The Hmong Archives, formerly known as Hmong Nationality Archives, is a nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 located in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 with the mission to research, collect, preserve, interpret, and disseminate materials in all formats about or by Hmong

Hmong people

The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...

.

The Hmong Archives was founded by Marlin LeRoy Heise (Minnesota Historical Society

Minnesota Historical Society

The Minnesota Historical Society is a private, non-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehood. The Society is named in the Minnesota...

 retiree), Yuepheng Xiong (founder of Hmong ABC), Tzianeng Vang (founder of Hmong Professional Network) and other Hmong professionals in February 1999. It was first housed at Metropolitan State University

Metropolitan State University

Metropolitan State University is a four-year public university located in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, United States. It is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.-History:...

 in Saint Paul. It later relocated to a Hmong business strip in the "Minnehaha Mall", the Hmong Archives then found its way to the Hmong Studies Center at Concordia University, Saint Paul

Concordia University, Saint Paul

Concordia University is a liberal arts university located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Concordia University was founded in 1893 and currently enrolls approximately 2,800 students...

. Overcrowding led the organization to its current location in May 2008, at 298½ University Avenue West, Saint Paul, MN. It is located above Hmong ABC (Arts, Books, & Crafts) store, in the "Hmongland" building. Regular office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10AM to 6PM.

Collections range from rare Hmong record albums to Hmong children's drawings and books in over a dozen languages. As of March 2009, over 116,000 items had been accessioned.

Current staff are volunteers.