West Michigan Vietnamese History Project collection
Scope and Contents
This collection documents two major projects.
First, the Vietnamese Resettlement Project, which was international in scope and brought together peoples and organizations throughout the world to relocate refugee families of the Vietnam War. This collection primarily documents local events through local literature and images, but also includes material created at the national or international level.
Second is the later project done by Grand Rapids citizens, with the Grand Rapids Historical Commission, to tell the story of their more specific and personal experience concerning their relocation to Grand Rapids and the development of the Vietnamese community here.
A key figure at the national level was President Gerald R. Ford. While relocation affected many American cities, there may be a particular interest among researchers in the resettlement to Grand Rapids, because of Ford's position in the White House at the time. Documents related to Ford are not prominent in this collection, but there is a interview with Ford, done related to the Vietnamese History Project, which may provide unique insights into Ford's recollections and opinions in this matter.
Photographs originate in each separate series, with those provided by Ailes, Schipper and others, known or unknown, ending up in the final Vietnamese History Project products. Olson also contributed general images of Vietnam, often contemporary to the project, through his own photographs taken in Vietnam, through the purchase of picture postcard packets, or through copy photography from the National Archives, for example. There are also event photos from July 9, 1992, for the original showing of the moving image, held at the Ford Museum.
Dates
- 1976-1995
Language of Materials
This collection includes materials in English and Vietnamese.
Biographical / Historical
The history of the Vietnamese community in Grand Rapids begins with the fall of Saigon, on April 30, 1975, during the Vietnam War. Many refugees fleeing Vietnam in the 1970s sought new homes and lives in the United States. Many came to Grand Rapids through the efforts of Rev. Dr. Howard Schipper and the Freedom Flight Refugee Center. Series I of this collection documents the work of Dr. Schipper, the Center and the larger Michigan community, which continued to support the resettled Vietnamese, as well as other refugees, during their transitions to life in the United States. The Center operated from 1975 until closing its doors in 1999.
One of the main tasks in resettlement was the education of the refugees in the English language. Series II, donated by Pat Ailes, documents the Wyoming (Kent Co.) community’s participation in this endeavor, during the 1970 and early 1980s.
In the 1990s, City Historian Gordon Olson, working with Dr. Schipper, Ms. Ailes and the Vietnamese community, sought a grant to document the history of the Vietnamese in Grand Rapids.
The West Michigan Vietnamese History Project culminated in essentially three products:
1) The historical archives of the event and the project, gathered in this collection from the various Western Michigan individuals and organizations involved in the resettlement, and described in this document,
2) A videotape “From Saigon to Sanctuary : the story of Vietnamese Refugees in West Michigan : a documentary project …“ (2002),
3) A book published in 2004, “Flight to Freedom: the story of the Vietnamese of West Michigan”.
Extent
30.5 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection documents the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees to West Michigan, beginning in the 1970s. The material was collected as part of the West Michigan Vietnamese History Project, which sought to preserve the history of Vietnamese settlement in West Michigan. The bulk of the collection is records from the Freedom Flight Task Force, a group organized by Rev. Dr. Howard Schipper to assist in the relocation of Vietnamese refugees to West Michigan. Included in the collection are photographs, moving images, newsletters, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, reports and oral histories. Some of the materials are in Vietnamese.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Rev. Howard Schipper, Pat Ailes, Gordon Olson, September 1995-
Accession numbers: 1995.020, 1996.021, 1997.018, 1999.029, 1999.127, 2000.066/066b, 2000.067 ; 2000.086/086b, 2000.100, 2001.074, 2001.080/080b, 2001.132, 2002, 064, 2004.019, 2004. 023, 2005.042, 2007.015, 2009.004.1, 2009.004.2
Frank Jamison 2021.112, unprocessed.
Appendix A. – Moving Images housed in Coll. 175
There were 5 boxes of unprocessed moving images materials, officially attached to Coll. 247, but housed with Coll. 175, the GRPL Moving Image Collection. Inventories prepared by a student processor, prepared ca. 1999, for boxes 29-30 and 31, are given below. Not listed in the Master Moving Image database. No master moving image number assigned.
