October 11, 2010 Asian Adoptees Are Subject of Oct. 19 Book Talk, Panel Discussion

Author Mei-Ling Hopgood to Discuss “Lucky Girl”

Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022
Public Contact: Wendi Maloney (202) 707-0979

U.S. citizens began adopting children from other countries in substantial numbers after World War II. Since then, the majority of children adopted into U.S. families from overseas have come from Asian countries. Today, adoptees from Asia and their families constitute a significant segment of the U.S. population. Theirs is a community with a unique history that is beginning to be documented as part of the Asian-American experience.

The Library of Congress Asian Division and Asian American Association will sponsor a book talk and panel discussion from noon to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19 in the Mary Pickford Theater, located on the third floor of the Library’s James Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required (contact Wendi Maloney, 202-707-0979, wmal@loc.gov).

Award-winning journalist Mei-Ling Hopgood will open the program with a discussion of her memoir “Lucky Girl,” the story of her reunion with her Chinese birth parents.

In addition to Hopgood, speakers participating in a panel discussion on Asian adoptees will include Mencie Hairston, founding member of Camp Mabuhay, a heritage camp for children adopted from the Philippines; Terry Hong, former media arts consultant to the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and a “Big Sister” to a Korean-born adoptee; and Tara Linh Leaman, an African-Asian-American adoptee, whose work with nonprofit organizations focuses on international and transracial adoption.

At the conclusion of the program, several adoptees, adoptive families and Asian cultural support agencies will present to Asian Division Chief Peter Young their collections and personal papers about the adoption process. These will become part of the newly created Asian Adoptee Archive in the Library’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Collection.

Launched in 2008 and housed in the Library’s Asian Division, the AAPI Collection documents peoples living in the United States with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific Islands. The collection complements materials housed throughout the Library of Congress that support the study of Asian American Pacific Islander history. Some of those materials may be accessed online at www.asianpacificheritage.gov.

The Library of Congress is a central repository for all types of Asian publications that are not broadly available at other locations in the United States. Initiated in 1869 with a gift of 10 works in 934 volumes offered to the United States by the Emperor of China, the Library's Asian collection of more than 2 million items is the largest and most comprehensive outside of Asia. For more information about the division and its holdings, go to www.loc.gov/rr/asian/.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.

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PR 10-230
2010-10-12
ISSN 0731-3527