Topic: Immigration and Ethnicity / Subject Headings: Oral History

1. Interview with Sumaya Yusuf and Bibi Abdalla

Creator:: Abdalla, Bibi
Date Created:: 2004-06-02
Description:: Sumaya Yusuf and Bibi Abdalla have both worked with the Minnesota Historical Society by conducting interviews for the Somali Skyline Tower Oral History Project. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Respect for parents and elders; how Somalis in the United States are losing their culture; uniqueness in Somali culture; the importance of poetry and songs; trying to maintain Somali language and traditions; Somali culture relating to African-American culture; Somalis and Americanization.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

2. Interview with M. J. Abhishaker

Creator:: Abhishaker, M. J.; United States
Date Created:: 1995-01-04
Description:: M. J. Abhishaker was born in India. He attended college in India and in Minnesota. Presently, he is a professor. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background, family values, education, college experiences, differences between American and Indian university structures, work experiences, political activities. Leaving India. Arriving in and adjusting to the United States, marriage and family, discrimination, travels in India and the U.S., changes in India. Sound of India radio show, Indian migration. Retaining and passing on cultural values, maintaining family ties.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

3. Interview with Abdisalam Adam

Creator:: Adam, Abdisalam
Date Created:: 2004-06-24
Description:: Abdisalam Adam grew up in Somalia, went to school in Nigeria, and came to the United States on a student visa. Adam worked for a magazine in Madison, Wisconsin, before coming to Minnesota. He has been married and raised a family since moving to Minnesota, and he currently works as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. Subjects discussed include: Growing up in Somalia; attending school in Nigeria; living in Saudi Arabia; moving to the United States on a student visa; first impression of the United States; working for a magazine in Madison, Wisconsin; Somali communities in Minnesota; religious awareness of Minnesotans; Somali weddings; recently visiting Somalia and returning in the future; important aspects of Somali culture; maintaining Islamic and Somali culture in the United States; the role of families in Somali culture; influence of television; opportunities for Somali teens; working as an ESL teacher.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

4. Interview with Indru S. Advani

Creator:: Advani, Indru S.
Date Created:: 1994-06-12
Description:: Indru Advani was born in a part of India which is now in Pakistan. He attended school and college in India. He did graduate work in Minnesota. Presently, he is retired. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Experiences in India before emigrating, experiences in Kenya, marriage and family, caste system in India, travels to India, family visits, memories of arriving in New York City and Minneapolis, religion, Indo-American Association at the University of Minnesota, experiences singing, socializing in the Indian community, work history, retaining and passing on cultural values, maintaining family ties, future plans, American values of home and homestead.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

5. Interview with Ramona Advani

Creator:: Advani, Ramona
Date Created:: 1998-02-19
Description:: Ramona Advani was born in Minneapolis. Her parents came to the United States as graduate students. Advani attended high school and college in Minnesota, and law school in Washington, D.C. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, familiarity with parents' language, religion, school experiences, Indian community in Minnesota, similarities and differences in Indian and American culture, college experiences, difficulties of being a child of a first-generation immigrant, self-acceptance, future plans, Indian movies.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

6. Interview with Rev. Dagoberto Aguilar

Creator:: Aguilar, Reverend Dagoberto
Date Created:: 1976-08-03
Description:: Born in Turialva, Costa Rica, in 1927 - studied and became a minister in Mexico City - worked as a missionary in Central America - received an assignment in Philadelphia, where he worked for several years - called to work in 1973 with Spanish-speaking people in Minneapolis, including some Mexican families. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: History of the Primera Iglesia Bautista in Minneapolis - religious and social activities and social services at the church - the need to maintain Spanish in that church - hopes of church members, including continued parishioner growth and construction of a church building of its own. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

7. Interview with Philip C. Ahn

Creator:: Ahn, Philip C.
Date Created:: 1979-12-07
Description:: Philip C. Ahn was born in Korea in 1928 to a family of third-generation Christians. His father owned a jewelry business, and his mother was a deaconess in the Presbyterian Church. When Korea was partitioned after World War II, Ahn's parents feared that the Communist government in North Korea would not look favorably on businessmen and Christians, and the family fled to South Korea. They arrived in Seoul at the height of postwar chaos and unemployment. At age 18, however, with five years of high school English, Ahn got a job as interpreter at the U.S. embassy. He also enrolled at a pharmacy school which later became part of the National University in Seoul, and he graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1949. During this period a good friend, Young Pai, who was a student at Macalester College in St. Paul, urged Ahn to join him in Minnesota to continue his studies. Ahn was eager to do so and took the government examinations required for study abroad in 1949. He passed the examinations but did not have the necessary financial resources. With the onset of the Korean War and the arrival of United Nations troops, however, the demand for translators and interpreters increased, and from 1950 to 1951 Ahn worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army's 17th Regiment. In 1951 he joined the Korean Army and served as a lieutenant in the liaison corps, where he was an interpreter for the Korean Military Advisory Group, a group of American advisors. In 1953, at the end of the war, Ahn left Korea and enrolled at Macalester College just as Young Pai was leaving. Ahn majored in biology and chemistry and graduated in 1957. He took a job in Austin, Minnesota, as a junior scientist at the Hormel Institute of the University of Minnesota Graduate School. While in Austin Ahn married Betty Engel, also a graduate of Macalester College. Ahn stayed in Austin from 1957 to 1960 and then became an assistant scientist at the U of M Medical School in Minneapolis, where he worked as a physiological chemist from 1960 to 1962, a period in which the basic analysis of nutrition and heart disease was being launched. In 1962 he transferred to the nutrition division of the Home Economics Department on the St. Paul campus, where he worked as a lipid chemist. In the early 1970s Ahn became an associate scientist in the newly established Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the College of Home Economics and College of Agriculture. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Ahn discusses his family background and early experience in Korea during the post-World War II and Korean War periods - the close-knit group of Korean students at Macalester during the 1950s - interracial marriages - difficulties of childrearing in American society - Korean wives of American servicemen who have settled in Minnesota - and the history of the Korean churches in the Twin Cities area. Ahn provides valuable information on the early Korean students at Macalester College during the 1950s, who were the first significant group of Koreans to arrive in the state, many of whom remained as permanent residents. He also contributes useful insight into the acculturation of those who intermarried.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

