About this Book

The Him Mark Lai Papers are divided into four series: Research Files, Professional Activities, Writings, and Personal Papers. Lai's extensive research spans over four decades, with the bulk of materials dating from 1970 to 1995. Although Lai was born and raised in the United States, he is fluent in both English and Chinese and this bilingualism is evident in the materials contained in the collection. His commitment to documenting this history is reflected in the numerous biographies of Chinese and Chinese Americans, and in materials on Chinese overseas, particularly within the United States, and their homeland relations. His research files include information relating to family associations, Chinese American organizations, Chinatowns, the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), and the history of China. Also represented in the collection are Lai's teaching files, materials gathered during his participation in various professional activities, his writings, biographical information, and personal miscellany. Lai's interest in Chinese newspapers is unparalleled: he subscribes to practically every Chinese newspaper available in the United States. This interest resulted in the inclusion of a significant number of newsclippings along with correspondence, interviews, manuscripts, drafts, monographs, journals, statistical data, photocopies of legal documents and FBI files, bylaws, minutes, organization records, historical documents, maps, slides, photographs, and negatives.