Minnesota has had a strong contemporary history in the development of Asian communities that have immigrated to the North Star State. The 70s saw the migration of Chinese, Japanese and Filipinos. Southeast Asians in the late 1970s and 1980s, including Hmong, Lao, Cambodian and Vietnamese made a home here, and more recently refugees from Tibet, Burma and Thailand have become a part of the dynamic Minnesota Asian community.
MPR has been recording decades of material that reflect the Asian experience in Minnesota directly from the voices of members in the community. The wide-ranging subject matter of immigration, civil rights, politics, arts & culture, music, education, and business are captured in the stories, recollections, adaptation, and traditions.
December 26, 1975 - MPR’s Kate Williams reports on the success and challenges of Minnesota program for arriving Vietnamese refugees. Topics include housing, education, and jobs.
January 7, 1980 - MPR’s Tom Meersman reports on Laotian refugees arriving in Minnesota. Meersman highlights struggles and adjustments the refugees face.
December 23, 1980 - MPR’s Rich Dietman reports on immigrants use of traditional folk medicine. Inside the International Clinic at St. Paul Ramsey Hospital, western medical professionals are trying to better understand the different medical approaches and treatments.
April 24, 1982 - MPR’s Dale Connelly interviews Melissa Ringheim, a curator at the Science Museum of Minnesota, about exhibit of Hmong and Iu Mien embroidery, batik, and applique work. Ringheim describes the detail and style of the wearable art.
November 16, 1984 - MPR’s Kate Moos reports on growing businesses and entrepreneurial spirit of the refugee community as they adapt to their new home in the U.S.
June 22, 1991 - MPR’s Chris Roberts profiles local Hmong pop-rock group Asian Invasion. Roberts interviews members of the band, who describe their varied influences and cultural subject matter in songs.
December 3, 1991 - Worldview’s Mike Maus interviews Thupten Dadak, founder of the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota. Dadak discusses the struggles of Tibetans in their homeland, the Dalai Lama, Buddhism, and immigrating to the U.S.
November 6, 1992 - MPR’s Chris Roberts talks to the playwright and cast behind "We are Hmong," an original play collaboratively produced in St. Paul. The play explores the generational and cultural tug-of-war that characterizes Hmong family life in America.
November 27, 1992 - MPR’s Chris Roberts reports on the annual Hmong New Year’s celebration held in St. Paul. Roberts interviews participants and describes some of the customs on display.
March 26, 1993 - Hibbing native and second-generation Korean American author Marie Myung-Ok Lee reads from her new book "Finding My Voice."