8. Interview with Simi Ahuja

Creator:: Ahuja, Simi
Date Created:: 1998-04-10
Description:: Simi Ahuja was born in Pennsylvania, but grew up in Minnesota. She graduated from college in Minnesota and works in health care administration. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, familiarity with parents' language, involvement in a women's group of second-generation children - family values - Indian community connections - spiritual life - self-acceptance, holiday celebrations - family trips to India - university experiences - future plans, advantages and challenges of being a second-generation child - struggle to balance cultural and familial expectations.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

9. Interview with Victorino Alojado Sr.

Creator:: Alojado, Victorino
Date Created:: 2011-01-28
Description:: Victorino Alojado Sr. was born in Zamboanga City, Philippines. Shortly before the Japanese invaded the Philippines Victorino married and started a family. They hid in the mountains during the Japanese occupation. He moved the family to Minnesota in 1976 to escape martial law in the Philippines. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Growing up in Zamboanga - family - Sipa, a Filipino game - school - World War II - Victorino's wife and children - becoming an American citizen - the American dream.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

10. Interview with Maria A. Alvarado (Sister Engracia)

Creator:: Alvarado, Maria Antonia
Date Created:: 1976-08-08
Description:: Sister Engracia was born in Mexico in 1947 and assigned to St. Mary's College in Winona in 1966. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Her childhood in Mexico - her three years of religious training - her apostolate in the United States, mostly in Minnesota as a Lasallian Sister of Guadalupe. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

11. Interview with Stella Alvo

Creator:: Alvo, Stella
Date Created:: 1975-07-24
Description:: The main interest of this interview was Ms. Alvo's organization of Mi Cultura, a bilingual and bicultural day care center for children in St. Paul. Subjects discussed include: Mi Cultura Day Care Center - the human resources to be found in St. Paul's West Side community.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

12. Interview with Anna Amaya

Creator:: Amaya, Anna
Date Created:: 2010-01-10
Description:: Anna Amaya was born in Moorhead, Minnesota. Through the Youth Exchange and Study she earned her GED and attended Moorhead State for two years. She married in Moorhead and raised four children. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Education - family background - Latino community - organizations - personal relationships - racism - bilingual in Spanish and English - church - farm work - lack of diversity - domestic struggles - financial struggles - Latino culture and tradition - La Virgen de Guadalupe - quincea
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

13. Interview with Joseph E. Anaya

Creator:: Anaya, Joseph E.
Date Created:: 1975-07-25
Description:: Anaya was born in New Mexico in 1927 and moved to St. Paul with his family in 1939. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: His role in organizing the St. Paul chapter of the American G.I. Forum - and his work with Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Credit Union, with Brown and Bigelow, and since 1973 with the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, a private organization providing services to minority businesses.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

14. Interview with Oy Huie Anderson

Creator:: Anderson, Oy Huie
Date Created:: 2003-02-23
Description:: Oy Huie Anderson was born in Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - childhood - Chinese community in Minneapolis in 1930s - Westminster Presbyterian Chinese Sunday School.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

15. Interview with Belen Andrada

Creator:: Andrada, Belen S.
Date Created:: 2010-12-01
Description:: Belen Andrada was born in Butuan, in the southern Philippines. After World War II, Belen finished college with a bachelor's degree in math from Santo Tomas in Manila. She came to the U.S. as a master's degree student at the University of Chicago. After marrying she moved to Minnesota and worked in area high schools. She continues to be active in the Filipino community. Subjects discussed include: parents, growing up, World War II, Japanese occupation of the Philippines, college, immigrating, the Filipino community in the 1950s in Minnesota, and the Filipino since the 1950.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

16. Interview with Belen S. Andrada

Creator:: Andrada, Belen S.
Date Created:: 1978-10-20
Description:: Belen S. Andrada was born in the Philippines in 1926 and came to the United States in 1956 to continue her studies. In 1957 she married Benigno Andrada in Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Her family in the Philippines - the importance of her family - her reasons for coming to the United States - her reactions to living in Minnesota - and prejudice against her as a Filipino.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

17. Interview with Benigno Andrada

Creator:: Andrada, Benigno
Date Created:: 1978-10-09 - 1978-11-01
Description:: Benigno Andrada came to Minnesota from the Philippines in 1928 at the age of 16. His first job was as a waiter at the Minneapolis Athletic Club. In 1930 he married a Norwegian-American woman, and they had three sons. His wife died in 1956, and in 1957 he married his second wife, Belen, a Filipino woman. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: In the first interview, Mr. Andrada discusses his adjustment to life in Minnesota, his family, his jobs and the Filipino community in the Twin Cities. In the second interview he tells about the Philippine Echo newspaper, work during the depression and World War II, Filipinos who worked on the farms near Albert Lea and Chaska, Minnesota and his return trip to the Philippines in 1966.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

18. Interview with Cristeta Andrada

Creator:: Andrada, Christeta
Date Created:: 1978-10-20
Description:: Cristeta Andrada, a daughter of Benigno and Belen Andrada of Richfield, Minnesota, was born in 1964. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Growing up as a second-generation Filipino - the importance of family and the Filipino community in the Twin Cities - and discrimination. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Andrada's sister Marietta was also interviewed for this oral history project.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

19. Interview with Marietta Andrada

Creator:: Andrada, Marietta
Date Created:: 1978-11-01
Description:: Marietta Andrada, a daughter of Benigno and Belen Andrada of Richfield, Minnesota, was born in 1958. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Growing up as a second-generation Filipino - the importance of family and the Filipino community in the Twin Cities - and discrimination. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Andrada's sister Cristeta was also interviewed for this oral history project.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

20. Interview with Virgil Andrada

Creator:: Andrada, Virgil
Date Created:: 1979-02-01
Description:: Virgil Andrada was born in Minnesota in 1933, the son of Benigno and Thina Andrada. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Mr. Andrada's father is Filipino and his mother is Norwegian. He discusses growing up in the Twin Cities with the influence of the two cultures, his family and discrimination against the Filipinos.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

21. Interview with Carlotta F. Arellano

Creator:: Arellano, Carlotta Felix
Date Created:: 1975-07-30
Description:: Carlotta Felix Arellano was born in 1905 in Las Petacas, in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. Her father's name was Juan Francisco Felix, and her mother was Josefa Ramos de Felix. The family immigrated to the United States in 1920, crossing the border by train to El Paso, Texas. She arrived in Arlington, Minn., in 1932 and was living in St. Paul at the time of the interview. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The Mexican Revolution, including several personal experiences - working in farm fields in Wisconsin and Arlington and Gaylord, Minn. - and St. Paul's West Side community, including her early years here and organizations to which she belonged. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The interview was done in Spanish and transcribed into English. Most of the tape is slow.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

