#south asian american

New Digital Collection: Desi Wisconsin, 1950-79

Today the UWM Libraries officially launch the Desi Wisconsin Digital Collection!  The collection contains oral history interviews and photographs documenting the experiences of some of the first South Asian immigrants to Wisconsin.  Here is a brief description from the collection’s webpage:

“Whether it was segregation in the 1950s or the cultural and political tumult of the 1960s and 1970s, South Asian immigrants to Wisconsin confronted a world fundamentally alien to that they had left behind. Neither black or white, these individuals managed to raise families and often succeeded in their careers. From a few dozen students, professionals, and businessmen and their families who settled in Wisconsin, the presence of South Asian immigrants grew exponentially as they became tightly integrated in the fabric of their communities. The journey to develop a distinct identity as South Asian Americans in Wisconsin over the course of decades is highlighted in this collection of oral histories from some of the first South Asian immigrants to Wisconsin.”

The black and white photograph from 1955 featured above shows Joni and Chandra Raja outside St Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was shared by Sharath Raja as part of an oral history interview with Lajwanti Waghray.  Sharath Raja’s full interview and collection of photographs can be found in the Desi Wisconsin Digital Collection.