Call Number:

SCRC 695

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

83.5 linear feet (94 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Asian Americans United Records, SCRC 695, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1971-2019 (inclusive)

Creator:

Asian Americans United

Form:

Administrative records, Articles of Incorporation, Attendance records, Audiocassettes, Bylaws (administrative records), Case files, Charters, Clippings, Compact discs, Correspondence, Directories, Drawings, DVDs, Printed ephemera, Exhibition catalogs, Financial records, Floppy disks, Hard drives, Ledgers (account books), Legal documents, Logs, Mailing lists, Manuscripts, Maps, Membership lists, Minicassettes, Mini-DV, Minutes (administrative records), Negatives, Newsletters, Objects, Oral histories, Pamphlets, Petitions, Photocopies, Photographs, Posters, Press releases, Publications (documents), Questionnaires, Reports, School records, Scrapbooks, Slides, Sound recordings, Speeches (documents), Transparencies, VHS (TM), Zines, Born digital, and Periodicals

Abstract:

Asian Americans United (AAU) has aided people of Asian ancestry in Philadelphia since 1985. AAU was founded with the mission to create leadership and unity in Asian American communities to challenge oppression. Under the leadership of Executive Director Ellen Somekawa, AAU initiated multiple campaigns pushing for justice for Asian Americans in Philadelphia, a partnership with the Philadelphia Folklore Project that created the FACTS Charter School, multiple arts programs, after school programs, the building of a community garden in Chinatown, and more. AAU has been instrumental in supporting and advocating for the rights of Asian Americans and the protection of Philadelphia's Chinatown. AAU regularly collaborated with other local organizations, such as Asian Arts Initiative, Freedom Schools, the Philadelphia Folklore Project, and others.

The Asian Americans United (AAU) Records document the work of this advocacy and community organization in Philadelphia. The collection contains materials from prior the organization's founding in 1985 through 2019. The collection includes administrative and financial records which offer insight into the internal organization of AAU and how it has been sustained through fundraising and grants. The collection also includes materials regarding the organization and administration of specific campaigns, events, and programs led by AAU, such as AAU's annual Mid-Autumn Festival, educational programs like FACTS Charter School and the Community Youth Leadership program, and campaigns like their No Casino and No Stadium in Chinatown campaigns. The collection contains photographs, posters, and banners from these programs and events, as well as publications created by AAU. This collection consists of paper-based records as well as digital and audiovisual content.

• Series 1: Administrative records, 1971-2019
• Subseries 1.1: General administrative records, 1984-2013
• Subseries 1.2: Financial and board records, 1971-2019
• Subseries 1.3: South Philadelphia Family Center records, 1998-2004
• Series 2: Audiovisual materials, 1984-2014
• Series 3: Campaigns, 1984-2019
• Series 4: Community Youth Leadership Program, 1980-2017
• Series 5: Ephemeral materials, 1990-2002
• Series 6: Event records, 1988-2017
• Series 7: Funding and grant records, 1983-2018
• Series 8: Mid-Autumn festival, 1996-2018
• Series 9: Photographs, 1989-2010
• Series 10: Posters and large materials, 1992-2016
• Series 11: Programming, 1973-2016
• Series 12: Publications, 1971-2015
• Subseries 12.1: AAU Publications, 1987-2015
• Subseries 12.2: Yellow Seeds newspaper, 1971-1975
• Series 13: Summer Program and Freedom School records, 1987-2013