Grant Funds HMC Professor’s Oral History Archive of Southern California Marshallese People 

Alfred Flores, Asian American studies professor at Harvey Mudd College, is the recipient of a faculty fellow grant from the ASIANetwork (a consortium of liberal arts colleges) to support his partnership with the Marshallese Youth of Orange County (MYOC). 

Flores and MYOC are collaborating on the “ASIANetwork Mellon Asian American and Pacific Islander Voices and Stories Program” to establish a Marshallese oral history archive of Southern California. MYOC is the largest Marshallese nonprofit, community-based organization in Southern California. The ASIANetwork grant provides $7,250 for one year.

“I am excited to be working with MYOC Executive Director Kelani Silk and members from the organization to interview Marshallese elders who will discuss their diasporic experiences,” Flores says. “Some of the things we hope to document are when, why and how the Marshallese community of southern California came into formation.” They also hope to learn how the Marshallese have preserved their indigenous culture and maintained their ties to their home islands, as well as to document their experiences of living in Orange County, California, the third-most-populous county in the state.

“The interviews will take place in summer 2025, and we hope the interviewees will narrate their thoughts and memories,” Flores says. Interviewers will use a set of questions to help guide the conversations, which will be video recorded and archived online, along with interview transcripts, for public access. 

As a scholar of Pacific Islander history, Flores’s approach to studying and documenting the past is based on the incorporation of community voices and perspectives. “While Pacific Islander communities share many similar cultural and historical experiences, there are also important differences that have impacted their diasporic movements to the continental United States,” Flores says.

For example, Marshallese have moved in large numbers to the continental United States due to the U.S. military’s legacy of nuclear testing in Micronesia and the effects of anthropogenic climate change that has led to rising sea levels. Flores hopes the grant will lead to a greater understanding of how the Marshallese have endured these structural forces while also perpetuating their cultural identity and practices. 

“Oral history is integral to this project because it is an Indigenous epistemology that is the foundation for how culture, history, memories, spiritual practices and values are passed from one generation to the next,” Flores says. “This grant will allow MYOC to establish an oral history archive that will preserve the experiences of their community in Orange County and Micronesia.” Flores hopes this project will lead to the creation of a larger Micronesian oral history archive of Southern California.