R-1017 -- Cáceres Rodríguez, Andrés Jésus.
In this interview, interviewer Gabriella Montes learns about Venezuela’s recent history as experienced by her long-time friend, Andrés Cáceres. He describes the first ten years of his life in his city of origin, Caracas, Venezuela. He explains details about his family relationships, home life and school life as he grew up in the economic turmoil occurring in Venezuela since the 1940s. He shares his experience being a new student, his struggle in school in North Carolina, and how difficult this overall adjustment was. Andrés recounts that despite this struggle in the U.S., as well as Venezuela, he misses his home country, and mentions some of the happier moments he had back home and the friends and experiences he’s made here.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/29364">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2023-03-14
No restrictions. Open to research
R1017_Audio.mp3
R-1015 -- Luna, Martin.
North Carolina resident Martin Luna recounts his experience moving to the United States from Jalisco, Mexico in 1985 as a recently-graduated food engineering student. Luna arrived to work at the Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina over the summer as an international student worker. Throughout the interview he describes the importance of several interpersonal relationships that shaped his work experience and that created the opportunity for him to attempt to pursue graduate school at Clemson University. He references the language barrier as a recurring challenge in his U.S. education. He also describes the role mental health had in his experiences in the U.S. Luna reflects on his experiences in both Mexico and the U.S.’s education systems, and closes the interview describing the kinds of challenges current Latin American immigrant students face within education systems and how they compare to the ones he experienced.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/29328">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2023-03-31
No restrictions. Open to research
R1015_Audio.mp3
R-1000 -- Valdez Place, Soraya.
Soraya Valdez Place is a Spanish Professor at Lenoir Rhyne University and the Community Outreach Specialist for the Catawba County Library system in Hickory, North Carolina. She is originally from San Salvador, El Salvador and first moved to the United States in 2004. Soraya tells the story of her life and explains what growing up was like for her in El Salvador. She reflects on the struggles she and her family faced and touches on the violence, natural disasters, and the rampant civil war that plagued her country. She shares the story of moving to the United States for the first time and the challenges of learning English and eventually, how she came to live in North Carolina. She also shares her experience of her time in the Peace Corp and serving abroad with her husband. Soraya speaks on the differences between life in North Carolina, specifically Catawba County, and life back in her home of El Salvador. Lastly, she touches on her work in Catawba County as a Spanish professor and a Community Outreach Specialist, serving as a bridge for the Spanish-speaking community. Soraya closes the interview by telling me about the different issues the Latinx community faces in Catawba County and her work to address these issues by creating workshops and classes through the local library system.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/29184">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2022-02-10
No restrictions. Open to research
R1000_Audio.mp3
R-0999 -- Pagnini-Ibarra, Mónica.
Monica Pagnini-Ibarra is a former business owner and family lawyer from Maracay, Venezuela and currently serves as the Client Services Advocate at El Centro Latino in Hickory, North Carolina. Monica begins the interview by sharing what life was like for her and her family living in Maracay, Venezuela and recounts her favorite childhood memories. She opens up about the political insecurities, violence, and turmoil she and her family faced in recent years in Venezuela. Mónica goes in depth about the political insecurity she experienced, the threats she received for her partaking in legal protests, and how those threats ultimately led her to flee her native country in 2015. Mónica also tells me about the successful business she started in Venezuela and her steps to becoming a family lawyer and serving in tribunal courts. She then shares what life was like for her in North Carolina after fleeing her country and explains the challenges she faced starting a new life here. Mónica discusses her current role at El Centro Latino and describes the workshops and special events she helps create for the community. She closes the interview by speaking on the resources she believes are most needed by the Spanish-speaking community and what she has planned next.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/29181">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2022-03-28
No restrictions. Open to research
R0999_Audio.mp3
R-0997 -- García García, Isaías.
Isaías García García is a barber and local business owner of Barbería García, in Boone, North Carolina. He is originally from Totonicapán, Honduras and emigrated to the United States alone at the age of 16. Garcia, the youngest of nine siblings, explains what life was like for him growing up in Guatemala with his family. He shares the story of his migration journey, starting in his hometown of Totonicapán, traveling through Mexico, until he reached the United States-Mexico border. He describes what the entry process was like for him, mentioning that he believed entry would be feasible since he was a minor at the time. He recalls his first thoughts and emotions when he finally arrived to the United States as well as being held in a very cold place used at immigration facilities nicknamed “refrí” or iceboxes.[1] Isaías was later released to the custody of his brother-in-law.[2] He then shares his journey in North Carolina, detailing his experiences in high school and in achieving his dream of starting his own barber shop. He goes in depth about his dream of being a barber, the process of obtaining licenses, finding a location to rent, and how the Covid-19 pandemic affected his business. Closing out the interview, Isaías shares his thoughts on what resources would be the most helpful for him and other Spanish-speaking community members in Boone.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/29176">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2022-03-06
No restrictions. Open to research
R0997_Audio.mp3
R-0988 -- Zaeem, Abu.
