Asian/American Center, approximately 1987-2000

Series — Multiple Containers

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Roger Sanjek was a founding member of the Asian/American Center at Queens College and retained some records as a result of his involvement with the Center. The series includes press clippings, working papers, reports, flyers for events which took place at or involved representatives of the Center, and press regarding the Translation Center.

Note that these materials are occasionally cross referenced at the folder level with the New Immigrants and Old Americans series, as these aspects of Sanjek's work were intertwined.

Dates

approximately 1987-2000

Creator

Asian/American Center (Queens College (New York, N.Y.)) (Organization)

Language of Materials

From the Collection:

Collection is predominantly in English, though there are items in languages including but not limited to Chinese, Korean, and Spanish.

Conditions Governing Access

Appointments to examine materials must be made in advance. Please email QC.archives@qc.cuny.edu for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Please note that access to the Accra, Ghana Research series is restricted until 2040.

Historical note

The Asian/American Center (A/AC) was founded in 1987 by Jack (John Kuo Wei) Tchen, an urban studies professor, and Roger Sanjek. The Center was precedented by Sanjek's New Immigrants and Old Americans project and Tchen's historical inquiry into the experience and impact of Chinese Americans in New York (and beyond).

Upon its opening in 1987, the Asian/American Center assumed administration of the New Immigrants and Old Americans program. The Center offered fellowships and research/college assistant positions to students across disciplines. In addition to scholarship, public programming, community engagement, and cultural events, the A/AC operated a free Translation Center which provided tranlation for government agencies and community organizations to better serve Chinese, Spanish and Korean speakers. The Translation Center was funded by the borough president, Claire Shulman.

At inception, the A/AC aimed to "develop scholarship, research and programs that build ties between the College and the growing Asian American communities of Queens and New York City" (1987-1988 Final Report, 1988). In the 1990s, the mission had evolved to further center community, noting that they seeked "knowledge that is rooted in local community experience. It also emphasizes an interdisciplinary cultural studies approach in which anthropologists, community activists, historians, social workers, critics, writers, filmmakers, psychologists, and others can come together in a supportive and stimulating intellectual environment, through a range of public programs...the A/AC is concerned about circulating this knowledge back to the living communities it is about, thereby enriching our understanding and dialogue about everyday life and the impact of history and social policy” (Historical note, Asian/American Center Records). In 2023, the Asian American/Asian Research Institute (AAARI), a CUNY-wide organization, absorbed the Asian/American Center.

Roger Sanjek served as director of the A/AC from 1987-1990. When he retired in the spring of 2009, his work with the Asian/American Center (and at Queens College more broadly) was honored by Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall at his retirement party that year (Declaration of Honor, 2009).

Works consulted:

1987-1988 Final Report, Asian/American Center, 1988. Roger Sanjek Papers. Box 3/Folder 2. Queens College (New York) Special Collections and Archives.

Declaration of Honor, 2009. Roger Sanjek Papers. Box 3/Folder 1. Queens College (New York) Special Collections and Archives.

Historical note, Asian/American Center Records [finding aid], Queens College (New York) Special Collections and Archives.