South Asia Oral History Project Now Online

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Participants in the South Asian Oral History Project: Back row, from left: Rajinder Manhas, Prem Kumar, Dev Manhas, Zakir Parpia, Zafar Siddiqui. Front row, from left: Amy Bhatt, Shaila Kode, Santosh Wahi, Nazma Rizvi, Amy Lally, Owais Jaffrey and Deepa Banerjee, South Asian Studies librarian.*

In 2003, Irene Joshi, the UW's first South Asian Studies librarian, was concerned that historically important life stories were being lost as the first generation of post-World War II South Asian immigrants to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest started to reach the end of their lives. 

They shared experiences such as working on the early Apollo space shuttle launches, joining the Peace Corps, attending the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, and being some of the earliest South Asian students enrolled at the University of Washington.

Subsequent phases feature subjects arriving in the Pacific Northwest in the 1960s and 70s, to work in aerospace and engineering; phase three interview are with subjects who immigrated in the 1980s, primarily to work in the high-tech field.

Deepa Bannerjee, South Asia Studies Librarian, worked with partners from the Jackson School of International Studies, the Museum of History and Industry, and Amy Bhatt, graduate student, to interview subjects. 

* Photo by John Pai