Salvaging New York Chinatown, Preserving a Heritage, 1987

Fay Chiang was the daughter of a “paper son”; her father immigrated to the United States to work in a laundry at 10 years old. She found it difficult to communicate with her immigrant parents, as they rarely spoke of their coming-of-age stories. When her father passed away, Chiang looked through the salvages of her parents’ past. These instances of Chiang’s were commonplace for many second-generation Chinese Americans. In the 1980s, the New York Chinatown History Project asked community members for family memorabilia to record the 100-year-old history. The collection resulted in the 1987 show, Salvaging New York Chinatown: Preserving a Heritage curated by Dorothy Rony.

蒋慧萍是一位契纸儿子的女儿;她的父亲十岁时移民美国,在一家洗衣店里工作。她发现自己与移民父母在沟通上感到困难,因为父母从对自己的成长经历鲜少提起。她的父亲去世的时候,蒋慧萍翻阅了父母留下的物件,以了解父母的过去。蒋慧萍的经历是许多第二代华裔都拥有过的亲身体验。1980年代,纽约华埠历史研究社曾向社区居民征集他们家中的纪念物,以记录在美华人的百年历史。此次征集成就了1987年的展览,“发掘华埠的过去:保护遗留传统。”,该展览是由Dorothy Rony策划展出的。