About Us

Mission 

Asians and Asian Americans have a long, complex, and diverse history in the US South, and they are also one of fastest-growing groups in the South, including North Carolina. Despite this, the intersection of Asian and Southern—and simply the presence, histories, contributions, and experiences of Asians and Asian Americans in the South—have not historically been given much consideration. But these stories matter, and they need to be told. 

We believe oral history is an important way to tell these stories—through people’s own words. Oral history documents and preserves people’s stories, memories, and experiences of historical events through recorded interviews. The narrator, or person being interviewed, leads the conversation. 

Through oral history, Southern Mix aims to publicly share the wide-ranging stories of Asians and Asian Americans in the South, honoring their lives and the ways in which they have shaped and continue to shape the South.

Southern Mix’s Definition of Asian American

Coined by student-activists in the 1960s, the term “Asian American” has been a means of promoting political solidarity and empowerment that reflected the ways that U.S. law and politics shape Asian American migration, citizenship, and opportunity. Thus, Southern Mix employs the terms “Asian” and “Asian American” while recognizing that they reflect an imperfect and evolving broad category of identity in the Unites States. Here, these terms refer to individuals or communities in the United States who have ancestral ties to countries across Asia. This group necessarily contains vast diversity in national origin or citizenship, socioeconomic status, religions, and cultures, as well as widely different experiences in migration, community identity and construction, or civic engagement.

History

In 2017, seeking to see more Asian and Asian American stories in UNC’s oral history archives, UNC alumna Anna-Rhesa Versola co-founded Southern Mix, a project dedicated to collecting and preserving Asian and Asian American oral histories in the US South. Started as a collaboration between the Southern Oral History Program, Carolina Asia Center, and UNC Alumni Committee for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, Southern Mix continues to be supported by these programs today, and is additionally a priority of the Asian American Center, which was founded in 2020. Versola named this project “Southern Mix” because “Mix” represents our diverse and ever-changing communities, and “Southern” signifies the unique thread that ties these stories together: living in and experiencing the US South.

The Collection

Each year, Southern Mix collects oral histories of Asian and Asian American community members, collaborates with students and others on their oral history projects, and welcomes donations of oral histories with Asians and Asian Americans in the South. Oral histories include a wide range of stories of Asian and Asian American community members who are connected to the South. 

All completed Southern Mix interviews reside in the UNC Southern Oral History Program collection online at Wilson Library. The Southern Mix collection in the SOHP database can be accessed and used publicly.

To hear some of these stories on our website, check out our Oral Histories page!

Team

• Sophie To
• Christina Huang
• Hooper Schultz & SOHP undergraduate internship students (SOHP)
• Dr. Heidi Kim (AAC)
• Marcus Donie (AAC)
• Dr. Seth Kotch (SOHP)
• Phillip MacDonald (SOHP)
• Dr. Renée Alexander Craft (SOHP)
• Dr. Krupal Amin (past team member)
• Maydha Devarajan (collaborator / past team member)
• Shir Bach (past team member)
• Anna-Rhesa Versola (co-founder)