Pages

39

Media Type

Oral History

Author(s)

Ann Mallett

Physical Location

Language(s)

English

The transcription of this interview was paid for by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Format

MP3

Time - Hr:Min:Sec

01:54:22

Digitized in HD?

No

General Note

Thanh My Tran Elliott (Tran Thi Thanh My), English name Mindy, was a young, single mother when she left Vietnam and immigrated to the U.S. in search of a better life for her and her young son. In Vietnam she had been denied an education because her father, Tran Van Man, a former ARVN colonel, was a political prisoner interned in Vietnam's reeducation camps. Mrs. Elliott and her sister survived by doing nails in their home. After five years of hard work and scraping together money Mrs. Elliott opened a coffee shop, but continued to do nails in order to support her small son. After roughly eighteen years of incarceration her father was released and with the help of the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association, he was able to immigrate to the U.S. through the UNHCR's ODP, and bring Thanh My and her son with him. Thanh My resettled in Texas. She passed her U.S. citizenship test, earned her license to become a hairstylist, and now owns and runs her own hair salon.