Abu Zaeem describes his position as the principal of Doris Henderson Newcomers School in Greensboro, North Carolina. He explains how the school serves immigrant and refugee students in grades three through twelve for one, two, or three semesters by helping them acclimate to English and the American school system before they are transitioned to their home public schools. He discusses services and strategies to help students who are dealing with trauma upon arriving to the United States. He shares several of the challenges of his work, including communicating with parents when there are language barriers and dropout rates among older students who want to work. He emphasized that while the Newcomers School is a great option for many families, some choose traditional schools because of location, age of other siblings, or other reasons. He shared the limitations of a small school for a growing population of students, and admitted that funding is consistently an issue. Finally, he emphasized that the work of the Newcomers School would be impossible without its teachers, who are invested in educating and advocating for students and their well-being every day.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/28597">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2019-06-27
No restrictions. Open to research.
R0988_Audio.mp3
R-0993 -- Gutiérrez, Jorge.
Jorge Gutiérrez shares a second interview with the Nuevas Raíces initiative. Following his work with the Building Integrated Communities initiative, Jorge was hired as an interpreter at UNC hospitals in UNC Chapel Hill to facilitate Spanish and English communications. In the spring of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic spread to North Carolina, Jorge volunteered to work with hospitalized Spanish speaking patients being treated for COVID-19. In this interview, Jorge describes his path through interpreter and translator trainings to arrive in a profession that he finds extremely fulfilling. He relates some of the guiding principles for medical interpretation and the importance of ongoing professionalization and training. In the latter half of the interview, Jorge describes his experiences interpreting for patients ill with COVID-19. He describes his family’s support of this work and the precautions that hospital staff take to protect themselves. Language and communication play a critical role in the treatment process, underscoring the importance of a hospital providing care that is language accessible for patients. Spanish-speaking North Carolinians and people of color have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/28585">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2020-07-22
No restrictions. Open to research.
R0993_Audio.mp3
R-0904 -- Heine, Rebecca.
Rebecca Heines, better known as Becca, serves as the mentorship coordinator of North Carolina’s Service Learning Initiative (NC Sli). She also is a bilingual navigator at the University of North Carolina hospital in Chapel Hill. She discusses her experiences as a college student volunteering with organizations targeted towards the Latinx community. Becca discusses how her social networks and study abroad immersion in Latin America inspired her passion to serve. In this interview, she explains how her experience at NC Sli and as a bilingual navigator has shaped her desire to work in the medical field after graduation. She specifically addresses how stress and mental health impact undocumented high school students education. Although Becca speaks English and Spanish, she shares her challenges of communicating in Spanish effectively with patients. Both Rebecca Heines and Carolina De Leon are student interviewers working with the New Roots/Nuevas Raíces Oral Histories as part of APPLES Global Course Guanajuato at UNC Chapel Hill. This interview was conducted as part of this course and is intended to provide background and context about some of the individuals who conduct oral histories for the New Roots collection. Their inclusion in the archive is optional and does not impact their grade. Students also travel to Guanajuato, Mexico over Spring break. Carolina de Leon is also volunteering at El Centro Hispano throughout the semester as part of a service-learning requirement to build relationships with immigrant communities.This interview is the first of 2 interviews. The 2nd interview focuses on Becca’s experiences in Mexico.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/27584">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2018-02-15
No restrictions. Open to research.
R0904_Audio.mp3
R-0899 -- Carrillo, Juan.
The interviewee, Juan Carrillo, is a professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was born to Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Los Angeles, then moved to Phoenix, Arizona, then Austin, TX, and then finally to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He received a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. He studies the effect that American schools have on Mexican American students. The interview covers several different topics, from comparing Dual Language schools in the southwest to schools in Chapel Hill, to the history behind Dual Language schools, to the importance of maintaining one’s language and culture. Carrillo also discusses his life history and how it relates to Dual Language education.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/27569">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2018-04-02
No restrictions. Open to research.
R0899_Audio.mp3
R-0906 -- Lima, Isabella.
This interview was conducted by Alexandra Graham with interviewee Isabella Lima. Throughout the interview, Isabella talks about her experiences in ESL--English as a Second Language--classes in elementary school when she first arrived in North Carolina from São Paulo, Brazil. She explains the structure of her classes, how she felt about them, how she learned English, and who her main supporters were as she was learning her second language. She shares about how bilingualism has shaped her as well as how she believes ESL classes can be improved in the public-school system. The interview, lasting 43 minutes and 17 seconds, took place in a parked car outside of a taco truck in Carrboro, NC. The car was running and there were occasional outside sounds from cars driving by or other miscellaneous noises. The interview took place on March 28, 2018.
Alexandra is a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from Wilmington, North Carolina. She is a Hispanic Linguistics and Economics double major graduating in May 2018. After she graduates, she will be pursuing her Master of Arts in Teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill with a graduation date in 2019. Isabella is a senior at Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina. She will be studying at a four-year university beginning in the Fall of 2018, but she has not yet decided which university she will choose. She wishes to pursue a career in criminal justice and she has hopes of becoming an FBI agent. The interviewer and interviewee have known each other for three years through a mentorship program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill called N.C. Sli. N.C. Sli matches Latinx high school students in central North Carolina with college students at UNC. It also provides identity workshops and college preparatory classes.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
<a href="http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/sohp/id/27560">University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.</a>
2018-04-09
No restrictions. Open to research.
R0906_Audio.mp3