In 1969, Rapoport first visited Vietnam as a medical student. He was sent by the American Medical Association to work as a medical volunteer in hospitals across Da Nang City, as well as in ethnic people inhabited villages in Quang Ngai province. Since then he has been collecting Vietnamese cultural artifacts.

He then returned to work in New York for 25 years. In 2001, he and his family moved to Hanoi in order to conduct research on the impact of Agent Orange/dioxin, with a specific focus on the rate of birth defects among infants.

Rapoport continued to collect Vietnamese artifacts, particularly items relating to ethnic minority groups and Vietnamese ancestors.

Over the past 20 years, the US doctor has collected more than 10,000 artifacts about the culture of ethnic groups in the country.

Among the nearly 500 artifacts that the US doctor presented to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum are tools used in agriculture, kitchenware, make-up jewelry, costumes and textiles, and sculpture art.