Lew, Margaret, Part 2

File — Container: Fall 2016

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

When the first interviews were being conducted in 2016, the collection was originally entitled the Chinese American Oral History Project. In 2023, the collection changed to its’ current title, Asian American Pacific Islander Oral History Project to be more inclusive towards interviewers who are not Chinese. In 2018, the project was sponsored by the Chinese American Engineers and Scientists Association of Southern California Scholarship Foundation, and interviewed members of the organization, as well as some of their spouses. In 2019, the interviews returned to focusing on community members who identify as AAPI.

Dates

Creation: Majority of material found in 2016-2019

Extent

From the Collection: 182 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Abstract

Margaret "Margie" Doris Lew begins her second interview by explaining how she began making jewelry, editing the Los Angeles City Employees Asian American Association newsletter, and collecting stamps through her employment at Los Angeles City Hall. Lew recalls writing letters to her future husband while he was on sea duty in World War II, as well as living in the Chinatown YWCA and working at Pacific Greyhound in wartime San Francisco. She describes raising her children in Los Angeles, building their L-shaped house in Hillside Village, and her favorite family trips to national parks and reflects upon her Chinese American identity and early encounters with racism. Lew shares about editing newsletters and the Gum Saan Journal for the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, writing letters to a Chinese American veteran of the Vietnam War, and tutoring students at the Chinatown Branch Library. Lew mentions her passion for parades, crafts, and crime shows, and concludes her interview by expressing pride in her big family and “up” attitude.