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Asians in Minnesota Oral History Project: Interview with Wing Young Huie

Titles: Asians in Minnesota Oral History Project: Interview with Wing Young Huie (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Wing Young Huie was born May 3, 1955, in Duluth, Minnesota. He is the youngest son of Duluth restaurateur Joe Huie, who emigrated from China to Duluth in 1909 at age 17 and operated the widely known Joe Huie Cafe from 1951 to 1973. Because of restrictive United States immigration laws, Joe Huie's family remained in China until after World War II. Wing Young Huie, born after their arrival in Duluth in the early 1950s, is the only American-born member of the family. Wing Young Huie spent his childhood in Duluth, where he attended public elementary and secondary schools. After graduation from high school he enrolled at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and received a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1978. Since then he has been engaged in freelance writing and photography. He has had articles with his own photos published in Lake Superior Port Cities and Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine. One of his photos appears in a 1981 book published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups. He also contributed photographs for an exhibit on Asians in Minnesota that opened at the Minnesota Historical Society in May of 1982. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: He discusses the experience of growing up in a Chinese immigrant family, his sense of loss in knowing little about his own heritage, and his searching for roots by enrolling in Chinese history and language courses at the University of Minnesota. He also discusses the isolation of his mother, Lee Ngook Kum Huie, who does not speak English, and the cultural barrier between Chinese students and Chinese-American students at the university. He points out that although racial discrimination was relatively mild in Duluth, his father had a difficult time getting a haircut in the early years, and he himself encountered problems in interracial dating in high school. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Wing Young Huie is an articulate member of the second generation who grew up in the Chinese community in Duluth, and his interview is particularly valuable for the insights into this experience. Part of the tape is marred by poor audio quality, but most of it can be understood.

Dates

  • 03/25/1979 (Creation)

Creation

Identifiers

  • Library Call Number: OH 51
  • Accession Number: AV1981.361.7

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

Quantity: 1.5 hours sound cassette 34 pages transcript

Format

  • Content Category: sound recordings
  • Content Category: text

Measurements

  • 00:49:13 running time

Subjects

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Documents

Audio:

Audio Part 1

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Audio Part 2

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