Lunar New Year Interviews

Interview Date & Time: February 20, 5:00 to 9:00 PM

Interview Location: Americana Community Center, Louisville, KY

Interviewee(s): 13 Vietnamese-Americans, a mix

Oral History Team:

Interviewer 1 – Thao Tran

Interviewer 2 – NgocUyen Nguyen

Interviewer 3 – Deanna Tran

Recorder – Quang Le

Photographer – Frank Bui

Summary: I'm very happy to report that we did 13 interviews yesterday in the midst of TET craziness. 183905 of those were kids under the age of 15. If nothing else, the Vietnamese community in Louisville has been diligent in the production and continuation of the future generations! Seeing them reminded me why this project is so important. It's a way for young Vietnamese to learn about and understand their parents' past and where they come from.





I only hope that long after our parent's & grandparent's generations passed, their stories and struggles will live on. And maybe, just maybe, if one Vietnamese/American child can learn from that, then their struggles and hardships will not be in vain (please excuse the dramatic flair :).





The equipment, though seemingly intimidating, was easy to operate. Our recording booth was occupied with young and older interviewees throughout the night (when I say booth, I meant a chair with a microphone attached that's stationed in the middle of the hall way with, again, 183905 kids in constant motion).





We enlisted a few people from the Amerasian Association as well as an enthusiast from the Elderly Vietnamese Club. Many were intimidated by the presence of a microphone, but I'm surprised at the amount of people who agreed to be interviewed. In-depth interviews will be underway soon!



The hardest task ahead is to organize and to make sense of the many short interviews we conducted yesterday. Due to the madness that was Tet and the excitement that came every time we successfully recruited an interviewee, many names were not recorded properly. I hope we can identify which track belongs to which person. Relating the content of the interviews to the overall project will also be a challenge. But...it's such an exciting feeling to see the ball rolling and picking momentum fast!

This report was prepared by Thao Tran and Deanna Tran.