About Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies

The Iranian-American Digital Archive Project is a digital collection of material (photos, documents, letters, etc.) that documents the history of Iranian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to sharing some of the history of their Iranian origins and their immigration story, this archive seeks to share material that tells the story of This individuals and communities who have been shaped by the Bay Area and its unique culture. This project includes the collections of individuals, organizations, and movements that have contributed to and been influenced by the culture, history, and social movements of the Bay Area, and, the US as a whole. While this is an evolving archive, we hope to incorporate material from throughout California and the United States to narrate some of the untold stories about Iranian immigration to the United States. This project was made possible with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Digital Humanities Grant that was awarded in 2019 to the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies and San Francisco State. (more)

Total number of items
151
Total number of views
141,064

Collections

Darvag Theater Group

The Iranian student movements of the 1960s and 1970 in Berkeley, and the greater Bay Area, gave birth to a number of theater groups. The majority of these theater groups were interested in the Brechtian definition of theater as a tool for political provocation. In 1985, a small group of theater lovers got together...

Hushidar Mortezaie Collection

The Hushidar Mortezaie Collection is provided by the Los Angeles-based Iranian artist and fashion designer Hushidar Mortezaie. At the age of three, Mortezaie moved with his family from Iran to the Bay Area, where he was raised and educated. In 1994, he moved to New York City to work in fashion full-time with his long-time friend and collaborator...

Parviz Shokat

This collection, generously donated by Parviz Shokat, features various photos, documents, and other materials documenting early stages of Iranian immigration and organizing in the Bay Area. Some of the included materials document diasporic Iranian student and leftist political groups that were oriented toward shifting the political landscape and...

Hasha Collection

The HASHA and Bay Area Iranian-American LGBTQ Community Collection features various documents, images, and materials that record the rich history of LGBTQIA people of Iranian descent in the Bay Area, as well as their activism, organizing, and community-building work. It includes both issues of the LGBTQ-founded and focused HASHA newsletter,...

Norooz Collection

This collection focuses on the film  Norouz: Persian Spring Festival , which was commissioned in 1961 by the San Francisco Iranian Consulate, under the direction of Dr. Majid Rahnema. It was made by Bay Area filmmaker Marie Louise Stine, and donated to the Center by her son, Peter Stine. The short documentary recounts an earlier...

Contact

To learn more about this project or to contribute to it, please contact the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies: iraniandiasporastudies@sfsu.edu or the Center's director, Persis Karim: persiskarim@sfsu.edu