22. Interview with Maria Argueta

Creator:: Argueta, Maria; United States
Date Created:: 2/23/2013
Description:: Maria Argueta was born in 1989 in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of five before later moving to Minnesota. At the time of the interview Argueta resided in Crookston, Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - Salvadoran community - ESL education - Salvadoran food, culture, and identity - Latino cultural retention.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

23. Interview with Constancio F. and Luz A. Argueza

Creator:: Argueza, Luz A.
Date Created:: 1978-12-12
Description:: Constancio Argueza was born in 1939 in the Philippines, in Munoz, Nueva Ecija, his mother's home town. He spent his early childhood in Bauang, La Union, at his father's home. His father died when he was six, and his mother died a year later. An only child, Constancio was raised by his father's sister, who took him to Quezon City, near Manila, to attend elementary school. After that he attended the Far Eastern University's Boys High School Department in Manila, and the Far Eastern University Institute of Finance. He majored in accounting and auditing and passed the required examinations to become a certified public accountant. His first job was in a government office, the Bureau of Commerce, where he met his future wife, Luz. After a year and a half in this job he changed to a private firm, the Liberty Insurance Company, before immigrating to the United States in 1972. Luz Argueza was born on February 6, 1941, in Alcala, Pangasinan, in the central Philippines. She attended high school and the Philippines College of Commerce, both in Manila. After graduation she obtained a job in the Bureau of Commerce and later changed to a position in an American firm before the family immigrated to the United States. Luz is also a certified public accountant. The couple was married in 1968, and their two children were born in the Philippines. Soon after their marriage they were urged by Luz's brother, a CPA in San Francisco, to move to the United States. He pointed out that they would qualify for admittance under an immigration preference for professionals. They applied in December of 1968 and were accepted by the United States in 1972. Constancio is a CPA for Honeywell Corporation in Minneapolis, and Luz is a CPA for Good Value Homes in Anoka. Both are active participants in Filipino community organizations in the Twin Cities. Luz is secretary of the Fil-Minnesotan Association, secretary-treasurer of the Filipino Advisory Council, and a board member of the Minnesota Asian American Club. Both have been officers of the Filipino American Club. The Arguezas believe it is very important for their children to appreciate their Filipino heritage, and that the family's participation in Filipino organizations is the best way to attain the appreciation. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The Arguezas discuss the post-1965 Filipino immigrants, known as the New Immigrants, who are largely professionals. This group has been predominantly doctors and nurses in Minnesota, but a sizeable number of accountants and other professionals have also settled in the state. The Arguezas point to greater economic and professional opportunities as the primary motivation for this group's immigration to the United States. They also note the recent efforts of the Marcos government to stem the brain drain" of medical personnel in particular. They discuss the goals and activities of Filipino organizations and also the growing usage of the term "Pilipino" rather than "Filipino" among the recent immigrants. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The Arguezas are typical of the many young professionals who have immigrated to Minnesota from the Philippines since the liberalization of United States immigration law in 1965. Like the Arguezas
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

24. Interview with Rabbi David Aronson

Creator:: Aronson, Rabbi David
Date Created:: 1967-07-19
Description:: Rabbi David Aronson's father was from White Russia, and his mother was from Latvia. Aronson was born in White Russia and came to the United States with his family at age eleven. The family lived on New York's East Side. Aronson went to day school for one year, then high school, college and seminary. He became a rabbi at Beth El Synagogue in Minneapolis in September of 1924. At the time of the interview he was professor of rabbinics in the graduate school of the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The 1924 replacement of crosses by Stars of David on markers along Victory Memorial Drive for Jewish soldiers killed in World War I - family history - Jews living on Minneapolis's North Side - first impressions of Minneapolis - the status of Jews in the community - and Jewish organizations including Beth El, Talmud Torah, and Menorah and Hillel at the University of Minnesota. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: MHS received the interview material in 1972 from Mrs. Nathan Berman of the Minneapolis Federation for Jewish Service.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

25. Interview with Benjamin G. Arriola

Creator:: Arriola, Benjamin G.
Date Created:: 1979-01-13
Description:: Benjamin G. Arriola was born in Manilia in 1931, and grew up in Cebu, in the central Philippines. In 1960 he came to the United States as a student, along with his wife. The couple first stayed with Ben and Belen Andrada, who had encouraged them to immigrate. He became a U.S. citizen in 1970. He is the father of Benjamin S. and Melissa S. Arriola. At the time of the interview he worked in insurance.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

26. Interview with Benjamin S. and Melissa S. Arriola

Creator:: Arriola, Melissa S.
Date Created:: 1979-01-13
Description:: Benjamin S. Arriola was born in Minneapolis on February 26, 1961, and his sister, Melissa S., was born on July 20, 1963, in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Their parents arrived in Minnesota from the Philippines one and a half years before Benjamin was born. They have both attended public schools in Richfield, and Benjamin, a high school senior, plans to study engineering at the University of Minnesota. Unlike their first cousins who live a block from the Arriola home (see interviews of Marietta and Cristeta Andrada, also in this oral history project), the Arriola children have not been active participants in Filipino cultural activities, but instead have focused on social activities with school friends. Nevertheless, the four children, whose mothers are sisters, have always spent a great deal of time in each other's homes, and the Filipino cultural tradition of their immigrant parents has been an important influence in their lives. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Benjamin and Melissa discuss the ways in which they are more adapted to American ways than their parents and also the influence of Filipino values on their early development. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: This very short interview is interesting mainly for the children's statements near the end, in which they describe the importance of their parents' cultural background in their own development, despite conscious efforts to be American. Part of the tape is marred by poor audio quality, but all of the interview is understandable.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

