By Miya Shaw
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- To wander among the boxes and shelves at the Fondren Library with Dr. Anne Chao is a uniquely eye-opening experience.
"Oh, here's the chimpanzee that went into space!" She would exclaim, pulling out a vintage photo carefully preserved in an acid-free sleeve.
"And look, this is Connie Chung when she came to do a story," Dr. Chao would say, pointing at a photo of the iconic broadcaster as a little-known reporter early in her career.
Each memento, artifact, or photo captures a moment in Houston's Asian American immigrant story that Dr. Anne Chao yearns to tell.
"Personally, it's extremely rewarding. I'm a historian, so I'd like to accumulate history," she says with a glint in her eyes. "This is raw history that is unaltered by me or anyone. It's just information out there for any researcher and scholar to use for their own purpose."