Vietnamese Flag Day

The Vietnamese community in the Washington D.C. area began growing in the 1960s and increased dramatically after the Vietnam War in the mid 1970s. Today, over seventy thousand people of Vietnamese ancestry call this area home, and it is the largest of all Vietnamese communities on the East Coast. Organizations, such as the Vietnamese-American Community Service Center and Vietnamese Cultural Society, provide cultural education opportunities for youth, passing on and preserving their cultural traditions and keeping community identity strong.

The most widely known feature of the Vietnamese community in the Washington D.C. area is the Eden Center at Seven Corners in Falls Church, Virginia, established in 1984. Consisting of over 120 shops and restaurants, the Eden Center functions as an important meeting place for Vietnamese and other Asian communities along the East Coast. At the Center, you will find a variety of shops including bakeries, restaurants that serve “pho” (Vietnamese noodle soup), music shops, beauty parlors, travel agencies, and Chinese herbal pharmacies. The Eden Center is a symbol of the vibrant energy of Asian American communities, and illustrates how food, identity, and business cleverness can help forge successful ethnic community models in the US.

The four women in the following interviews immigrated to the United States during the 1970s. Despite difficulties, the women rebuilt their lives and made tremendous achievements, all dedicated to helping their community. The women’s interviews reveal an inner strength and a fierce determination to make a difference.