27. Interview with Anita Astran

Creator:: Astran, Anita
Date Created:: 2010-09-06
Description:: Anita Astran was born in Bluffton, Ohio. She attended one year at a community and technical college. She married Rudy Astran and together raised two children. Astran worked as a scholarship advisor providing financial assistance to prospective students. She supports community organizations such as the YMCA, Centro Culture, Migrant Legal Services, and Migrant Health. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - education - her son's direction and career choices - her daughter's personality and interests - Christian influences - differences between Crystal City and Moorhead ethnically - using Facebook for a Crystal City social network - keeping in touch with family - discrimination and racism - relationships with neighbors - Moorhead community becoming more understanding of different cultures - Latino community - community organizations - deciding on living in Minnesota vs. North Dakota - and immigration.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

28. Interview with Esther M. Avaloz

Creator:: Avaloz, Esther M.
Date Created:: 1975-07-28
Description:: Esther Avaloz was born February 21, 1911, in Topeka, Kansas. She worked in the fields from the age of eleven and attended school for one year. She lived in Colorado and California and came to Minnesota in 1935, where she met and married Gabriel Avaloz. She has five children. Subjects discussed include: Family history, her own and her husband's - St. Paul's Mexican-American community when she arrived - holidays celebrated by Mexican Americans - weddings and baptisms - and advice to younger generations. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

29. Interview with Moses Barron

Creator:: Barron, Moses
Date Created:: 1970-01-01
Description:: Moses Barron was born in Russia in 1883, son of a Hebrew scholar. He came to the United States in 1888 and lived on a farm in Stevens County. Barron attended elementary school in Fargo, North Dakota, and in 1911 he graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School. He served in France in World War I, married in 1919 and has four children. Barron taught and practiced medicine in Minneapolis until 1964, when he moved to Los Angeles. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Childhood, including his father's immigration and peddling of tinware from New York to Minneapolis, and finally farming in Stevens County - hard life on the farm - education at the University of Minnesota - teaching and practicing medicine, including work on pancreas secretions and on pathology - visitors to his home in Minneapolis, including doctors and Jewish scholars - Jewish literary and cultural organizations - an editorial in the Minneapolis Star - and his move to Los Angeles and his life in that area. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Barron speaks very slowly. It is more a narrative than an oral history interview. MHS received the interview material in 1972 from Mrs. Nathan Berman of the Minneapolis Federation for Jewish Service.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

30. Interview with Adelbert Batica

Creator:: Batica, Adelbert
Date Created:: 2011-01-26
Description:: Adelbert Batica was born in Manila, Philippines. He was imprisoned by Ferdinand Marcos for his opposition to martial law in the Philippines. After being released Batica and his wife left the Philippines for the U.S. He lives in Minnesota with his family working for the Department of Transportation and acting as a leader in the Filipino community. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - childhood - poverty in the Philippines - college - martial law under Ferdinand Marcos - being a political prisoner - marriage - immigrating - traveling to Peru - the Filipino-American community - People Power Revolution - politics - personal heroes - activism.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

31. Interview with Mary Kim Bilek

Creator:: Bilek, Mary Kim
Date Created:: 1979-03-02
Description:: Mary Kim Bilek was born June 13, 1938, in Seoul, Korea. Her mother was a teacher, and her father worked for a newspaper. During the Korean War (1950-1953) the family had to leave Seoul and with tens of thousands of other Korean civilians fled to the island of Cheju, a small island off the southern tip of Korea. During the years they were refugees on Cheju, Mary's mother and grandmother both died. In 1954 the family returned to Seoul, and at age fifteen Mary attended school regularly for the first time. Although her education had been disrupted, her two older brothers had also fallen behind, and all three children graduated from high school in the same year. As the only girl, Mary assumed she would not be sent to college and decided to try to go the United States to continue her education. Before the Korean War she had corresponded with a pen pal in North Carolina with the help of an American missionary in Korea. After the war she wrote to the pen pal again, and the American's family was able to arrange a scholarship for her at a small liberal arts college in North Carolina. She graduated with a major in physics and then entered the University of Minnesota for graduate study in mathematics. She completed her graduate work in 1963 and married a college friend, Larry Bilek, a Minnesotan, the same year. She worked as supervisor of statistics for medical services at the University of Minnesota Medical School until her first child was born in 1968. She then became part-time senior research analyst for the Minnesota Department of Health and was also employed in research in the medical school's department of neurology until her second child was born. In 1975 she was employed by the university's College of Liberal Arts as head of data services, and since then has become the college's budget and planning officer. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Mary Bilek discusses her family background in Korea - experiences during the Korean War - her first impressions of the United States - college life - concern for her children growing up in an affluent society - marriage to an American - and differences in childrearing practices in Korean and American cultures. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Mary Bilek represents Koreans who have become well-acculturated to American society, and is apparently equally comfortable with Americans and Koreans. Nevertheless she is committed to teaching her children certain Korean values that she considers important.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

32. Interview with Paul C. Borge

Creator:: Borge, Paul C.
Date Created:: 1978-10-27
Description:: Paul Borge was born in 1904 in Narvacan, a town in Northern Luzon, Philippines. His father was a farmer who earned just enough from fishing and raising rice, corn, and vegetables to support a family of eight. Two of Borge's cousins were studying for the Methodist ministry at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and for several years Borge pleaded with his father to let him go to the United States, too. The Borge family was devoutly Methodist, and finally his father agreed to let him go to the United States on the condition that he also study for the ministry. Borge's father sold a cow, a horse, and a piece of land to pay for the trip. Borge arrived in Seattle in 1926 and first worked at several jobs on the West Coast, including farm work with other Filipinos, and labor on the tracks for the Northern Pacific Railroad. In the spring of 1928 he arrived in Minneapolis on a railroad pass. He chose Minneapolis because his cousins had moved there, and because he hoped to enroll at the Northwestern Bible College to fulfill his promise to his father to study for the ministry. As the Depression deepened after his arrival, however, it became evident that he could never earn enough money to make the study possible, and he eventually abandoned the idea. In 1934 he married a Scandinavian American and became a permanent resident of Minnesota. During the 1930s Borge served as a butler in the home of Charles B. Sweatt, an executive of the Minneapolis Honeywell Company, and also in the home of Minneapolis businessman Cavour S. Langdon. In 1942 he got a job as a personal attendant in a railway car reserved for the president of the Great Northern Railroad, and he moved his family to northeast Minneapolis, where many Filipinos were moving in the early 1940s. After World War II the family moved to Columbia Heights, again consistent with a general trend among the Filipinos, many of whom were moving to the northern suburbs. Borge worked for the Great Northern until he retired in 1969. Throughout his many years in Minneapolis and the northern suburbs he had been active in Filipino community organizations, and since his retirement he has also been active in a number of church and civic groups, including the Community Methodist Church and the Kiwanis Club in Columbia Heights. In 1980 he was elected to the National Commission on Race and Religion of the United Methodist Church. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Paul Borge discusses his family background in the Philippines, the family's conversion to Protestantism, and the many stories he heard in childhood about the cruelty of Spanish rule in the Philippines. He also describes incidents of discrimination he experienced on the West Coast of the United States, the difficult economic struggle for young Filipinos in Minneapolis, and his work as butler in the Twin Cities homes of wealthy businessmen Charles B. Sweatt and Cavour S. Langdon. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Borge's experiences are typical of many young Filipinos seeking education in the Twin Cities in the late 1920s who had to take jobs as butlers in the homes of wealthy Minneapolis businessmen. His employment by the Great Northern Railroad in 1942 reflects a decision by the company to replace Japanese with Filipinos in service jobs on the trains because of anti-Japanese sentiment during World War II.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

