MISSION STATEMENT | Cal State LA

The Chinese American Oral History Project (CAOHP) is dedicated to documenting Chinese American oral histories in Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley. While our overall objective is to conduct oral histories of Chinese Americans in the greater Los Angeles region, our first priority is documenting the communities before the 1960s. However, we welcome all who belong to the tapestry of the ethnic enclaves throughout this region.

Through the use of oral histories, we aim to preserve the life stories of Chinese Americans in the multicultural region of Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley. This project examines the demographic and cultural shifts from Chinatown to the new ethnic enclaves scattered throughout the San Gabriel Valley. In doing so, our project serves to boost student success through civic engagement and community participation, strengthen ties between California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) as a distinctive site for the historical shifts between Downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley, and to invigorate Asian and Asian American Studies at Cal State LA.