Series:

UCLA Asian American Studies

Topic:

UCLA and University of California History

UCLA Research Centers and Programs

Asian American History

Biographical Note:

Administrative assistant and first full-time staff member at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.

Interviewer:

Yoo, David

Interviewee:

Osajima, Elsie

Persons Present:

Osajima and Yoo.

Place Conducted:

Los Angeles, California.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by David Yoo, UCLA Asian American Studies and Institute of American Cultures; M.A. Philosophy; M.A. and Ph.D. American Studies and History, Yale University. Professor of Asian American Studies, UCLA.

Processing of Interview:

Program staff prepared a timed log of the audio recording of the interview. The interviewee was given the opportunity to review the log in order to supply missing or misspelled names and to verify the accuracy of the content but made no changes.

Length:

1.25 hrs

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

These interviews were undertaken with the intention of documenting the rise of Asian American studies at UCLA and the founding of the Asian American Studies Center. However, shortly after this series was begun, the UCLA Asian American Studies Center undertook its own oral history project to document the early days of Asian American studies at UCLA and the founding of the center, and so this project was not pursued any further.

Discussion of responsibilities as administrative assistant at the Asian American Studies Center from 1968 to 1991--Family background and father's educational and military history--Father has trouble finding employment due to discrimination in job market--Father inherits uncle's market--Parents' typical daily tasks at work and at home--Discussion of childhood home and role of siblings in helping with the market--Attending public school in Pasadena and relations between different ethnicities--Father's role as a liaison between Japanese community and Pasadena' City Hall--Graduates high school at Gila River internment camp--Studies English at Doane University in Nebraska--Leaves college and returns to California to marry--Begins working at UCLA as secretary on trial basis before being reclassified as administrative assistant--Role of student activists in establishing and maintaining Asian American Studies Center--Issues faced by ethnic studies centers--Different publications by the Center--Discussion of accomplishments during her time at the Center and securing funding--Significant work with Philip Huang in beginning of AASC--Upcoming 50th Anniversary celebration for AASC in 2019.