33. Interview with Maria J. Bosquez

Creator:: Bosquez,Maria J.
Date Created:: 1975-07-08
Description:: Maria J. Bosquez was born Maria de Jesus Gutierrez in Saqualco de Torres, Jalisco, Mexico, on May 30, 1906. She remembers the Mexican Revolution's effects on her home town. She took training and became a teacher. At age 21 she married Concepcion Bosquez of Villita de Encarnacion, San Juan de Los Lagos, Mexico. On Feb. 5, 1928, they entered the United States at Laredo, Texas. They arrived in Minneapolis on Feb. 11 or Feb. 12. Mr. Bosquez had been employed by the Milwaukee Railroad. Both she and her husband immediately became involved in the activities of the Mexican-American community in St. Paul, although they lived in Minneapolis. Her family of eight was born and raised in Minneapolis. She was employed by Woolworth's for 15 years. She retired in 1968. Subjects discussed include: Early life in Mexico - the St. Paul Mexican-American community, including its families, activities, leaders and organizations - problems of adjusting to life in the United States - her husband's activities at work and in the Mexican-American community - her family in Minneapolis and Mexico - the Mexican Revolution - the Christeros War in Mexico - her philosophy for living. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The interview is in Spanish, transcribed into English. Bosquez was very involved in Mexican Independence Day programs and remembers many names.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

34. Interview with Ben Brochin

Creator:: Brochin, Ben
Date Created:: 1979-07-01
Description:: Ben Brochin was born in Minneapolis on Sept. 2, 1909, to Solomon Brochin (1878-1958) and Anna Levinson Brochin (1883-1947), who came to Minneapolis from Lithuania in 1906. Solomon Brochin ran a grocery store (later a delicatessen) in North Minneapolis. Ben Brochin began work in his father's store as a child and later took over the business. Brochin's Delicatessen had four locations and finally closed in 1967. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The North Minneapolis Jewish neighborhood - Brochin's store, with a vivid description of its contents - his father, an ardent Zionist, grocer, and agent for a steamship company that brought immigrants to the United States - boyhood work in the store, including selling newspapers - amateur boxing as a source of income for young men - celebrating the end of World War I at the Glass Block in Minneapolis - his father's practice of staking new immigrants to food on credit at his store - the Talmud Torah picnic at Longfellow Gardens and Zoo - and the Emanuel Cohen Center. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The MHS photo collection includes a photo of Solomon Brochin in his store.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

35. Interview with Loeung Bun

Creator:: Bun, Loeung
Date Created:: 1992-08-11
Description:: Loeung Bun grew up in Mongkol Borei and Battambang in Cambodia. Orphaned at 16, he taught himself to be a musician. He plays a number of Cambodian stringed instruments. He traveled with a band and was living in Sisophon with his family when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. The family was separated and Loeung Bun's life was spared so he could play music in performances by the Khmer Rouge. Cambodians in the audience were often killed as part of the performances. From 1979 to December 1981, he lived in a number of Thai refugee camps, then he came to Minnesota. He describes being taken advantage of by sponsor and a landlord. His wife and two daughters currently live in the United States. His son still lives in Cambodia.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: Oral histories

36. Interview with Luz and Virginia Campa

Creator:: Campa, Luz; Campa, Virginia
Date Created:: 1976-07-02
Description:: Luz Campa was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 1909. He came to Bridgeport, Texas, in 1914 and to Minnesota in 1929. In 1967 he opened a restaurant. Subjects discussed include: Life in Mexico, Bridgeport and Brownton - and how he got started in Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

37. Interview with Joe Campos

Creator:: Campos, Joe; United States
Date Created:: 2013-03-23
Description:: Joe Campos was born in 1963 in Amherst, Texas. After graduating from Area Vocational Technical Institute, Campos worked for the credit union before returning to Northland Community College. At the time of the interview Campos resided in East Grand Forks, North Dakota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - work - education - Latino community and identity - language - Latino traditions, celebrations, and holidays.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

38. Interview with Henry Capiz

Creator:: Capiz, Henry T
Date Created:: 1975-06-25
Description:: Henry Capiz was born in St. Paul on Feb. 18, 1926. He was drafted into the Army in 1944, graduated from college in 1957 with a degree in pharmacy and became chief pharmacist at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Paul in 1960. He was president of a parent-teacher association, commander of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post and a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve. Subjects discussed include: Educational experiences - background of his parents and family - military service - and civic and social organizations.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

39. Interview with Matthew Casillas

Creator:: Casillas, Matthew
Date Created:: 1975-06-23
Description:: Matthew Casillas was born Aug. 24, 1931, the fourth of ten children. He was educated locally and entered the armed services. For ten years he lived and worked in California, where he went to college and earned a degree. He returned to St. Paul and went into business for himself in 1965. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: St. Paul's West Side community - Our Lady of Guadalupe Church - the Neighborhood House - new programs by and for Mexican Americans in the local community - family history - family ties - and community cohesiveness. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Much traffic noise from Concord Street. Three or four interruptions from customers entering to do business required recesses from the interview.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