Student inventory of select moving images boxes, ca. 1999:
247/175-29:
1. Children of the Dust,” BBC Documentary, Jan. 9, 1984. T60 Color plus Scotch.
2. Reverend Schipper: Neither Here Nor There, n.d.
3. Unaccompanied Haitian Minors Repatriated From Guantanamo, June 6, 1996.
4. Soviet Christians Call for HELP / Exodus World Service, c.1989. 312-REGUGEE. Video Services by Renaissance Video Corp. 312-930-5005
5. Welcome: Refugee Guide to Resettlement, Refugee Orientation Video
(English Version),” Funded by : U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Population, Refugrees and Migration, 1997.
6. One Great Hour for Sharing. Former Yugoslavia, Midwest Flood, Kakuma Refugee Camp. 1994 copying permitted for church-related use. Running Time 9 ½ min. + accompanying 1 pg. Study guide
7. When Night Comes. Computer Generated Imagery. Ontario, N.Y. 14519. 716-265-1450. 3/11/88 (1988) 23:29.
8. Application, Interview, & Good Work Habits / Freedom Flight Refugee Center, AMHERIC.
9. Application, Interview, & Good Work Habits / Freedom Flight Refugee Center, AMHERIC., c. 2
10. The Application / Freedom Flight Refugee Center. English. “Office copy”
11. The Interview / Freedom Flight Refugee Center. Ethiopian. “Office copy”
12. The Interview / Freedom Flight Refugee Center. English. “Office copy”
13. Developing Good Work Habits / Freedom Flight Refugee Center. Ethiopian. “Office copy”
14. Developing Good Work Habits / Freedom Flight Refugee Center. English. “Office copy”
15. To Be an American 1989: WOTV (Network Show), 1989. (Legal copy?)
16. Joint Orientation, Sep 1996.
17. Freedom Flight Task Force. No narration.
18. Freedom Flight Task Force. No narration. Sticky note: Note. Narration is on last half of “The Interview”, (part #2)
247/175-30 (5 cassettes):
19. Neither her nor there. Master. 24:49
20. Client: Grand Rapids Public Library. Title: Reverend Schipper. Neither Here Nor There. 11/7/1997. 24:48. Digital Video Services. Betacam sp copy. Tape #1739.
21. Ch. 8. Indo Chinese in Grand Ra. 30 min. Master.
22. Wretched Refuse of Your Teeming Shores / slide pres. By Rev. H. Schipper. 39:08 color Sept. 79. 2nd Generation copy #1. (Indo Chinese refugees – boat people) Grand Rapids Publi Schools. Master.
23. Boat People: The Restless Wave. Master.
24. Amerasians / Christian Science Monitor, dist. By Migration and Refugee Services, U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C. [LOAN]
25. Children of the Dust. [LOAN]
247/175-31:
26. Grand Rapids WZZM TV “Rivers Merging” n.d. 45:00
27. Rivers Merging. G. Rapids. WZZM TV. 15:40 Murrow #2. Master
28. Vietnam program
29. Vietnam program. Master. Tape Interview. [Vietnamese name?]
Schipper:
1. Sony tape in small black plastic case. No ID
2. “New Family in Town” 16” core on white plastic reel, in white (acid) box with Grand Rapids Historical and Digital Video markings.
3. “New Family in Town”. 16” on yellow reel, in yellow plastic reel to reel moving image box. CRWRC (Christian Reform World Relief Commission?) markings
Olson:
1. Rivers Merging. WZZMTV 15:40. Tan Video master in black Scotch UC-60 U-Matic Color Videocasette box.
2. Usage Videotape. Grand Rapids WZZM TV “Rivers Merging” 45:00 [No rights?] n.d.
3. Usage Videotape. “Vietnamese Program”. n.d.
- Title
- Finding aid for the West Michigan Vietnamese History Project collection
- Subtitle
- incorporating Howard Schipper's Freedom Flight Refugee Center Records and the Wyoming, Michigan Community Education Records (Pat Ailes)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Brian Rozema
- Date
- February 2000
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for uncoded script
Repository Details
Part of the Grand Rapids History Center Repository
Grand Rapids Public Library
111 Library Street NE
Grand Rapids Michigan 49503 USA
616-988-5497
localhis@grpl.org