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Oral history interview with Janet Liu, 2018 August 10
Overview of the Collection
- Interviewee
- Liu, Janet, 1951-
- Title
- Oral history interview with Janet Liu
- Dates
- 2018 August 102018-08-102018-08-10
- Quantity
- 96 megabytes, (1 online resource (1 audio file (1 hr., 43 min., 45 sec.))) : MPEG-4
- Collection Number
- SR 12283
- Summary
- Oral history interview with Janet Liu conducted by Sankar Raman and Jessica Pollard on August 10, 2018, for The Immigrant Story. Liu's father was a Chinese scientist working in the United States, and after an executive order by President John F. Kennedy allowed foreign researchers to bring their families, Liu and her mother emigrated from Taiwan in 1961. Liu was granted legal resident status in 1968 and later became a computer programmer and real estate investor.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Janet Liu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1951. In 1961, an executive order by President John F. Kennedy enabled Liu and her mother to join her father in Madison, Wisconsin. Her father died shortly thereafter, and Liu and her mother relocated to California. In 1968, they gained legal U.S. residency. Liu studied math at San Jose State University and transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. She worked as a computer programmer in Silicon Valley for many years until she earned a master of business administration from Santa Clara University. In 1989, she and her step-brother were married; they later had one child, and divorced in 2001. As of 2018, Liu was a real estate investor and a member of the Portland Storyteller's Guild.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
This oral history interview with Janet Liu was conducted by Sankar Raman and Jessica Pollard on August 10, 2018. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Liu discusses the reasons her parents and their families fled Communist China in 1949, her connection to Chinese culture, and her early life in Taipei, Taiwan. She also talks about the history of Japanese and Chinese oppression of native Taiwanese people. She discusses immigrating with her mother to the United States to join her father in Madison, Wisconsin, including adapting to American culture and the Midwestern climate, learning English, and her experience as the only Chinese student in her school. She talks about the 1961 executive order by President John F. Kennedy that enabled her family to immigrate to the United States. She then talks about her father's death a few years later and the subsequent threat of deportation; moving to California; and her education in the United States, including her interest in mathematics. She discusses receiving legal U.S. residency in 1968, studying math at San Jose State University and the University of California at Berkeley, and working as a computer programmer in San Jose. She talks about getting her MBA from Santa Clara University and pursuing a career in finance. She also talks about her marriage to her step-brother in 1989, as well as their divorce in 2001 due to his violence; the education and career of her daughter; and her real estate investments. She discusses her vegan diet; her life in Lake Oswego, Oregon; and her daughter's relationship with her father. She closes the interview by speaking about the difficulty of discussing domestic violence and the effect it had on her daughter.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Oral history interview with Janet Liu, by Sankar Raman, SR 12283, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Acquisition Information
Gift of The Immigrant Story, July 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-018).
Bibliography
An article about Janet Liu, "Laughing through the Years" by Jessica Pollard, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/laughing/
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Description | Dates |
---|---|
Oral history interview with Janet Liu | 2018 August 10 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Chinese Americans--Oregon
- Emigration and immigration law--United States
- Family violence
- Immigrants--United States
- Software engineering
- Taiwanese Americans--Oregon
- Vegans
Personal Names
- Liu, Janet, 1951-
Geographical Names
- United States--Immigration and emigration
Form or Genre Terms
- interviews
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Pollard, Jessica (interviewer)
- Raman, Sankar (interviewer)