UML 4. Indochinese Refugees Foundation, Inc. Oral Histories, 2016

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL

CENTER FOR LOWELL HISTORY

INDOCHINESE REFUGEES FOUNDATION, INC. ORAL HISTORIES, 2016

UML 4

EXTENT: 4 Audio CDs, 4 transcripts.

ABSTRACT:

Four oral history interviews with former staff and board members of the Indochinese Refugees Foundation, Inc., an organization that helped resettle Southeast Asian refugees in the greater Lowell, Massachusetts area during the 1980s. Oral histories were conducted with Jacqueline (Fidler) Moloney, Carol Keirstead, Elise Martin, Hai Pho, and Lan Pho.

Some items in the collection have been digitized: https://umlseada.omeka.net/collections/show/3

The Indochinese Refugees Foundation, Inc. (IRF) was a nonprofit, mutual assistance association established in 1977 that provided services to aid Southeast Asian refugees who were resettling in the greater Lowell, Massachusetts area during the 1980s. These refugees, mainly from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, fled their countries due to the ramifications of the Vietnam War and the Khmer Rouge, or what was known as the Indochina Refugee Crisis. The main services provided by the organization were job placement, job training, and English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. Other services included translator services, housing placement, donation drives, and community-building support.

Kale Connerty, a student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, conducted four oral history interviews with former IRF staff and board members as part of her Honors College Senior Thesis. Mehmed Ali, a former UMass Lowell Library staff member, assisted in some of these oral histories.

The four oral histories conducted include:

1. Jacqueline (Fidler) Moloney (February, 2016), who served as Project Director,
2. Carol Keirstead (March, 2016), who served as Project Director after Jacqueline (Fidler) Moloney,
3. Elise Martin (June, 2016), who served as the ESL Coordinator, and
4. Hai and Lan Pho (October, 2016), the founders and former board members of the IRF.

These oral histories provide information and anecdotes about the individuals interviewed, the IRF, government policy, Southeast Asian refugees, and Lowell, Massachusetts. For each of the four interviews there is an audio recording and a transcript. The interview with Hai and Lan Pho also has an edited transcript. The recordings and transcripts of these oral histories are organized chronologically by the date they were conducted.

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.