Object Details
- See more items in
- Asian American Foodways Project Records
- Sponsor
- This Asian Pacific American Foodways Project received Federal support from the Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.
- Date
- 2020-2022
- Archival Repository
- Anacostia Community Museum Archives
- Identifier
- ACMA.01-007.22, Series 3
- Type
- Archival materials
- Collection Citation
- Asian American Foodways Project Records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
- Arrangement
- Materials in this series are arranged by specific Asian American supermarket, grocery store, or corner store. There is also a subseries containing promotional materials from a variety of supermarkets, grocery stores, or corner stores which serve Asian American communities in the Washington, DC region.
- Collection Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
- Scope and Contents
- This series contains photographs, oral history interviews, cultural objects, and promotional materials created, acquired, or collected between 2020 and 2022. The materials document Asian American supermarkets and convenience stores throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan region. These stores are owned or operated by people of Asian American descent and serve a diverse local population. Many ethnic supermarkets initially opened to serve the needs of a particular ethnic group and have since increased their offerings and changed their business model to serve a broader multi-ethnic clientele. Examples range from the multi-sited Lotte Plaza supermarket chain to single-site markets like the Hung-Phat Grocery, and Da-Hsing Trading Company. Convenience stores or corner stores, in contrast, are defined by location rather than ethnicity, as "a limited commercial and service use in residential rowhouse zones, oriented to serve the immediate neighborhood" (Washington, DC Zoning Commission). Beginning in the 1970s, many corner stores in the Washington, DC region have been owned and/or operated by Korean immigrants, who invested modest savings they brought from Korea and worked with family members or others close to the family to operate the store over long hours. As these owners and operators begin to retire, a number of corner stores in Washington, DC have closed or transferred ownership to new immigrants from countries including Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Central American countries like El Salvador.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1694736000760-1694736003167-1
