Oregon Multicultural Archives
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Work provided by Oregon State University

Hongsa Chanthavong Oral History Interview

Interviewee
Interviewer
Date
  • 2014-07-01
Description
  • The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) was established in 1976 to serve immigrants and refugees in Portland, Oregon. IRCO's mission is to promote the integration of refugees, immigrants, and the community at large into a self-sufficient, healthy, and inclusive multiethnic society. Through its five primary locations – IRCO Main, Africa House/Skill Center, Asian Family Center, Senior Services Center, and the International Language Bank – the organization provides programs and services related to training and employment, health and aging, English language learning, naturalization and social adjustment, community development, early childhood, parenting and youth development, education and interpretation and translation.
  • Hongsa Chanthavong was born on October 1, 1934, in Laos to Laotian parents who were born in the early 1900s. Because he comes from Laos, he self-identifies as Lao. Chanthavong attended school in Laos, in Vientiane, until coming to the United States in 1959 to study at the University of Miami. He came by himself to study in the School of Government of Political Science on a scholarship granted by the U.S. government. After his graduation in 1964, he began working for the State Department as an escort interpreter, but after three months, he returned to Laos. There, he worked for the government when in 1975 he was captured by communists and came as a refugee to the United States in 1983 with his wife and children. He began his career at IRCO in 1984 as a business specialist with the Economic Development Project. He moved from that position to resource specialist to director of the International Language Bank, and then he set up the Asian Family Center, becoming the center coordinator in 1994. He now works as the community organizer of the Diversity and Civic Leadership Project and as a business development specialist.
Subject
Work Type
Location
Rights Holder
  • Oregon Multicultural Archives, OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center
Identifier
  • Hongsa-Chanthavong-oral-history-interview-2014-07-01
Local Collection Name
Institution
Submission Date
  • 11/17/2017
Modified
  • 03/09/2023
Collections

APA

Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University. (16 Apr 2024). Hongsa Chanthavong Oral History Interview Retrieved from https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df71gk43w

MLA

Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University. "Hongsa Chanthavong Oral History Interview" Oregon Digital. 16 Apr 2024. https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df71gk43w

Chicago

Oregon Multicultural Archives, Oregon State University. "Hongsa Chanthavong Oral History Interview" Oregon Digital. Accessed 2024-04-16. https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df71gk43w

Wiki

{{cite web | url= https://oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df71gk43w | title= Hongsa Chanthavong Oral History Interview |author= |accessdate= 2024-04-16 |publisher= }}
Data Sources
Footer Number Term External URI
1 Chanthavong, Hongsa http://opaquenamespace.org/ns/people/ChanthavongHongsa
2 Fernández, Natalia, 1985- http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2015155999
3 Immigrants http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85064517
4 Asian Americans http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85008644
5 Community organization http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85029254
6 transcripts http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300027388
7 Portland >> Clackamas/Multnomah/Washington Counties >> Oregon >> United States https://sws.geonames.org/5746545/
8 Asian Family Center Oral History Collection, 2014-2016 (OH 30) http://opaquenamespace.org/ns/localCollectionName/oh_30
9 Oregon State University http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80017721

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