The Hmong Archives as a Community Resource for Social Studies Educatorsin Saint Paul, Minnesota - Nicholas D. Hartlep & Brian V. Xiong

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw

A community-based participatory research article examines the Hmong Archives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, presenting it as a community asset for culturally sustaining social studies learning. The authors describe how K–12 teachers and college professors use the Archives, arguing it advances culturally relevant and culturally sustaining pedagogies. The study highlights the Archives as an unofficial and unconventional space where students of color can access learning opportunities beyond the traditional social studies classroom.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time1 h 21 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Study Setting

Study Purpose

Cultural Relevance and Social Studies Teaching and Learning

The Hmong Archives as a Community Resource for Social Studies Educatorsin Saint Paul, Minnesota Nicholas D. Hartlep & Brian V. Xiong The Journal of Educational Foundations Vol. 31, No. 3 & 4 Fall/Winter 2018, pp. 118-149 Copyright 2018 by Caddo Gap Press Abstract In this community-based participatory research article the authors bring attention to the Hmong Archives, a community asset in Saint Paul, Minnesota.The authors describe the HmongArchives and how it has been used by K–12 teachers and college professors in a culturally sustaining manner. The authors argue that by focusing on the Hmong population, their article makes a significant contribution to culturally relevant and culturally sustaining pedagogies; specifically how the Hmong Archives embodies an unofficial and/or unconventional social studies space, a space for students of color to obtain learning opportunities outside the social studies classroom. Keywords: Social Studies Education; Culturally Relevant Pedagogy; Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy; Multicultural Education; Hmong Archives; Hmong Americans Introduction Social studies education has been found tobe anglocentric (Hartlep & Nicholas D. Hartlep is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education and the Graduate Program Coordinator in the School of Urban Education at Metropolitan State University, Saint Paul, Minnesota. Brian V. Xiong is director of Equal Opportunity, Equity, and Affirmative Action at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. Their e-mail addresses are: [nicholas.hartlep@metrostate.edu](nicholas.hartlep@metrostate.edu)[ ](nicholas.hartlep@metrostate.edu)& [xiongbv@uwosh.edu](xiongbv@uwosh.edu) Scott, 2016; Jones, Pang, & Rodriguez, 2001; Suh,An, & Forest, 2015) and exclusionary when it comes to including the history of Asian Americans (An, 2016) . Thereis also a need for more scholarship on how social studies teachers teach about Asian Americans (cf. Pang, 2006; Pang & Evans, 1995) . Consequently, this article focuses on Hmong Americans, part of theAsianAmerican community. Particularly, this article draws attention to the Hmong Archives, a community asset in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Study Setting The setting of this community-based participatory study was Saint Paul, Minnesota. Readers may not know it, but Saint Paul has the largest Hmong population per capita in the United States (10.0%;28,591 Hmong Americans) . In this article we examine the Hmong Archives (formerly the Hmong Nationality Archives), a nonprofit organization located in Saint Paul. According to Marlin L. Heise (2010), the “Hmong Archives was chartered on February 10, 1999, as a nonprofit with the mission to research, collect, preserve, interpret, and disseminate materials in all formats about or by Hmong”(p. 45) . The Hmong Archives was founded by Yuepheng L. Xiong (founder of Hmong ABC bookstore1), Tzianeng Vang (founder of Hmong Professional Network), and other Hmong professionals, as well as Steve Trimble and Marlin L. Heise. Brian V. Xiong (co-author of this article) has been an early supporter and board member of the Hmong Archives. The Hmong Archives has grown in six Saint Paul, Minnesota, locations. It was first housed at Metropolitan State University (where Nicholas D. Hartlep, co-author of this article works), next it relocated to a Hmong business strip in the“Minnehaha Mall,”in 2001, and then again later to Concordia University. In May 2008 it moved above the ABC Bookstore at 298½ University Avenue West, Saint Paul, Minnesota, and then it moved to 343 Michigan Street, where it stayed from 2010 to 2015. In 2015 it relocated to the East Side Freedom Library (ESFL) at 1105 Greenbrier Street, whereat the time of writing this article, it remains. Study Purpose In this article we explain our rationale for why we believe the Hmong Archives is an important Social Studies resource that provides“culturally sustaining knowledge”to students of color, namely

FAQs

What is the focus of the study?

The study focuses on the Hmong Archives as a community asset that supports culturally sustaining social studies education in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

How is the Hmong Archives used in education?

K–12 teachers and college professors use the Archives in culturally sustaining ways, including learning activities such as field trips.

Why do the authors consider the Hmong Archives a valuable social studies resource?

The authors argue it embodies a space for culturally sustaining knowledge and provides learning opportunities outside the conventional social studies classroom.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dabgoudw