Evergreen Family Story Oral History Project

The conference will also be an important learning opportunity for our team. By connecting with experienced oral historians and community-based practitioners, we hope to strengthen our approaches to interviewing, ethics, privacy, digital preservation, community engagement, and long-term stewardship. These lessons can directly inform the next stage of the Family Stories project as we expand participation and continue improving our platform.

Most importantly, this invitation gives greater visibility to the stories of the Chinese diaspora community. Immigration history is often told through policies, dates, and major historical events. Family stories add something different: the voices of ordinary people describing, in their own words, why they left home, what they encountered in America, what they sacrificed, what they built, and what they hope their children and grandchildren will remember.

Our participation in Portland is therefore both a milestone and a beginning. We hope the connections and knowledge gained through the conference will help Evergreen build a stronger, more sustainable oral history initiative and encourage more Chinese immigrant families to recognize that their own family stories are also part of American history.

We are grateful to the families, volunteers, advisors, and supporters who have helped bring the project this far. As we prepare for Portland and the next phase of the Family Stories project, donations of any size can help support this work, from documenting and securely preserving more family stories to improving the platform and sharing what we learn with the broader community. Together, we can make sure that voices we can still hear today remain available for generations we may never meet.