‘Words, Writers & Southwest Stories,’ a speaker series of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society, is excited to announce that it is hosting Julie Pham for a live Zoom presentation on Thursday, December 9 at 6:00 PM. Pham will deliver a presentation entitled “Hidden Histories: The South Vietnamese Side of the Vietnam War.” Registration is required.
The Vietnam War is seen by much of the Western world as being fought between the Americans and North Vietnamese Communists, with the South Vietnamese largely absent. Yet many Vietnamese refugees who came to America after the war served in the South Vietnamese military, and there is little recognition and understanding of their contributions and role in the war. In fact, in American and Vietnamese Communist histories, the South Vietnamese are painted as corrupt, apathetic sidekicks to the Americans.
How did the South Vietnamese military really experience the Vietnam War? Historian Julie Pham draws from interviews she conducted with 40 South Vietnamese military veterans in the United States, and illuminates how people can remember historical events differently.
Julie Pham (she/her) is the CEO of CuriosityBased, a consulting practice focused on fostering curiosity in the workplace. Her family owns Northwest Vietnamese News. She published Their War: The Perspectives of the South Vietnamese Military in the Words of Veteran-Emigres in 2019. She earned her PhD in history from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Pham lives in Seattle.
Registration is required. Registered participants will be emailed a link to the presentation on the date of the event. Please register for this event by filling out the form below:
This program is part of of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau The Historical Society is grateful to Humanities Washington for their support.
This talk is also made possible by the support of our partner The Seattle Public Library and our sponsors 4Culture, Luna Park Cafe, Alki Beach Academy, and HomeStreet Bank.
