Poster for Breaking Ground Exhibit Sept. 24-Dec. 11, 2009
When I was a high school student in the mid-1960s, I used to trek up to the West Wing of UCLA’s Powell Library on Sunday nights. This was the place to see and be seen in the social scene of Japanese Americans back in the day. Not just UCLA students, but (pre-) Asian Americans from many different southland college campuses were part of this scene. From Friday night volleyball at what was then called Cal State L.A. (now CSULA), to Saturday night’s dance at the Roger Young Auditorium, to Sunday night at the West Wing—this was the weekend schedule of many Sansei students in the 1960s.
Fast forward to 2009, Powell Library is to be the venue for the first exhibition of Asian American Studies that we know of. Marji Lee (Reading Room Librarian for the UCLA Asian American Studies Center) and I embarked on a project that neither of us, nor anyone at the center had experience in. Our challenge was to create a 40-year retrospective of UCLA Asian American Studies as part of the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Ethnic Studies centers at UCLA. To say the least, Marji and I were both overwhelmed with the task at hand, having no idea where to start. This would be my first close working relationship with the steward of the Reading Room, after having worked at the Center for over 20 years.
Flyer information on Breaking Ground Exhibit
Come two months before we were supposed to have the exhibit finished and up for display in the hallowed space of the Powell Library Rotunda, we finally got our butts in gear with whatever half-baked thoughts or fancies we had for this exhibit. With some general vaguish ideas, we proceeded to work on what we knew we had material for and what we could handle in the quick time table that we had left. Marji had a good idea of what needed to be shown, and I had my own mindset of what I wanted to show…but she insisted on making staff involved in some of the planning to insure that their ideas were incorporated into the exhibit. Ah, the collective efforts of bygone days still find a means of expression even in 2009!
Panel entitled: From Classes to Interdepartmental Degree Program (1976-2004) to Asian American Studies Department
We arrived at the title of the exhibit: “Breaking Ground: 40 Years of UCLA Asian American Studies.” Gena Hamamoto (former Asst. Director of EthnoCommunications) came up with “Breaking Ground” at one of the staff meetings. Marji came up with the three themes: “Creating Knowledge, Preserving Legacy, Promoting Leadership” which captured the broad strokes of the exhibit. I created the plant which had broken ground and designed the poster to advertise the event. And then the pressure was on.
Marji and I divided up the three of the four corners of the Powell Rotunda. I took one corner to do a 40 year timeline, showcasing old vintage photos and posters from 1969 to the present. Marji took two corners to showcase student leadership and work, civic and community engagement, the development of faculty and staff, from the beginning to now, and the transition of the teaching unit from the IDP (interdepartmental program that was formerly the teaching unit of the AASC) to the birth of the new Asian American Studies Department. Marji was also in charge of the seven glass cases that housed vintage to current AASC publications, and publications of current members of the AASC FAC (Faculty Advisory Committee) and past staff. Marji got the help of Reading Room assistant Anna Lu, and Gena Hamamoto working with Asian American Studies MA students—all the pieces started started coming together.
Christmas newsletters from the Yuri Kochiyama Special Collection; program from an event commemorating the Fred Korematsu Special Collection.
Archival materials were also housed in the cases, such as buttons for various causes from International Women’s Day to Jesse Jackson for President. Since the Reading Room has been a huge reservoir of “goodies” from the past, and had also just suffered from a mini-disaster where many of the books in the Reading Room suffered water damage from a leaking pipe upstairs (the 3rd floor of the Center), Marji was at once anxious to showcase some of her collections. At the same time, Marji was having a hard deciding what to show and what not—because you can’t show everything! She provided the posters for the timeline, as well as many vintage shots. Jolie Chea, AASC’s first 40th Anniversary coordinator, and Jean Paul deGuzman helped me gleen the old CrossCurrents of the Center, which are all on line thanks to Tam Nguyen and his many helpers. I incorporated Susie Ling’s Timeline of the Center (which ends at 1995), to our own gleening of past CrossCurrents, along with additions from 1995 to 2009—to give a selected timeline from 1969 to 2009, broken into decades.
There was a grand opening event for the exhibit on October 6, which welcomed a crowd of about 100 people. Head of the College Library Alison Armstrong welcomed guests to Powell Library followed by Don Nakanishi, Director of AASC, to kick off the 40th anniversary of Ethnic Studies and AASC. News of the exhibit was covered in UCLA Today: Faculty and Staff News, the Theta Kappa Phi Sorority website (which I am an alum), and halfspoon.com—ART news! as well as our press release on the UCLA Newsroom website.
Opening event, October 6, 2009.
Don Nakanishi, Marji Lee, Tritia Toyota, and Melany Dela Cruz Viesca at the opening event.
Timeline: 1960s-1970s, From High Potential to Bakke
Unfortunately, the exhibit never got covered in the Daily Bruin. But AASC held three events there to draw people to the exhibit.
Besides the opening event, we had an event for the Amerasia Journal women’s issue entitled “Where Women Tell Stories” which I co-edited with Stephanie Santos, our former assistant editor. My next blog post will cover that event, which was called “Buildin’ Bridges, Stirrin’ Waters” featuring guest keynote speaker Ericka Huggins (who is featured in the women’s issue in conversation with Yuri Kochiyama). Pacific Ties staff reunited at another event sponsored by AASC.
The “Breaking Ground” exhibit at the Powell Rotunda was another milestone for UCLA Asian American Studies. It is as if we had arrived into the institution. However, with no illusions intended, this was but a moment. We still need to be concerned with our continued relevance within the institution. This includes our responsibility to keep relevant to students and community, as well as the university continuing to recognize our relevance to the broader education of American society.
A second post will contain pictures that I couldn’t fit into this one…
Amerasia on Facebook!