Guide to the Fort Chaffee Photographs of Vietnamese and Cambodian
Refugees
Julia Stringfellow
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Phone: (949) 824-3947
Fax: (949) 824-2472
Email: spcoll@uci.edu
URL: http://special.lib.uci.edu
© 2006
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Guide to the Fort Chaffee Photographs of Vietnamese and Cambodian Refugees
Collection number: MS-SEA025
Special Collections and Archives
The UCI Libraries
University of
California
Irvine, California
- Processed by:
- Julia Stringfellow
- Date Completed:
- 2005
- Encoded by:
- William Landis
© 2006 The Regents of the University of California. All rights
reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Fort Chaffee photographs of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees
Date: 1975
Collection number: MS-SEA025
Collector:
Fort Chaffee (Ark.)
Collection Size:
0.4 linear feet
(1 box)
33 digitized images
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special
Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This collection is comprised of black and white photographs
and negatives taken of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees living at Fort Chaffee, a
military base in Arkansas. The photographs document the daily life of the refugees,
including the arrival of refugees by plane and bus, a visit from President Gerald
Ford, refugee education and social activities.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English
Selected digitized images from this collection.
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. These materials are in the
public domain. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the
Southeast Asian Archive Librarian.
Preferred Citation
Fort Chaffee photographs of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. MS-SEA025. Southeast
Asian Archive, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Fort Chaffee, 2003.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
A selection of thirty-three images from this collection has been digitized and is
available in the Online Archive of California.
Processing Information
Processed by Julia Stringfellow, 2005. Processing was supported by a National
Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant.
Organizational History
Fort Chaffee, a military base located in northwestern Arkansas, was a key military
training installation from the early days of World War II until its closing in
September 1997. Construction of the base began on September 9, 1941, with the first
soldiers arriving on December 7, 1941. The mission of the post was to train U.S.
soldiers for combat in Europe, America and the Pacific. Following WWII, Camp Chaffee
became Fort Chaffee and continued to train U.S. Army personnel in a variety of
military specialties.
In the late 1970s Fort Chaffee was a temporary home to over 50,000 Vietnamese and
Cambodian refugees. From May 2 to December 20, 1975, these refugees came to Fort
Chaffee to start their new lives. This task was handled very successfully and as a
result, within five years, the post was called upon to help process more than 20,000
Cuban refugees.
On September 27, 1997, a change of command ceremony closed an era at Fort Chaffee.
That day official command and control of the installation passed from the U.S. Army
to the Arkansas Army National Guard when the U.S. Army Garrison was inactivated. The
installation officially became known as the Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training
Center.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection is comprised of black and white photographs and negatives taken of
Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees living at Fort Chaffee, a military base in
Arkansas. The photographs document the daily life of the refugees, including the
arrival of refugees by plane and bus, a visit from President Gerald Ford, refugee
education and social activities.
There are approximately 245 photographs of different sizes, and 35 millimeter
negatives strips account for ten percent of the photographs.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged topically.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Refugees -- Cambodia -- Photographs.
Refugees -- Vietnam -- Photographs.
Refugees -- Arkansas -- Fort Chaffee -- Photographs.
Fort Chaffee (Ark.).
Genre terms
Photographic prints -- Arkansas -- Fort Chaffee -- 20th century.
Other terms
Southeast Asian Archive
Collection Contents
Box : Folder 1 : 2
Children living at Fort Chaffee.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 3
Christmas and New Year's celebrations.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 4
Dentist and staff educating refugees on dental hygiene.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 8
Housing for refugees.
1975
Box FRAG 3
Negatives of photographs.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 9
President Gerald Ford's visit to Fort Chaffee.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 10
Refugee activities at Fort Chaffee.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 11
Refugees arriving at Fort Chaffee.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 13
Refugees receiving clothing.
1975
Box : Folder 1 : 15
Volunteers teaching English to refugees.
1975
