Brian Yee, Roots Intern, Interview Video

56K Modem Version of Video

Interview of Brian Yee, Roots Intern, video by Web Class

56K Modem Version of Video

From January 25, 2003 - March 22, 2003, the Chinatown Community Arts Gallery exhibited a Visual Art Exhibition featuring photos and family trees from the "In Search of Roots" Program. Every summer since 1991, a group of young Chinese Americans researched family and archival records in the United States and journey to their ancestral villages.

The exhibition had a variety interesting objects created by the interns. Some of most interesting works were the posters with family trees and photos of relatives in China and America.

For many of the interns, this program was a life changing experience. The program involves a year-long commitment to researching one's Chinese American family history and genealogy. After exploring their Chinese roots in America, participants explore their roots in China through searching for and visiting their paternal an/or maternal ancestral villages in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province, home to the majority of Chinese who have migrated to the United States since the mid-nineteenth century. The program culminates in a Chinese New Year exhibition of the interns' research at the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, where the participants share what they have learned with family, friends, and community.