Two new Philadelphia oral histories

Posted by on January 14, 2005

New City Community Press has two new titles available: ?Chinatown Live(s): Oral Histories from Philadelphia?s Chinatown? and ?Espejos y Ventanas/Mirrors and Windows: Oral Histories of Mexican Farmworkers and Their Families?. More info about each is available below.

Chinatown Live(s): Oral Histories from Philadelphia?s Chinatown
Several years ago, the Asian Arts Initiative took on the ambitious task of beginning to document Chinatown?s rich and complex history by asking community members to share their oral histories. Chinatown Live(s) brings those stories to life by pairing interview excerpts with portraits of interviewees by photographer Rodney Atienza.

The interviewees featured in the book reveal a depth and complexity to Chinatown that are unknown to many of us. Through their stories, public battles against the stadium and the Vine Street Expressway become personal – while personal journeys that begin in a refugee camp in Vietnam, the countryside of China, or the streets of South Philadelphia illuminate larger dynamics of society. And through their eyes, Chinatown is transformed from a one-dimensional tourist destination into a vital neighborhood where people live, work, fight, make friends, and build community.

Publication Date: December 2004
Trade paper, perfect bound, with photographs
ISBN-0-9712996-7-6 $30

Espejos y Ventanas/Mirrors and Windows: Oral Histories of Mexican Farmworkers and Their Families
Espejos y Ventanas details the individual stories of members of the Mexican community of Kennett Square, a community of three generations who have migrated to work in the world’s largest mushroom industry. Published in Spanish and English, these oral histories share glimpses of the lives of retirees who came north twenty-five years ago; of mothers and children who stayed in Mexico and finally made it over the border; of teenagers building a house for their family in Mexico; of children graduating from college, their feet planted in two worlds. In doing so, it provides a window into the general struggles of immigrant populations for social, political, and economic rights.
Publication date: September 10, 2004
Trade paper, perfect bound, with photographs.
ISBN 0-9712996-6-8 $20.00

You can order online at newcitypress.org. Or, call 215-204-7347 or email nicolem@temple.edu.