by Zoe Lee-DiVito, October 2025 / FOCAS Intern, 25-26 / UCLA
Working as an archival intern at the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California has taught me so much about archival processing and the unique role of a community archive. Situated in downtown Los Angeles Chinatown, CHSSC is part of the local Chinese American community. Once I started working in the archives, I learned about the histories of the bakeries, restaurants, schools, murals, hospitals, businesses, and other locations all around me. Every time I come into work or get coffee with my supervisor, I get to see what has changed and what has stayed the same in Chinatown from the stories told from the archives and people at CHSSC. This past year, I’ve had the opportunity to work under the supervision of community archivist Riona Tsai, a previous UCLA MLIS student and intern, alongside David Castro, Coryn, and Larissa. I’m very thankful for all of their support and understanding as I went through the learning process of working with community archival collections.
The two collections I worked on processing were the “LA Chinatown Collection” and the “Cookbook Collection,” where I gained experience with ArchivesSpace and creating finding aids for upload to the Online Archive of California. The Cookbook collection was a recently acquired set of 20th-century Chinese cuisine cookbooks that I processed in full on my own. With the LA Chinatown Collection, I processed a collection of various business directories, event programs, and booklets from the Los Angeles Chinese Chamber of Commerce that provided information on the Golden Dragon Parades and LA Miss Chinatown Pageants from the 1950s to the present. As I write, I’m creating access files for these booklets which will eventually be published in a digital collection through Omeka.
Another part of my time at CHSSC was working on the institutional records. I’ve been surveying and arranging administrative documents while also preserving photographs in the collection. This was a daunting but interesting project to work on, with the institutional records being one of the largest and ever-growing collections at CHSSC, one which many archivists have worked on over the years. In creating handover documentation for a proposed sub-series arrangement and relocation procedures, it felt like connecting with a long chain of archivists working on this project to better articulate archival practices and problem-solving.
Two events I attended and helped showcase archival collections were the Los Angeles Archives Bazaar and the CHSSC 50th Anniversary Gala. At both of these events, I helped with exhibit preparation, presenting materials, and even designing a sticker for CHSSC for the Year of the Snake! It was amazing seeing how showing these archival materials to the public gets people to remember and talk about their own histories of Chinatown and the Chinese American community in Los Angeles. I would see community members reminisce about their grade school photos, restaurant menus, and historical research projects. Being part of the conversations and experiences of this community archive, especially as a Chinese-American, has definitely taught me new perspectives on what archives are and what they can do for a community.
