The South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) was founded in 2008 in order to document, preserve and provide access to the diverse and relatively unknown history of the South Asian American community.
The collection reflects the vast range of experiences of the South Asian diaspora in the United States, including those who trace their heritage to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the many South Asian diaspora communities across the globe. Here's some more information:
SAADA’s digital collections reflect the vast range of experiences ofI just learned about SAADA, and started poking around the website to see what kind of materials they've gathered. It's pretty fascinating stuff, and without question, a valuable resource for those interested in learning more about the history of South Asian American community.
the South Asian diaspora in the U.S., including those who trace their
heritage to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the
many South Asian diaspora communities across the globe.
SAADA was founded in 2008 and was incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit
organization in 2010. SAADA founder and President of the Board Samip
Mallick explained, “We founded SAADA in recognition of a critical need
to document and preserve the history of this community. There are no
other archives that are working to systematically document, preserve
and make accessible the material history of South Asians in the United
States. Without SAADA, we feared that this history was in danger of
being lost.”
Digitized materials in SAADA’s collections reflect the diversity of
the community, including: the papers of the first Asian American
Congressman, Dalip Singh Saund; historic articles about the early
immigration of South Asians to the U.S. dating from 1910; pamphlets
created by the Gadar Party in California in 1915; and photographs
documenting the political activism of the South Asian American Voting
Youth (SAAVY) in 2004.
SAADA is currently looking to expand its collections by digitizing
additional materials. The organization is particularly interested in
archival records that document a range of political engagement and
cultural expression among diverse South Asian American communities. For further information, go to the SAADA website here.
