The New York branch of the North America Taiwan Women’s Association held a book donation ceremony on June 15th at the Overseas Community Education Service Center in New York on Sunday. They expressed gratitude to the director of the center, Chen Yongfeng, and donated 50 books related to Taiwan’s history, aiming to promote the overseas community’s understanding and inheritance of their homeland culture.
The event took place in the hall of the community education center in the afternoon. The books displayed on the shelves caught the attention and curiosity of the attendees. According to Zhang Cuijuan, the president of the New York branch of the North America Taiwan Women’s Association, the book donation initiative stemmed from the importance attached to Taiwan’s cultural roots, particularly to remind Taiwanese immigrants and their next generation in the United States not to forget their own cultural background.
She explained that in traditional Taiwanese society, women faced suppression. Some later came to the United States, hoping to fully showcase various women’s capabilities in this free and open environment. Several like-minded Taiwanese women jointly founded the North America Taiwan Women’s Association. With the changes in history, Taiwanese women have also undergone a transformation from traditional roles to ones connected to modern technology.
Zhang Cuijuan stated that although the United States is a multi-ethnic society, the Taiwanese immigrant community needs to help the younger generation establish a connection with their cultural roots through cultural activities such as book donations to find their own origins.
Former president of the branch, Huang Sijing, also attended the event and explained the source of the donated books. She mentioned that during the pandemic, while studying Taiwan’s history at home, she unexpectedly discovered many little-known historical facts, which sparked her interest in further exploration. She said that her new discoveries in Taiwan’s history were acknowledged by Taiwanese historians, leading her to start a TV program called “Interesting Taiwanese History”. To enrich the program, she purchased 30 books online, and 20 books were sent by Taiwanese historians from Taiwan.
She added that in order to allow more Taiwanese compatriots to access these books, she actively suggested setting up a special collection area at the community education center, which was positively responded to by Director Chen, leading to the success of this event.
Director Chen Yongfeng accepted the donated books on behalf of the community education center, expressing that they will properly preserve and promote this batch of books, hoping that they will become an important resource for the overseas community to understand Taiwan’s history.