Engaging Asian American diaspora communities in the American Midwest requires adapting digital tools and methods to connect micro and macro histories of Asian American experiences. The collaborative digital humanities project, Documenting Asian American Histories in Ohio: Making the Invisible Visible (DAAHO) led by Dr. Hongmei Li, seeks to deepen public and scholarly understanding of the rich and diverse histories, experiences, and contributions of diasporic Asians and Asian Americans in Ohio and the broader American Midwest since the 19th century. Funded through a planning grant from the U.S. National Historical Publications and Records Commission, this short paper will present the case study and the work in progress of the DAAHO project at the end of its planning phase.
The collaborative project team of interdisciplinary faculty and digital librarians will discuss how digital humanities methods can facilitate the sharing of diasporic and small community histories that characterize the Asian-American experience in the Midwest. The DAAHO project uses digital tools to collect and examine disparate primary sources of both the pan-Asian and ethnic-specific identities as well as the Asian communities’ effort to form coalitions with other groups. Collecting and sharing regional Asian-American stories requires digital tools that can connect different scales of experience, densities of communal life, and intensities of community expression. The researchers will discuss how the DAAHO project selected and piloted digital methods that will contextualize microhistories (of a single person, family, or the connections between different Asian groups in one town) within the larger, thematic exploration of pan-Asian identity and experiences in the Midwest. Presenters will also share the preliminary results of an AI pilot project conducted over the 2025-2026 year. This pilot used OpenAI and custom scripts to extract metadata from digitized archival materials about Asian American experience in Ohio to create research themes and identify subjects across a range of different historical materials, formats, and genres. The AI collaboration was led by an interdisciplinary project team composed of computer science and communication studies faculty, librarians, and students. The group tested different AI technologies and methods for extracting and analyzing data from historical materials and will share recommended workflows and lessons learned from the pilot project.
Presenters will also discuss the results of a second pilot project focused on creating multimedia digital storytelling exhibits through IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) and universal viewers that bring together disparate digitized sources and curated content to tell local Asian American histories within a larger national and global context. The creation of the digital stories and companion digital collection, “Asian American Experience at Miami University, Oxford Ohio,” offer a valuable case study in how to engage the Asian American community in collecting, sharing, and researching Asian American histories across institutions and collections.
The digital methods selected and adapted by the DAAHO project are shaped by the broader scholarly questions of local and pan-Asian American identities drawn from the interdisciplinary fields of history, communication studies, and ethnic and Asian American studies. The short paper will provide an overview of the Asian American experience in the United States, with particular attention to Ohio and the Midwest, focusing on key analytical dimensions for understanding Asian American communities: invisibility versus hypervisibility, foreign-born versus native-born status, and U.S. citizenship versus noncitizenship. These analytical lenses are directly connected to the project’s two core objectives in documenting Asian American experiences: to preserve pan-Asian materials and shared histories, and to document experiences unique to specific ethnic communities. Adopting a dual focus, the project examines both the histories and challenges of pan-Asian identity formation and the (im)possibility of “Asian American” as a political identity initially forged during the civil rights movement.
The DAAHO project makes an impact by engaging Asian American communities in scholarly and public work while adapting digital technologies and methods to tell regional diaspora histories. By fostering engagement among faculty, students, and community members, the DAAHO project has empowered Asian American communities to participate actively in the production and dissemination of knowledge about their own histories and lived experiences. The project also challenges American coastal-centric narratives by illuminating how regional histories shape national policy, public opinion, and cultural belonging. Through its pilot studies and interdisciplinary scholarship, the project contributes to a deeper understanding of Asian American communities in Ohio and the Midwest while also enriching broader U.S. historical narratives. Conference participants also will learn how the DAAHO project applies digital humanities methods, such as AI-assisted metadata extraction and IIIF-based multimedia storytelling, to connect microhistories of Asian American individuals and communities in Ohio with broader pan-Asian and regional narratives. The presentation offers a practical case study in adapting digital tools to document, contextualize, and share underrepresented regional Asian American histories through collaborative, community-engaged research.
References
Espiritu, Yen Le (1992): Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Lee, Erika (2016): The Making of Asian America: A History. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Trieu, Monica Mong (2023): Fighting Invisibility: Asian Americans in the Midwest. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Wei, William (1993): The Asian American Movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.