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Home > My Ancestors >
Vietnamese > Timeline: 1950-present
- 1952:
The first Vietnamese immigrate to Boston as students
and many still live in the area today.
- 1966:
Vietnamese is recognized as a separate group by the
United States Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Prior to this, Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians
were added together in the Other Asia category.
- 1968-1971:
Vietnamese wives and children of United States citizens
account for the majority of immigrants.
- 1975:
The Vietnamese War ends on April 30, 1975 when The
Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) falls to the Vietnamese
Communist (North Vietnam). A small number of immigrants
arrive in Boston. Many of the refugees were high-ranking
officers those who worked for the Republic of Vietnam
or the United States government and their family members.
Around 200,000 individuals from Vietnam leave Southeast
Asia. The United States government opens refugee camps
at various locations. When they close on December
31, refugees are quickly placed with sponsors who
supported the families until they became self-supporting.
- 1975-1978:
President's Ford and Carter allow an additional 60,000
Vietnamese immigrants into the United States.
- 1978-1985:
The Vietnamese "Boat People" flee Vietnam to the neighboring
countries and thousands arrive in Boston.
- 1984:
The Vietnamese American Civic Association (VACA) incorporates
and opens its doors in Dorchester
to serve the Vietnamese community. VACA is a multi
social service that provides social services to the
Boston Vietnamese community.
- 1985:
The United State's Congress passes the Homecoming
Act legislation to resettle the Amerasians and their
family members in the United States. Amerasians are
the children who were born in Vietnam during the Vietnam
War to American soldiers and Vietnamese women. One
estimate shows there are about 25,000 Vietnamese Amerasians.
- 1985:
The Vietnam Buddhist Temple opened its door for service
in Roslindale.
- 1986:
The Vietnamese Catholic Community at St. Peter's Church
in Dorchester
celebrates mass in Vietnamese. Catholics are a religious
minority in Vietnam.
- 1990:
Vietnamese Political Detainees (VPD) and their family
members arrive in Boston. In the late 1980's, the
United States and the Vietnam governments mutually
agreed to resettle Vietnamese Political Detainees
and their family members in the United States. It
is the Humanitarian Operation (HO) project. After
the War, Vietnamese Communists detained all ranking
South Vietnamese officers and sent them to hard labor
camps thoughout Vietnam. Their sentences were between
a few months to 15 years. Many of them had sentences
between 5 - 13 years.
- 1990:
The Vietnamese community in Dorchester
increases from 2,000 in 1980 to more than 10,000 primarily
in the Fields Corner and Savin Hill area. An increase
in home ownership by the Vietnamese community results
in neighborhood stabilization and revitalization.
- 1992:
The Vietnamese Catholic Community at St. William's
church in Dorchester
celebrates mass in Vietnamese.
- 1993:
The Institute for Asian American Studies at the University
of Massachusetts Boston is established to study development
issues of the Asian American communities.
- 1994:
The Vietnamese American Initiative for Development
(Viet-AID) incorporates in Dorchester
to do community development work for the Dorchester
Vietnamese community. Viet-AID is the first Vietnamese
run community Development Corporation in the United
States. One of its projects is to build a Vietnamese
Community Center in Fields Corner, Dorchester.
The Center will hold the first Vietnamese bilingual
and cultural center child care center.
- 1998:
3% of Springfield Massachusetts population of 157,000
are Vietnamese. The Springfield police department
hires two Vietnamese-speaking officers.
- 1999:
Vietnamese American Volunteer Association is founded
in Chelsea as a cultural organization that offers
classes in the Vietnamese language and culture.
See 1850-1949
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