South Asian Immigrants in the Philadelphia Area Oral History Project

Table of Contents

Summary Information

Biographical/Historical note

Scope and Contents note

Administrative Information

Related Materials

Controlled Access Headings

Collection Inventory

Interview transcripts

Interviews on audiocassette

Summary Information

Repository

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Creator

Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies.

Title

South Asian Immigrants in the Philadelphia Area Oral History Project

ID

3211

Date

1996

Extent

1.0 Linear feet ; 6 boxes

Author

Finding aid prepared by Sarah Newhouse

Sponsor

This collection was processed during the Digital Center for Americana Project Phase II, which was funded by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Richard Lounsbery Foundation.

Language

English

Audio [Box]

2-6

Text [Box]

1

Abstract

This collection contains records produced by the Balch Institute's South Asian Immigrants in the Philadelphia Area Oral History Project. The project was conducted in the summer of 1996, when project staff interviewed sixteen individuals about their heritage, country of origin, and experiences in the United States. The records in this collection are audiocassette recordings of the interviews and eight text transcripts.

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Biographical/Historical note

The Balch Institute operated from 1972 until 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In January of 2002, it merged with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and its collections were integrated into HSP's. The South Asian Immigrants in the Philadelphia Area Oral History Project was conducted in June and July of 1996. Its goal was to collect information about the immigrant experience, focusing on individuals who arrived in the United States in the 1960s and early 1970s from countries in South Asia, especially India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The resulting interviews provide a detailed and personal glimpse into the lives of first generation South Asian immigrants.

This project was funded by a grant from the Samuel S. Fels Fund. Project staff included project director, Eric Pumroy (Director of the Library and Archives at the Balch Institute); project coordinator, Ranji Sinha; volunteer coordinator, Vaswati R. Rinha; and a graduate student intern, Sufia Uddin, who conducted the interviews.

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Scope and Contents note

This collection contains interviews conducted with sixteen individuals from various countries and regions of South Asia. All of the interviews were conducted in English by Sufia Uddin and cover the same range of topics. Interview subjects discuss their family and life in South Asia, their careers, adjustment to American culture, the process of becoming American citizens, and the next generation's ethnic and cultural identity. The participants in the interviews are usually Sufia Uddin and the interview subject, but project coordinator, Rani Sinha, and on one occasion a subject's daughter, also speak.

The collection is divided into two series: "Interview transcripts" and "Interviews on audiocassette."

Series 1, "Interview transcripts," contains transcripts for eight of the interviews. Some of the folders contain multiple copies of the transcripts and most include interview outlines, with summaries of content given at each two-minute interval. In some cases, the dates of interviews in the transcripts differ from the dates given in the audio recordings. The dates provided for the transcripts in this finding aid are those written in the transcripts, not the dates given during the interview.

Series 2, "Interviews on audiocassette," contains audiocassette tape recordings of the interviews, and as with the transcripts, some interviews are represented in multiple copies. Tapes are usually marked with the date of the interview, name of subject, and some indication of whether the tape is the original recording or a copy. Some of the dates written on the tapes are not the same dates given by the Sufia Uddin at the beginning of the interviews. The dates of the audiocassette interviews in this finding aid are those provided by the interviewer in the audio recordings.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania August 2011

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

Acquired during the Balch Institute and Historical Society of Pennsylvania merger in 2002.

Processing Information note

Two tapes containing interviews with Cecilia Moy Yep were removed from this collection and returned to the Chinatown Oral History Project interviews (collection D0447).

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Related Materials

Related Archival Materials note

At the Historical Society of Pennsylvania:

Bengali Cultural Society records (MSS 139)

Beshbandhu family photographs (PG 393)

Indo-American association of Delaware records (Collection 3016) http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/i/iaad3016.htm

Jaipaul family photographs (PG083)

New Immigrants Initiative collection (Collection 3442)

Pan Asian Associatoin of Greater Philadelphia records (MSS 138 and PG 358) http://www2.hsp.org/collections/Balch%20manuscript_guide/html/panasian.html

At other institutions:

Nationalities Services Center Records, 1923-1987. In the Temple University Urban Archives. Philadelphia. http://library.temple.edu/collections/urbana/nsc-01.jsp?bhcp=1

Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations Records, 1952-. In the Philadelphia City Archives. http://www.phila.gov/phils/Docs/Inventor/graphics/agencies/A148.htm

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Controlled Access Headings

Geographic Name(s)

• United States--Emigration and immigration.

Subject(s)

• Immigrant families--United States--Economic conditions.
• Immigrant families--United States--Social conditions.
• Immigrants--India.
• Immigration studies
• Immigration to the United States
• South Asia--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
• South Asia--History--20th century.
• South Asia--Social conditions.
• South Asia--Social life and customs.
• South Asian American women--Social conditions--Anecdotes.
• South Asian Americans
• South Asian Americans--Religion.
• South Asian Americans--Social conditions.
• South Asian Americans--Social life and customs.
• South Asians--United States
• South Asians--United States--Religion.
• South Asians--United States--Social conditions.

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Collection Inventory