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Oral history interview with Chang-Shee Chang

 Collection
Identifier: SR 12302

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Chang-Shee Chang was conducted by Dora Totoian on October 18, 2019. Sankar Raman was also present and occasionally contributed to the interview questions. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Chang discusses his family background and early life in Taiwan during the Sino-Japanese War; speaks about his ethnic and cultural identity; and talks about life during the White Terror period. He discusses his education and social life in Taipei, including his experience studying medicine at National Taiwan University, and speaks about how his feelings about China changed after coming to the United States. He talks about his marriage to Hwei Chang, discusses completing his medical residency in Baltimore, Maryland, and speaks about adjusting to life in the U.S., particularly the food. He talks about the process of becoming a naturalized citizen in 1973, and about his career as a vascular surgeon in Portland, Oregon, beginning in 1974. He speaks about raising a family in the Pacific Northwest. He talks about the origins of his nickname, “George,” about incidences of racial discrimination his family experienced in the United States, and about his children and their careers. He closes the interview by discussing his experience with lung cancer and his retirement activities.

Dates

  • Creation: 2019 October 18

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

Chang-Shee Chang, who also goes by George Chang, was born in 1937 in Yilan, Taiwan. In the 1950s, his family moved to Taipei. In 1961, he and Hwei Chang were married; they later had three children. In 1963, he earned a medical degree from National Taiwan University. In 1968, he came to the United States to complete his hospital residency in Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1973, he and his family received green cards. The next year, they relocated to Portland, Oregon, where Chang worked as a vascular surgeon at Kaiser. He retired in 2005.

Extent

1.69 Gigabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 2 hr., 38 min., 2 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral history interview with Chang-Shee Chang conducted by Dora Totoian on October 18, 2019, for The Immigrant Story. Chang discusses his early life in Taiwan and his career as a vascular surgeon in Taiwan and in Portland, Oregon.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2021 (RL2021-057).

Bibliography

An article about Chang-Shee Chang, "Yilan to Portland, a Lucky Life" by Dora Totoian, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/physician/
Title
Guide to the oral history interview with Chang-Shee Chang
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240