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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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