40. Interview with Martha Castanon

Creator:: Castanon, Martha
Date Created:: 2010-02-15
Description:: Martha Castanon was born in Moorhead, Minnesota. Castanon traveled between Texas and Minnesota in her youth, but chose Minnesota for better opportunities. She graduated from Moorhead High School and completed two years of vocational technical school as an accounting clerk. She later served as an election judge pushing the importance of voting. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - education differences from Texas and Minnesota - childhood - being bilingual in Spanish and English - struggles fitting into predominantly White schools - technology such as Facebook for communication - Latino culture in food, Tejano music - racism and stereotypes in Moorhead - being multicultural - quincea
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

41. Interview with Leo Castillo

Creator:: Castillo, Leo
Date Created:: 1976-07-02
Description:: Leo Castillo was born in Venadito, Texas, on Aug. 19, 1945. He left Texas in May of 1964 to work in Nebraska and Minnesota. He worked in Minnesota and returned to Texas annually until 1968, and in 1969 he became a welder and lived in Litchfield to the time of the interview. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Work experience, including field work, self-employment as a trucker, and welding - social gatherings - and plans for the future. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

42. Interview with Amy Cerna

Creator:: Cerna, Amy; United States
Date Created:: 2/25/2013
Description:: Amy Cerna was born in 1983 in Big Wells, Texas. At the time of the interview Cerna was studying business at Minnesota State Community and Technical College. She was married with three children and was a volunteer at Mujeres Unidas [Women United]. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - marriage - moving within the United States - education - Latino identity and community - Community services - working at MET, Inc.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

43. Interview with Emiliano Chagil

Creator:: Chagil, Emiliano; United States
Date Created:: 4/7/2010
Description:: Emiliano Chagil was born in Guatemala in the city of San Lucas Tolimn. Chagil went to college in the city of Solol where he completed his bachelor's degree and later received his engineering degree at the University of San Carlos. He moved to Minnesota in 1980 because of the civil war in Guatemala. He later proved to be an influential leader for Latin communities in Minnesota and Guatemala. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - Guatemalan community and culture - financial struggles - Mayan and Christian religions - civil unrest - identity - landscape differences of Minnesota and Guatemala - Latino community in Minnesota - immigration - education - and refugees.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

44. Interview with Huai-Chang Chiang

Creator:: Chaing, Huai-Chang
Date Created:: 1981-10-08
Description:: Chiang was born February 15, 1915, in the city of Sunjiang, which was later incorporated into the municipality of Shanghai, China. His father was a technician employed by the Chinese Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Chiang arrived in Minnesota January 9, 1945, to enroll as a graduate student in entomology at the University of Minnesota's College of Agriculture in St. Paul. He received a master of arts degree in 1946 and a doctorate in 1948. From 1948 until 1953 he served as a research fellow in a project on biological control of the European corn borer, which entered Minnesota in 1943 and had become a troublesome pest by 1947. In 1953 Chiang left the project to become an assistant professor of biology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. From 1956 to 1958 he studied as a Guggenheim Fellow at Cambridge University in England. In 1957 he became an associate professor in Duluth, and in 1960 a full professor. In 1961 he returned to the university's St. Paul campus to teach ecology in the entomology department and to head continuing on the corn borer. In 1968 Chiang initiated international cooperative research on the corn borer at the International Entomological Congress in Moscow by bringing together entomologists from ten countries and designing field tests to be carried out in their own countries and reported annually at fall workshops. The group met in Minnesota in 1974. Since 1975 Chiang has played an important role in initiating scientific exchanges between the United States and the People's Republic of China. In 1975 he was a member of a delegation organized by the Committee for Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China, jointly sponsored by the National Academy of Science, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Social Science Research Council. This early delegation presented lectures and visited Chinese academic institutions. In 1978 Chiang took his family to China and lectured in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. In 1979 he was delegation leader for a group from the United States Department of Agriculture that concluded an international agreement with the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. Also in 1979 Chiang coordinated a visit to Minnesota by Chinese entomologists and plant pathologists who attended the International Congress of Plant Protection in Washington, D.C. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Student life in China during the Japanese occupation, 1937-1945 - arrival of Chinese students at the University of Minnesota during and after World War II, and their relatively large number in the entomology and plant pathology departments at the College of Agriculture - research on biological control of insect pests both at the University of Minnesota and various universities in China - international exchange of scientific research through visits of Chinese scholars to the University of Minnesota and reciprocal visits of University faculty to Chinese universities. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Chiang is an important source of information on the intellectuals in Minnesota's Chinese community, particularly those who studied at the University of Minnesota during the post-World War II period. He also provides material on the many scholarly exchanges between University faculty and Chinese scholars that began in the late 1970s.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

45. Interview with Satveer Chaudhary

Creator:: Chaudhary, Satveer
Date Created:: 1997-03-27
Description:: Satveer Chaudhary was born in Minnesota. He attended high school, college, and law school in Minnesota. Presently he is serving in the Minnesota legislature. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, familiarity with parents' language, schooling, extracurricular activities, travel in England, India, and South Africa, political work and law school, running for state office. Importance of education, loyalty to family, friends, hospitality, and Indian-American identity.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

46. Interview with Frank Chavez

Creator:: Chavez, Frank
Date Created:: 1975-07-07
Description:: Frank Chavez was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1928. He moved to Minnesota in 1934 and worked in the beet fields with his parents. After high school he joined the Navy, and in 1960 he went into the printing business in St. Paul. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: His family - business - and the Navy.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

47. Interview with Cheng-Khee Chee and Sing-Bee Ong

Creator:: Chee, Cheng-Khee
Date Created:: 1979-12-07
Description:: Cheng-khee Chee was born in 1934 in a rural village near the city of Xiamen (Amoy), in the Xiangyu District of Fujian Province, China. He attended the village school for four and a half years before his family immigrated to Malaysia in 1948. Chee completed elementary and high school in Penang, Malaysia, and graduated from Nanyang University in Singapore. He arrived at the University of Minnesota in 1962 as a graduate student in library science. He completed a master of arts degree in 1964, and in 1965 he took a position as librarian at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Chee is an active member of the American Watercolor and Midwest Watercolor Societies. He paints in watercolors in both Asian and Western styles, has exhibited in both national and state exhibitions and won numerous awards, including the Gold Medal of Honor from the Allied Artists of American, 1980, and the Colorado Centennial Award from the Rocky Mountain National, 1976. Sing-bee Ong was born in Penang in 1934 of a Chinese family. She and Chee were classmates at Nanyang University. Ong arrived at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, for graduate study in education in 1965. Chee and Ong were married in August of 1965, and all their four children were born in Duluth. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background in China and Malaysia - Chee's decision to seek professional training in the United States - the later decision of Ong and Chee to remain in the United States and to raise their family in Duluth - their feeling of acceptance by the University community and townspeople - concerns on bringing up children in an area where few other Chinese live - Chee's work and recognition in the field of watercolor painting in addition to his work as librarian. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: The family background of both Chee and Ong illustrates the traditional pattern of emigration from Fujian Province in China to Malaysia. Their later experience also exemplifies the secondary migration from Malaysia to the United States that has occurred among overseas Chinese since the 1950s. Their interview provides material on the experience of Chinese in Minnesota who live outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

