April 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War — an event that led to the resettlement of 125,000 Vietnamese refugees in the United States, and the largest refugee resettlement in American history.

In 1975, the Archdiocese of New Orleans helped rehome 200 Vietnamese families in New Orleans, split between New Orleans East and the West Bank. Both populations have flourished in the intervening half century, with Vietnamese food, language, and identity becoming a significant part of the New Orleans cultural landscape. 

Some of the earliest Vietnamese immigrants to New Orleans became integral parts of the fishing and shrimping communities in the Gulf, others opened businesses like Dong Phuong Bakery that have remained mainstays of the Vietnamese community, others continued to cultivate the fresh produce that they missed from back home. 

This project is a collaboration between Sông Community Development Corporation, Tulane’s Center for Public Service, and four sections of Professor Daniella Zalcman’s Community Engagement Journalism class at Tulane University.