UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL
CENTER FOR LOWELL HISTORY
TSAPATSARIS, GEORGE N. AND DOROTHEA. A CITY OF REFUGEES, THE MEMORIES OF CAMBODIA COLLECTION, CIRCA 1987-1991.
UML 9
EXTENT: 1 document case and 3 oversize folders
ABSTRACT:
The George N. and Dorothea Tsapatsaris “A City of Refugees, the Memories of Cambodia” collection contains artwork, stories, letters, and other documents created by Dorothea Tsapatsaris’ young Cambodian students from the years of 1987-1991. Topics range from Cambodian clothing, ceremonies, and every day activities to food recipes, leaving Cambodia, and living in Lowell, Massachusetts. Also included are several photographs of Dorothea Tsapatsaris’ students, classroom, and student work; a couple of newspaper clippings; and material related to the 1990 “Memories of Cambodia” exhibit.
Some items in the collection have been digitized: https://umlseada.omeka.net/collections/show/9.
Dorothea (Gemos) Tsapatsaris (1933-2010) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, attended Lowell public schools, and returned to teach in the Lowell public school system as an elementary and English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. She held a bachelor's degree in education from Lesley College and was married to George N. Tsapatsaris.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dorothea Tsapatsaris gathered the stories and artwork created by her young Cambodian students and arranged to have them published in the national children's literary magazine “Stone Soup.”
George N. Tsapatsaris (1930-2017) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, attended Lowell public schools, and later returned to work in the Lowell public school system in various roles including junior high school math teacher and superintendent. He held a master’s degree in education from the University of Lowell and was married to Dorothea (Gemos) Tsapatsaris.
Information gathered from UMass Lowell’s Alumni website, from the Tsapatsaris’ online obituaries, and from the Digital Commonwealth’s A City of Refugees, the Memories of Cambodia collection page.
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.
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.