48. Interview with Dr. Bingkun K. Chen

Creator:: Chen, Dr. Bingkun K.
Date Created:: 2012-02-03
Description:: Bingkun Chen was born December 4, 1961 in Hegang in Heilongjiang province China. He earned a PhD in pathology from Kochi University in Japan and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. At the time of the interview he was working at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Subjects discussed include: Early life in China - religion - early education and medical school in China and then Germany and Japan - coming to the Minnesota to work for the Mayo Clinic - working for the Mayo Clinic - family in Minnesota - going back to China - living in Rochester, Minnesota - the Chinese community in Rochester - being grateful - diversity.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

49. Interview with Pennamma Cherucheril

Creator:: Cherucheril, Pennamma
Date Created:: 1993-07-22
Description:: Pennamma Cherucheril was born in India. As a teenager, she and a sister traveled to Wisconsin to join a relative and to study nursing. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Background, arriving and adjusting to the United States, education, visiting India, marriage, family values, religion, mixing Western and religious customs, India Club, Malayalee group, North American Knanaya Catholic group, experiences attending Indian cultural events, future plans and aspirations.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

50. Interview with Thaly Chhour, part 2 of 2

Creator:: Chhour, Thaly
Date Created:: 1992-08-14
Description:: Thaly Chhour was displaced from her home village during the fighting that preceded the Khmer Rouge regime. She moved with her family to Phnom Penh City where they lived until 1975. She was 14 when the Khmer Rouge came to power. Her father and brothers died in 1976. Her sisters and mother survived, despite starvation and repeated illnesses, but were not better off in the refugee camps near the Thai-Cambodian border. After they arrived at Khao I Dang refugee camp, they were sponsored to come to the United States. Chhour describes her experience adapting to life in Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

51. Interview with Thaly Chhour, part 1 of 2

Creator:: Chhour, Thaly
Date Created:: 1992-08-14
Description:: Thaly Chhour was displaced from her home village during the fighting that preceded the Khmer Rouge regime. She moved with her family to Phnom Penh City where they lived until 1975. She was 14 when the Khmer Rouge came to power. Her father and brothers died in 1976. Her sisters and mother survived, despite starvation and repeated illnesses, but were not better off in the refugee camps near the Thai-Cambodian border. After they arrived at Khao I Dang refugee camp, they were sponsored to come to the United States. Chhour describes her experience adapting to life in Minnesota.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: Oral histories

52. Interview with Margaret Woo Chinn

Creator:: Chinn, Margaret Woo
Date Created:: 1982-05-27
Description:: Margaret Woo Chinn's father and some of his brothers (including Woo Yee Sing, whose son Howard Woo was also interviewed for this oral history project) came to the United States in the late 1870s and 1880s and worked in laundries and on railroads. Chinn was born in China in 1912, and in 1914 her father brought the family to the United States. They settled in Minneapolis and were involved in running a gift shop and a family restaurant, the long-popular John's Place that closed in 1967. Subjects discussed include: Family history and the early Chinese community in Minneapolis.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

53. Interview with Tenzin Chodon

Creator:: Chodon, Tenzin
Date Created:: 2005-09-05
Description:: Tenzin Chodon was born in Nyigo, Tibet. She moved with her parents to India in 1959. Chodon was a teacher in India until moving to the United States as part of the U.S. Tibetan Resettlement Project. She is one of the principal founders of the Tibetan Women's Association (TWA) in Minnesota. Subjects discussed include: Parents, family, traveling from Tibet, Tibetan Institute for Performing Arts (TIPA), Tibetan Children's Village (TCV), school in India, teaching in India, death of husband, separation of family, deciding to come to the United States, first jobs in the U.S., transportation, translating, community, immigration clinic, Tibetan Woman's Association (TWA), Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), preserving culture, community, challenges, children, adjusting to the U.S., food, Buddhism, activism, differences and similarities between India and the U.S.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

54. Interview with John Choi

Creator:: Choi, John
Date Created:: 2011-01-17
Description:: John Choi was born in Seoul, South Korea but immigrated to St. Paul, Minnesota with his parents at the age of 3. He received his bachelor's degree from Marquette University and his law degree from Hamline University. John was the Saint Paul City Attorney from 2006-2010, and is currently the Ramsey County Attorney. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Early life - family - the importance of education to Korean immigrant families - embracing American culture as a child - college - practicing law - becoming socially and politically active - becoming St. Paul Attorney and his achievements at the job - getting more Koreans active in society and politics - campaign for Ramsey County Attorney - similarities between all immigrants to the United States.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

55. Interview with Marvel H. Chong

Creator:: Chong, Marvel Hum
Date Created:: 1979-06-08
Description:: Marvel Hum Chong was born in Minneapolis in 1910. She is the youngest daughter of Bing Hum, an immigrant from China who arrived in Minneapolis before the turn of the century. He was a native of the Taishan District of Guangdong Province in South China, and before he came to Minnesota he worked on a railroad in Montana. He married an Irish Canadian, Sarah Cassidy, and they settled in Willmar, Minnesota, a railroad transfer center west of Minneapolis. Hum opened a laundry in Willmar and later purchased the Glarum Hotel, which he operated for many years before moving his family to Minneapolis in 1908. In Minneapolis Hum opened another laundry and three different restaurants in succession. Marvel Hum Chong attended Marcy and Wittier schools in Minneapolis during her elementary years and West High School in her first year of high school. She then moved to Hibbing, Minnesota, to live with her older sister and brother-in-law and graduated from Hibbing High School in 1927. She attended the University of Minnesota from 1927 to 1931, and following graduation she worked as a hostess at John's Place Uptown and the Chinese Gift Shop, both Chinese-owned businesses in Minneapolis. In 1941 she married the owner of the Gift Shop, Stanley Chong, a Chinese immigrant's son from the West Coast. The shop was sold when Chong was drafted into the army for a brief period during World War II, and after his discharge the couple lived on the West Coast for a few years. In 1944 they moved back to Minneapolis and established the International House of Foods, a highly successful wholesale and retail business in Asian foods. Their daughter, Siu-linn, was born in 1946. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Marvel Hum Chong discusses her father's background in China and the United States - his varied interests in such fields as Christianity, Western law, and languages - his role as interpreter for Chinese in court in the Twin Cities - his part in the organizing of the Chinese Students Club, which included students from China at the University of Minnesota and the children of Chinese immigrants of high school and college age. She also discusses Chinese activities in the 1970 Aquatennial in Minneapolis - Chinese community organizations - and discrimination in housing for Chinese immigrants. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: This interview is particularly interesting because Marvel Hum Chong grew up in one of a half dozen intermarried families in the Chinese community in the Twin Cities during the pre-World War II days. She provides considerable insight into their experience as an interracial family.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

