Smithsonian Vietnamese American Heritage Exhibit Visit in 2007

Smithsonian Vietnamese American Heritage Exhibit

Hey! We went to the Smithsonian Museum Vietnamese American exhibit and had a good
time. By destiny NCT and JL met Anhthu Lu, a community activist for curriculum change
in Virginia, on the Metro platform. She was on her way to Smithsonian to see the exhibit
on its last day too. We were joined by a million others coming to see the cherry
blossoms. At the exhibit we were joined by Nguyen Dinh Thang, director of Boat People
SOS and John and Cait Le of Silver Spring and their children. By more serendipity we met
Minh-Chau Dinh, the daughter of a good friend of NCT and her fiance at the exhibit too.

Afterward, we went to the Huong Que restaurant in Falls Church, guests of Truong Anh
Thuy, Canh Nam Press. I was privileged to meet Khai Q. Nguyen, the editor and publisher
of online "Vietnam Review" -- a professional publication of Vietnamese news in
Vietnamese language by a Vietnamese American.

This is what we came to see: our contribution to the exhibit of the photograph of Nguyen Chi Thien
being interrogated in prison at the end of his 12-year ordeal following his arrest outside the British
Embassy in 1979. It was dropped from the traveling exhibit, so two years of work and three
transcontinental trips are no longer visible.

Nguyen Dinh Thang, director of Boat People SOS
Anhthu Lu, community activist
Nguyen Chi Thien, survivor of twenty-seven years in re-education camps

Thank you, Vu Pham, for the
tour of your exhibit, and this
nice souvenir photo. JL

This image of Nguyen Chi Thien
is originally in color. It is here
for those who would like to
publish it in black and white.
Date: March 31, 2007

Place: Smithsonian Institution,
Washington D.C.
credit: photo by Jean Libby

It was a beautiful day in Washington, the last day of the
exhibit, which opened January 19, 2007. Vu Pham,
Vietnamese American Heritage Project curator, had never
seen the cherry blossoms blooming. Here's proof to take
back home!

Getting my groove back as a former wedding photographer,
the newlywed Philadelphia friends of Vu, Mai and Chris, are
also shown in the cherry blossoms splendor at Smithsonian.

Khai Q. Nguyen (editor and publisher of Vietnam Review),
Thuy Truong (Canh Nam Publishers), Thien Nguyen, Jean
Libby (editor and publisher of VietAm Review)

Khai Q. Nguyen, Vietnam Review Nguyen Chi Thien

I am not sure if Mr. Khai's website is still operative.
Therefore I do not link. (June 30, 2011) JL

Thank you, Thuy Truong, for a lovely dinner at Huong
Que Restaurant, Eden Center, Falls Church, Virginia

all photos taken March 31, 2007

Vu H. Pham, Ph.D. is a Partner of
Spectrum Knowledge, Inc., a
research, consulting and training
organization. He currently serves as
a Researcher in the Paul Merage
School of Business at the University
of California, Irvine, as well as the
Asian American Studies Center at
the University of California, Los
Angeles. Previously, he held a
Research Fellow position through
the University of California Office of
the President. He has been
featured on national and
international multimedia venues,
such as CNN, MSNBC, Voice of
America, The Los Angeles Times,
KSCI International Television, Asian
Week, Radio Free Asia, The Orange
County Register. His experience
includes having worked with
companies as large as those from the
Fortune 500 to those in
governmental and non-profit
sectors. Having completed his
doctoral degree from Cornell
University, Dr. Pham’s specialties
include the areas of culture,
organizational development and
leadership.

He combines training, data-driven
research and consulting to assist
clients with identifying and assessing
organizational challenges, as well as
providing effective solutions. Dr.
Pham’s clients range in industries
that include: Aerospace and
Defense, Technology, Financial
Services, Accounting, Advertising,
Healthcare, Retail as well as
Museums and Cultural
Organizations. He has also worked
with individual clients to optimize
their career success. He has been a
keynote speaker on multiple
occasions and presented at
numerous workshops, conferences
and retreats internationally and has
published in both academic and
mainstream publications. Beyond his
professional work, Dr. Pham has
participated in generating over a
million dollars for non-profit groups
and donates countless hours to
them.

His other honors include being
selected as the head of a
Smithsonian cultural project and
museum exhibit, a Role Model for
KSCI International Television’s “Our
Role Models” series, “Entrepreneur
of the Year” in California’s 49th
Assembly District, as well as being an
Andrew W. Mellon Fellow, a Foreign
Language and Area Studies (FLAS)
award recipient, a Chancellor’s
Scholar at UC Irvine and an Honoree
at UCLA. He serves on the Los
Angeles Asian Heritage Month
Committee and on the Board of the
California State University, Fullerton’
s Center for Employee and
Workforce Research.