The collection contains artwork, stories, letters, and other documents created by mostly young Cambodian Chapter 1 English as a second language students Dorothea Tsapatsaris taught from the years of 1987-1991. The topics covered in the student work range from Cambodian clothing, ceremonies, and every day activities in Cambodia to food recipes, leaving Cambodia, and living in Lowell, Massachusetts. Some materials cover general Lowell immigration history and were probably created by non-Cambodian students. A number of these items are poster size.
The materials are believed to have been created and collected during school time with the purpose of being sent to the national children's literary magazine “Stone Soup” for publication. Some of the materials were part of the “Memories of Cambodia” exhibit at the Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center in 1990.
Also included in the collection are several photographs of Dorothea Tsapatsaris’ students, classroom, and student work; a couple of newspaper clippings about Tsapatsaris’s students and their work; and material related to the 1990 exhibit.
Most of the student work kept in the oversize folders are originals and were digitized in 2014. The document case/box holds mostly materials about the collection and photocopies of student work.
