An audio recording of an oral history of Dolores DeYoung Fallon on her family's immigration experience from Belgium to the U.S. Audio is a little fuzzy due to high recording levels.
An audio recording of an oral history of Eva-Maria Muecke on leaving her small village in West Germany at the age of 17 to enter the hotel business, which eventually brought her to California where she started her college career and became a teacher of biology and zoology. Audio skips a couple of times in the first two minutes of the recording.
An audio recording of an oral history of Julie Dennis on the story of her father-in-law, Hank Dennis, who immigrated to the U.S. from Poland as a 12-year-old boy.
An audio recording of an oral history of Chann Noun, an immigrant from Cambodia,on his experiences under the Khmer Rouge regime and spending 4 years in a refugee camp before he was able to come to the US.
An audio recording of an oral history of Elin Helene Simmons on her parents, who immigrated from Sweden and Norway to the U.S. She discusses her family and the differences between her parents' home countries and the U.S.
An audio recording of an oral history of Chris Gniewosz, a Canadian immigrant of Polish heritage, on his family's flight from Poland after World War II, settling in Portland, Oregon, and his continued relationship with Poland. Audio is a little fuzzy due to high recording levels.
An audio recording of an oral history of Reinhart and Wilhelma Engelmann on Reinhart's work in the high tech field, being a professor, and life during and after World War II in Germany. Wilhelma discusses what life in the U.S. was like for a mother raising her children in a foreign country with limited English language skills. Audio is a little fuzzy due to high recording levels.
An audio recording of an oral history of Alice Kern on growing up in a Romanian Jewish community, surviving the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen during the War, and later settling in Portland, Oregon. Audio is a little fuzzy due to high recording levels.
An audio recording of an oral history of Luis Amezcua on his experience of being an immigrant from Mexico in Oregon, what the differences are, what he does and does not miss, and how he and his family ended up in Oregon.
An audio recording of an oral history of Veronica Predovic on her experience as an immigrant from Argentina in both the U.S. and Southeast Asia. She also discusses the differences between Argentina and the U.S., particularly regarding her children and their education.
An audio recording of an oral history of Dolores Beccar on immigrating to the United States from Argentina with her family in 2001, settling first in Southern California then moving to Oregon after significant social and financial upheavals in Argentina.
An audio recording of an oral history of Henry Wang, who was born in China and moved to Taiwan when he was young, on immigrating to the U.S. and earning an engineering degree.
An audio recording of an oral history of Charity Spires, who was born and raised in Palau before moving to Oregon for college. She shares some of the differences between the two countries and what she likes about Palau and Oregon.
An audio recording of an oral history of Jo McCutcheon on immigrating from England and her observations about the U.S. Jo moved to the US in the early 1980s at the age of 26 after falling in love with a U.S. citizen.
An audio recording of an oral history of Susanna Breiling on her experiences growing up in Argentina and Sweden in the 1970s before settling down in Oregon as an adult.
An audio recording of an oral history of Cleo Leigh on the culture shock of moving from Hong Kong to New York for college, how she came to Oregon, and challenges she faced as an immigrant.
An audio recording of an oral history of Mary Patton Kurtz on the Native Americans of Patton Valley, which is near Gaston and Cherry Valley, Oregon. Her family, the Pattons, were among the earliest white settlers in the area. The land nearby was, up through the mid-1800s, the center of population of the Tualatin (Atfalati) tribe. Mary recalls family stories about Native Americans as well as her experiences finding Native American artifacts. There is a transcript of this interview. Note: the recording and transcript have been redacted to protect sensitive information related to Native American graves and artifacts.
An audio recording of an oral history of Reynold Geiger on Indians in the Tualatin Valley. Reynold’s grandfather came to Oregon as missionary in 1839 claiming land outside the present town of Cornelius. Talks about stories passed down to him from his older family members and their interactions with the Indians living close by. Stories about the sweat house were shared. The interview ended with Reynold sharing that his great-grandfather was a minister, relating back to the conversation at the beginning of the interview. There is a transcript of this interview. Note: the recording and transcript have been redacted to protect sensitive information related to Native American graves and artifacts.
An audio recording of an oral history of Enedelia Schofield Hernandez. Enedelia Schofield was born in McAllen, Texas in 1958 and came to Oregon in 1962. She describes her childhood in Oregon, the financial hardships that her parents went through, and reflects on her working experiences and how it impacted her work ethic. Schofield is currently a school principal and at minute 6:30 she describes her experiences in the school system, which included discrimination throughout most of her public school education in Washington County. At minute 11:30 she speaks about her name being changed by a teacher from Enedelia to “Annie” and she gives her insight on the importance of claiming ones original name. At minute 18:45 she describes her positive experiences she had while attending Pacific University and at minute 20:20 she reflects on the values that her parents instilled in her and her siblings. She talks about her father's time as the Organizing Director of VIVA (Volunteers in Vanguard Action) and then her parent's role in Centro Cultural. She reflects on the challenges in terms of identity and racism that this next generation is facing at minute 30:30. At minute 37:40 Schofield talks about the importance of role models and representation and at minute 41:00 she talks about the differences in opportunities for students today vs the 60s/70s. At about minute 44:10 Enedelia Schofield defines how she identifies herself and ends the interview explaining the importance and benefits of the knowing Spanish, and reflects on the impact of Centro Cultural in the community. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Vangie Sanchez. Evangelina Sanchez was born in Needville, Texas. She finished high school in Texas, and at age 19 joined the migrant stream with her mother, stepfather, siblings, and two children. After living and working seasonally in Colorado and California (where they were introduced to the labor activism of César Chávez and the United Farm Workers), Vangie and her family settled in Washington County in 1967. She eventually left field work to become a home school counselor for Migrant Education, and went on to work for such other social service organizations as Valley Migrant League, Virginia Garcia Clinic, and Legal Aid. While raising her children as a single mother and working, Vangie graduated from the short-lived Colegio César Chávez in 1978. She eventually transitioned to social work and became a child protective service investigator for the state of Oregon, working specifically with Hispanic families. At the time of this interview, Vangie is an instructor for a class for foster parents at Portland State University.
In this interview, Vangie Sanchez recounts her experiences of work, education and migration. She reflects on the discrimination and racism that she and her family experienced in Texas and Oregon, the difficulties of raising her children as a single mother, and both the tensions and opportunities for cooperation between Mexican Americans and people born in Mexico. Vangie also elaborates on her values and her personal and ethnic sense of identity. There is a transcript of this interview.
