According to Dallas Asian American Historical Society Co-Founder Stephanie Drenka,
“Our organization was established in April 2022. My co-founder, Denise Johnson, and I were both struggling to cope with feelings of grief, fear, and anger after the rising reports of Anti-Asian hate incidents and tragic Atlanta-area shootings where six women of Asian descent were murdered last year. We channeled the wisdom of my favorite Chinese novelist, Maxine Hong Kingson, who said once said, ‘In a time of destruction, create something.’ We created the Dallas Asian American Historical Society.
“The mission of our organization is to research, preserve, and amplify the legacy of Asian Americans in the Dallas area. That legacy began as early as the 1800s with the arrival of DFW’s first Chinese immigrants, which leaves us a lot of ground to cover! Through our research, we are combing through old newspaper archives, city directories, immigration records, for the oldest references to people of Asian descent in Dallas/Fort Worth.
“We host digitization and storytelling events where community members can bring photos, documents, and artifacts to be preserved. We scan items in archival quality for our digital collections, help the owners store them in acid-free envelopes, and give them a flash drive with all of the files for their own records. Additionally, we are producing two documentary web series projects to capture the oral histories of Asian Americans in the community.
“One of the most important parts of our research is making it widely accessible to the public. This is especially critical here in Texas, where some are seeking to limit the history taught to young people in schools. Our long-term vision is to find a permanent physical space for the organization where community members can bring items for preservation, share their oral histories, and view our collections. In the meantime, we’ve developed an online catalog (available on our website) to make our research and archives publicly accessible. We are also active on social media, with the hope of engaging younger generations in historical preservation work.
“As a very new organization, participating in this year’s North Texas Giving Day is an exciting opportunity to raise awareness about our work. Our mission is made possible by people willing to share their stories and be a part of making history with us. Being able to reach so many community members who could contribute to our growing body of research is invaluable.
“Additionally, financial support from North Texas Giving Day donations will help fund costs for our archival software and equipment, storage and preservation of artifacts, and educational workshops/events.
“Our ultimate goal is to activate the Asian American community. History is too great a responsibility for one person, organization, or institution. We can’t let stories disappear or die with us. The Dallas Asian American Historical Society’s work is to help people feel connected with history and each other, to see themselves as significant characters in the story of America and share in the duty of telling that story.”
* Photo credit: Angie Garcia ** Photo credit: Stephanie Drenka *** Graphic provided by Dallas Asian American Historical Society
Communities Foundation of Texas’ North Texas Giving Day helps build awareness and support for nonprofits like nothing else. In 2021, $66 million was raised through 103,000 donors benefiting over 3,300 local nonprofits, bringing the 13-year total to over $441 million for our community. NTx Giving Day is the largest community-wide giving event in the nation.
On Thursday, September 22, support Dallas Asian American Historical Society by linking here and spreading the word. #NTxGivingDay