English Prof. Sue Kim looks through Higgins & Ross book of photos of Cambodian refugees in Lowell Image by K. Webster
UMass Lowell English Prof. Sue Kim is leading a project to create a digital archive of Southeast Asians' history in Greater Lowell.

06/02/2017
Lowell Sun

LOWELL -- With the help of federal and state grants, UMass Lowell will create a Southeast Asian Digital Archive to preserve the experiences of Lowell's Southeast Asian American communities.

The university announced earlier this week that it had received a $239,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a $28,000 grant from the UMass President's Office Creative Economy Initiatives Fund.

Led by Professor Sue Kim and Associate Professor Ivy Ho, the archive will be a partnership between the university and various community groups, including the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Angkor Dance, Lao Mutual Family Assistance Association, and others.

The digital collection will document the experiences of many of the immigrants, and their children, who have come to Lowell from Southeast Asia since the 1970s, and now make up more than 20 percent of the city's population.