Memoirs & Bios
Memoirs and biographies shape how we research and how we understand ourselves. In our work to recover histories that have been overlooked or erased, we turn to these personal accounts to help us fill in the gaps that the archive can’t always show. They bring depth, feeling, and clarity to lives that might otherwise go unrecognized. These stories reveal patterns of exclusion and persistence across generations, helping us understand our place in that history. A memoir isn’t just a record; it’s a reflection. It lets us see into someone else’s world while also recognizing pieces of our own.
1
by Michelle Zauher
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humor and heart, she tells of growing up one of the few Asian American kids at her school in Eugene, Oregon.
2
by Cathy Park Hong
Poet and essayist Cathy Park Hong fearlessly and provocatively blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose fresh truths about racialized consciousness in America. Part memoir and part cultural criticism, this collection is vulnerable, humorous, and provocative.
3
by Nacy E. Davis
In 1834, a young Chinese woman named Afong Moy arrived in America, her bound feet stepping ashore in New York City. She was both a prized guest and advertisement for a merchant firm--a promotional curiosity used to peddle exotic wares from the East.
4
by Paul C.P. Siu
Chinese in America endured abuse and discrimination in the late nineteenth century, but they had a leader and a fighter in Wong Chin Foo (1847–1898), whose story is a forgotten chapter in the struggle for equal rights in America.
