Yingying Han

I am a community organizer and an archival and information sciences researcher. I have been thinking a lot about how to make archival materials agents for marginalized community.

One approach was that I brought archival materials related to Asian immigrants and Asian Americans to life in the communities and facilitated dialogues with community members regarding how their current life resonates with or differs from history. We further discuss if we are going to build a community archive, what should be documented to make our life better and how.

Below are photos taken in 2022 at the New American Welcome Center at the University of YMCA. Chinese immigrants and Chinese American youths gathered to explore the history of the railroad, engage with and handle archival materials, and re-tell the stories of immigrants in our own unique way.

Community Storytelling: Power of Asian American Women’s Stories

Working with New American Welcome Center at the University YMCA, I organized a community event and brought the children’s book Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom to the Asian community in Champaign and shared the remarkable stories of the great Chinese American physicist Wu Chien Shiung with the youth.

Based on this community event, a fellow community member and I created a podcast discussing who will preserve the stories of immigrants.