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.
Part 2 of an audio recording of an oral history of Isabelle and Raphael Mendoza. Interview takes place at their business warehouse in NE Portland (Su Casa Super Mercado). Isabel describes early problems with obtaining a liquor license with OLCC (Oregon Liquor Control Commission). At minute 10:13, they talk about their three children and their involvement in the family business. Isabel mentions her community involvement, which includes being in the various planning committees and sitting in the board of directors. At minute 19:00 Isabel shares the limits in opportunities she saw living a primarily Latino community in New Mexico and how moving to Oregon changed that. Rafael then proceeds to share his original plans to eventually move back to Mexico until he saw that staying in Oregon was yelding better opportunities. Rafael shares his vision of further expansion. They recently opened a store in Yakima, Washington; which was made possible due to deliveries they do to restaurants and businesses in that area. They are currently located in Salem, Woodburn, Hillsboro, Yakima, and Portland. She reflects on the hardwork and teamwork it has taken to get to this point in their business. At minute 28:25 the interview transitions to the interviewer receiving a tour by Isabel of their business. The rest of the interview has Isabel describing the various unique items that are sold in their stores accompanied by the sounds of music in the background.
Part 1 of an audio recording of an oral history of Isabelle and Raphael Mendoza. Recording sounds a bit distorted. Rafael was born in Michoacan, Mexico in 1958 and shares memories of poverty during his childhood. He describes his father coming and going between US and Mexico to do farm/field work. Rafael's first arrival to the U.S was to Stockton, CA where he then migrated to North Plains, OR to work at Jerry Stenker's camp. He shares his devastation in not finishing school to focus on work. Rafael met his wife, Isabel, in 1977. He shares how he and Isabel started their own business. Isabel was born in Wyoming in 1957. Her parents separated and they moved to Mora, New Mexico in 1962 with her mother's family. She shares fond memories of helping out with her family business as a child, as well as helping clean homes for people. She moved to Oregon in 1975. At minutes 29:49 she talks about the SETA program that helped her family find a job, which cemented their stay in Oregon. She describes her experience working at a mink farm as well as her experiences working at Washington County Community Action. Isabel shares how she and Rafael met, cultural differences between the two, and they both go into further detail starting their business in 1982 - which included constant travel to and from California. There is a transcript of Part 1.
An audio recording of an oral history of Hector Hinojosa. He was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and migrated to Harlingen, Texas with his family when he was two years old. After Harlingen experienced an economic downturn, the family began migrating seasonally across the country for agricultural work and eventually settled in Washington County. In spite of his abilities, Hector found himself struggling in high school due to a strict policy that penalized him for absences he took to help his family. Hector dropped out during his sophomore year and worked full-time managing a co-op gas station to help support his parents. After a year he was able to return to school through Job Corps in Portland and obtain his GED. Upon graduation Job Corps offered Hector part-time work as a counselor and gave him a scholarship to attend Portland State University to study guidance and counseling. Once he completed the program, Hector worked as a counselor at Forest Grove high school, and after several years began work with a program at University of Oregon to help struggling high school students obtain GEDs. Hector then spent a year working as a recruiter for Colegio César Chávez, and then moved to California to work for Castle & Cooke and negotiate labor contracts between the company and union leaders such as César Chávez. Hector eventually returned to Washington County. He resides in Hillsboro and continues to do independent consulting work for businesses. During his years in Washington County Hector has also been involved with a number of social service organizations.
Hector speaks about why his family moved to Washington County, the living and working conditions that his family experienced in Oregon, and the racism that he experienced in Texas and Oregon. He describes his own struggles in an education system that was not sensitive to his familial obligations, and how those experiences informed his work as a counselor, negotiator, and consultant. Hector elaborates on the importance of culture and language to one’s sense of identity, and on both personal and community struggles to offer improved opportunities for Mexican-ancestry and Latino people in and around Hillsboro. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Laura Gamboa. Gamboa was born in Cuautla in the Mexican state of Morelos south of Mexico City and lived there until she was twenty-one years old. In Cuautla her family had a refreshment stand. Over time the area became increasingly populated, and more and more people opened similar business of their own. Laura noted that sales began to decrease and that the family had less control over which products they offered for sale. Laura moved to Washington County with her two daughters to join her husband and her mother who had relocated there a short time earlier after spending about six months working in Madera, California.
Laura found work ironing shirts at a dry cleaner, and took English classes at Saint Matthew Catholic Church and at Portland Community College in Hillsboro. She eventually secured a job with Oregon Childhood Development Coalition where she served as a teacher.
?Giores” (name changed at narrator’s request) was born in Colima, Mexico and spent most of his adult life in Mexico City before relocating to the United States. Giores found life in Mexico City fast paced, uncertain, and stressful. After working at a number of different occupations there he moved to Oregon—a place that he had some knowledge of through a relative. Starting with fieldwork, he transitioned to landscaping, and now works as a painter. Giores obtained his GED after relocating and lives in Cornelius. He and his wife are enrolled in the microbusiness program at Adelante Mujeres; they hope to begin a tax preparation business and create more financial stability for their family.
Giores talks about the reasons why he left Mexico and the pull of the “American dream” that prompted him to relocate. He speaks about the difficulty of the border crossing. The experience inspired him to write a short piece about the border crossing of an individual named Juan. An excerpt from that piece is included at the end of this transcript, shared with the permission of the narrator. Giores elaborates on the process of adjusting to life in Washington County. He explains his relationship with Mexican culture, the country of Mexico, and the ways that he remains in contact with family members there. He also offers his opinions on English-speaking U.S. culture and society. Though work in the United States has not been easy, Giores has overall felt well treated in Washington County and recalls the support of volunteer English teachers and the appreciation that bosses and clients have demonstrated for his work accomplishments. Interview is in Spanish. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Eduardo Corona. Corona was born near Mexico City. He graduated from Mexico City’s Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana with a major in Business Administration. He moved to California in 1999 to work for a U.S.-based company with multinational operations, and then moved to Beaverton, Oregon to work for a telecommunications company that was opening a branch in Mexico. After a work-necessitated return to Mexico and several changes of employment, Eduardo and his family moved back to Oregon. He began working as the director of the small business development program for Adelante Mujeres; the program provides Spanish-language instruction and support for men and women in Washington County who are looking to start their own businesses. Eduardo recalls the work opportunities that brought him and his family to Oregon, and compares his life in Oregon to his experiences in both California and Mexico. He mentions instances of discrimination in Washington County, but believes that overall he and his family are comfortable in Hillsboro. He shares his perceptions of the community of Hillsboro, and talks about the opportunities that his work with Adelante Mujeres is helping to create for Spanish-speaking individuals residing in the county. Eduardo is proud of his Mexican identity and culture, and appreciates the ways that his children retain Mexican values while incorporating U.S. culture into their lives. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Florence Evers Heinrich on the Washington County Fair and the 1934 Dairy Club. The recording sounds like it was copied from cassette but original format is unknown. Audio quality is poor.
An audio recording of an oral history of Neal McInnins on his family moving from Scotland to Oregon and his experiences with 4-H. Audio quality is poor.
