.
Information gathered from the CMAA website, https://www.cmaalowell.org/wp/ and from the publications in this collection.
The collection includes digitized issues of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc.’s bilingual magazines Khmer Lowell and CMAA Lowell Magazine. The original source materials are believed to have been from Ali, Mehmed. Asian-American Collection, circa 1974-2017. UML 14. The magazine runs are incomplete and have an unknown number of issues.
It is also unknown if Khmer Lowell magazine, sometimes acknowledged/referred to as Khmer Lowell newsletter, is the predecessor to the CMAA Lowell Magazine or of they were intended to be two distinct publications.
The two magazines are organized into their own series in this collection. A third series or organizational area is General Files.
Series 1. Khmer Lowell, 1997-2002
Khmer Lowell was a bilingual magazine from the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc. (CMAA), the Cambodian American Voter League of Lowell (CAVL), and the Khmer Cultural Institute (KCI). It was published by CMAA. During its run the magazine sometimes referred to itself as the Khmer Lowell Newsletter and the KhmerLowell Magazine. The publishing frequency varied but it was generally published more than once per year.
The magazine solicited and published advertisement and reader contributions such as articles, opinions and commentary, artwork, and creative writing. Issues include coverage of general local Cambodian-related events and CMAA event and program updates. There are also informational pieces about Massachusetts public health, social services, and tenants’ rights. Sparingly, there are larger Cambodian specific and non-Southeast Asian news.
Series 2. CMAA Lowell Magazine, 2004-2007
CMAA Lowell Magazine was a bilingual magazine produced by the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association of Greater Lowell, Inc. (CMAA). The magazine was an annual publication primarily focused on sharing news about CMAA.
Similar to Khmer Lowell, the magazine solicited and published advertisement and reader contributions such as articles, opinions and commentary, artwork, and creative writing. Issues mainly include coverage of CMAA events, programs, and news.
Series 3. General Files, 2019
Other files related to the creation of the publications. For example, the CMAA logo.
For a listing of related collections at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and elsewhere, please visit: https://www.uml.edu/Research/SEA-digital-archive/related-collections.aspx.
For more information about the SEADA, please visit our home page at www.uml.edu/seada, or email us at seada@uml.edu.
