South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

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South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

SAADA is the source for South Asian American history.
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10/05/2026

We’re excited to announce the winner of our Memory Bucket raffle for September . . . Joshlyn Thomas!!! 🎉🎉🎉

Congrats, Joshlyn, and our thanks to everyone who entered.

Here are some of the terrific responses we received to the prompt: "What's an object that you cherished at this age? What made it so special?"

Each of the responses is from when the storyteller was SIX years old.

Stay tuned for more responses and our next Memory Bucket raffle!

🐚 saada.org/memorybucket

09/30/2026

In 1971, a group of local Quaker activists, community members, and labor union leaders put their bodies and their livelihoods on the line to blockade ships carrying weapons to suppress Bangladesh’s war for liberation.

We’ll commemorate this inspiring history with artmaking, food, music, and more. Hear directly from those who were part of the 1971 Blockade, and those working to keep their stories alive!

🎫 RSVP at saada.org/blockade

09/24/2026

"This project focuses on the stories of Bhutanese refugees living in Central Ohio. It is a tapestry of interviews that weave together memories and maps of personal journeys, establishing permanency and a new sense of belonging in the Midwest."

🖼️ Explore Echoes of Home, SAADA Archival Creator Fellow Rojika Sharma’s digital exhibit about placemaking by and for Bhutanese refugees in the Midwest, with original artwork by Bikash Rai: saada.org/echoes

09/22/2026

“Sapana and Khem, with their fifteen-month-old daughter, Lily, landed at Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York one frigid evening in December 2014. They had flown out of Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal approximately thirty-two hours earlier to start their new lives in upstate New York.”

If you want to know about the story of Bhutanese refugees in the U.S., this essay by Retika Adhikari will tell you more.

First published in Our Stories: An Introduction to South Asian America, Dr. Adhikari's "Bhutanese Refugees" essay is now available for reading in TIDES Magazine.

📖 Read the "Bhutanese Refugees" essay in TIDES: https://www.saada.org/bhutanese-refugees

09/16/2026

SAADA supporters are stewards of our community’s story, ensuring that South Asian American history is preserved, cared for, and accessible to all.

Meet the individuals who make our work possible on our SAADA Wall of Supporters at saada.org/supporters

And add your name to the list by becoming a SAADA member today! saada.org/join

09/14/2026

In the days after 9/11, a collective of SAALT volunteers documented the backlash directed at Americans of South Asian and Middle Eastern descent.

Deepa Iyer was one of those volunteers, and from 2004–2014 she served as SAALT's executive director.

📕 Read the full "American Backlash" report and Deepa's reflections on that period at saada.org/reflections

08/13/2026

WE DID IT!!!

Our huge, huge, huge thanks to the 115 members and donors who joined us this summer, and helped us claim the full $10,000 matching gift from Rajeev & Sonia Kinra!

SAADA members and donors allow us to preserve and care for South Asian American history.

It’s never too late to become a member!

Join us at saada.org/join

08/06/2026

Our SAADA's 18th birthday pledge drive ends ***TOMORROW*** AT MIDNIGHT!!!

We just need 34 new members to reach our goal of 100!!!

Rajeev & Sonia Kinra are chipping in an extra $100 for each new member who joins by our deadline—a total match of $10,000!

Become a member today at saada.org/join

Thank you for your support!

💕,
The SAADA Team

07/10/2026

On the occasion of SAADA’s 18th birthday, we’re excited to introduce you to our brand-new membership program!

Why now?

Last year’s termination of five federal grants for SAADA—totaling $1.5 million in funding—was a wake-up call and a stark reminder:

It is up to us to ensure our place in the American story. No one else is going to do it for us.

SAADA would not exist today if not for the support of our community. When major foundations declared our work too “niche,” it was you who believed in us. When the Trump administration terminated our grants, it was you who stepped up.

Our new membership program is our invitation to you—to not just learn about South Asian American history, but to help us make it.

All members receive a Passport to South Asian American History and Story of the Year sticker. Become a member at the Spark tier to get behind-the-scenes access; join as a Catalyst or a Sustainer to help us share South Asian American history; or join as an Ignite Changemaker 🔥 or Visionary to help shape the story.

It only takes $1 to become a member. If you believe South Asian American history should be cared for and accessible to everyone, then we need you with us.

Our first-ever membership pledge drive begins right now, and ends on Friday, August 7.

🫶🏽 Go to saada.org/join to join us today!

06/26/2026

It’s Week 2 of SAADA Summer School! 🎒

South Asian American history isn’t taught in classrooms in our country, so this summer, we’re serializing ten essays from Our Stories, SAADA’s South Asian American history textbook. Please share this series with the high school and college students in your life! 💕

This week, we're featuring an essay about Rishi Singh Grewal, who helped introduce yoga to Americans beginning in the 1920s!

“In the early twentieth century, dozens of well-educated immigrants from South Asia, limited by restrictive laws and prejudice in the United States, took advantage of the allure held by the imagined ‘mystic East’ and traveled around the country presenting themselves as yogis, swamis, and metaphysical teachers to American audiences. Typically, they would travel from city to city giving free public lectures that would lead to smaller, private courses of instruction for a fee.”

📖 Read the full essay at saada.org/grewal

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Philadelphia, PA

Telephone

+12152598055

Website

http://www.saada.org/

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