By Somphosnita Peouv
There
is a long history of Lowell on how it became Lowell Mill City to the second
greatest Cambodian population. During the 18th century, the largest
textile mills factories were built in Lowell. Everyone including working class,
women and slaves were working in the mills such as spinning, weaving, and
carding in cotton cloths. This made the city of Lowell one of the largest
industrial revolution of producing cottons. Women and men were working very
hard in the twelve to fourteen hours shift in the heat because there were no
air conditioner, only big glass window which reflect heat and light to come
through the big buildings. As times goes on, immigrants from all over the world
settled in America. Fast forward to the 20th century after the Khmer
Rouge ended, many Cambodians immigrated to America which included Lowell,
Massachusetts.
When Cambodian families initially settled in
Lowell, they had a lot of hardship such as trying to learn another language,
coping with depression after the horrendous war, trying to get their
immigration paper work done legally, seek for their relatives, find a job and
some started out with only twenty dollars to live their lives. The second
generation children started to enroll in the Lowell Public Schools. They all
seem like aliens because of their differences in physicality and language. Some
were made fun of and did not have the right teachings and teacher supervisions
so they end up dropping out of school early. Some joined gangs because they
feel more secure and had commonality. But some worked very hard through high
schools and are able to make it to college. Americans had a cultural shock
because of how Cambodians eat, communicate, variety of traditions and cultural
practices. Some Americans actually moved out from their neighborhood because
they think Cambodians were dangerous.
After
the openings of Cambodian (Khmer) markets, the city of Lowell drastically
changed because of the commonality that this small Cambodian community had. The
city became diverse and a flood of Cambodians from all over America came and
visit. Cambodians have so many traditional ceremonies. The most famous Cambodian
celebration is Cambodian New Years which is celebrated on the second and third
week of every April which filled up the pagoda or temple in Lowell very fast.
Another famous celebration is the Cambodian Water Festival which involves with
boat racing and different types of Southeast Asian traditional food, clothing,
and different types of Southeast Asian jewelries being sold on the Merrimack
River for the weekend. This celebration is held on the third week of every August
and many Cambodians and Southeast Asians would come from all over the states to
gather together to dance and have fun.
There
are many Cambodian (Khmer) markets, restaurants, little food shops and
traditional clothing stores in Lowell. Almost every weekend, especially during
the summer, Cambodians or everyone in general loves to do little cook-outs. But
for Cambodian, they love to gather up and cook the most traditional food such
as egg rolls, papaya salad, fried rice, curry, grilled barbecued beef on sticks
and more. If any strangers walk by these Cambodian houses, their mouths would
start to be watery because the smell of the cooking is amazing!
Closeness
is a thing for Cambodians because they love to walk to the nearest market and
restaurants. It is such a small city that almost every Cambodians do their
walking to get a good exercise and for those who do not have cars. With such a proximate space and closures,
in the Cambodian community in Lowell, almost everyone knows each other and
consider them as their long lost brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts.
Lowell
Mill City is a small city filled with history and diversity. There are many
things to do such as; going to different types of Cambodian markets, little
Cambodian fast-food shops, variety of Southeast Asian restaurants and
traditional clothing, the American textile museums or the Lowell Mills and
downtown Lowell to shopping. Lowell is the second largest Cambodian population
from Long Beach, California. A lot of the American dreams are built in these
Cambodians which produce larger population. With the after math of the
Cambodian Genocides, the new and younger population creates a lot of bonding
with their own kinds and full of joy when it comes to an explanation of their
heritage.
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