56. Interview with Stanley V. Chong

Creator:: Chong, Stanley V.
Date Created:: 1979-06-28
Description:: Stanley Chong was born in 1912 in Yakima, Washington. His father, Sam Chong, had immigrated to the United States from a rural village in the Taishan District of Guangdong Province in South China. His mother, Yut-tai Lee, was an American-born daughter of a Chinese pioneer immigrant to Portland, Oregon. Stanley lived on his parents' ranch in the Yakima Valley until the age of about seven, when he was sent to live with his maternal grandparents and a widowed aunt in Portland. He attended Shattuck Elementary School and Lincoln High School in Portland and graduated from the University of Oregon in 1933. In 1934 Chong moved to Minneapolis, where his aunt operated a small enterprise known as the Chinese Gift Shop. Later he managed the shop with the help of Marvel Hum, whom he married in 1941. (See interview of Marvel Hum Chong, also in this oral history project.) During World War II the shop was closed when Chong was drafted into the army and the couple moved to the West Coast. In 1944 they returned to Minneapolis and opened the International House of Foods, a successful wholesale and retail business in Asian and Middle Eastern foods that they operated until 1981, when it was destroyed by fire. Chong was one of the organizers of the Chinese American Club in the Twin Cities in the post-World War II years and became the first president of the Chinese American Association in Minnesota (CAAM), organized in the 1960s. He was also active in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, organized in the early 1970s. The Chongs have one daughter, Sui-linn, born in 1946. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Chong compares the differences in childrearing methods of early immigrants such as his parents and maternal grandparents, and those used by himself and his wife in rearing their own daughter - he also describes the Chinese community in Minnesota from the 1930s to the 1970s, including community organizations of the post-World War II years. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Stanley Chong is one of many Chinese from the West Coast who have settled in Minnesota. He makes several observations about the differences between the West Coast and the Midwest in terms of discrimination and business opportunities for Chinese during the pre-World War II years.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

57. Interview with Benita Clark

Creator:: Clark, Benita
Date Created:: 2011-11-02
Description:: Benita Clark was born in 1967 in Bohol in the Philippines. Subjects discussed include: Early life in the Philippines - parents and grandparents occupations, and her perceived lack of being impoverished - language, religion, and her responsibilities as a child - education, moving to Manila - having a long distance relationship with her husband before she even met him - coming to the United States to meet her husband for the first time - fitting into the community and raising her daughter - going back to the Philippines to visit her family - things she is grateful for.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

58. Interview with Dionisa "Nicha" C. Coates

Creator:: Coates, Dionisa Cardenas
Date Created:: 1975-07-10
Description:: Dionisa "Nicha" Coates was born in Cambria, Minn., on Oct. 9, 1928. She attended kindergarten in Chaska, Minn., and finished schooling in St. Paul. She worked for the government in Washington, D.C., for three and a half years, then returned to St. Paul. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Experiences of her youth - personal history - the Spanish Speaking Cultural Club - the bilingual/bicultural program in the St. Paul public schools - educational opportunities for young people - organizations she is a
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

59. Interview with Angelo Cohn

Creator:: Cohn, Angelo
Date Created:: 1976-05-05
Description:: Angelo Cohn was born in Bucharest, Romania, in 1914, and in 1920 he immigrated with his parents and two brothers to the United States, where they joined an extended family of cousins in Minneapolis. Both his parents were professionally trained, his mother as a language teacher and his father as a lawyer. Angelo Cohn graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1936 with a degree in journalism and worked as a reporter on the Minneapolis Star. He married in 1948 and has three children. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Immigration of his extended family - early life in the Minneapolis immigrant community, including geographical locations of community institutions and synagogues - education and recreation - the Depression - religious institutions - bootlegging - anti-Semitism - and the Teamsters strike in 1934.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

60. Interview with Lillian Besler Cohn

Creator:: Cohn, Lillian Bessler
Date Created:: 1976-02-25
Description:: Lillian Besler Cohn was born in Minneapolis in 1895 of immigrant parents (from Niomsk, Romania). Her father had been a miller. In this country he worked on a farm in New York and at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. In Minneapolis he worked as a miller with Pillsbury Mills but became ill. After recovering he was self-employed with various occupations, including making and selling grits, running a secondhand-tool store, locksmithing and making and selling umbrellas. Lillian Besler married Louis Cohn in 1917 and has one son, Victor. She has been active in study groups, Democratic Farmer Labor Party politics and the Soviet Jewry Action Committee. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Charitable organizations in the early Jewish community - her father's hard work and hard times - her lack of education (she quit school so that her brothers could be educated) - social life in the Jewish community - anti-Semitism - and prominent citizens in the Jewish community.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

61. Interview with Manuel Contreras

Creator:: Contreras, Manuel
Date Created:: 1975-07-16
Description:: Manuel Contreras was born in Durango, Mexico, in 1904. He was raised by his sisters because his father was shot in a fight and his mother died at childbirth. He and his sisters had ranches that were taken away from them during the Mexican Revolution, in which Contreras fought at the age of ten. Fearing for his life, he escaped from the country in 1924. In that year he and a sister traveled from Texas to Minnesota. Later he worked in the fields in Lake Lillian and Chaska, and in 1933 he came to St. Paul. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The Mexican Revolution, including its leaders and its effect on Contreras's family - life in St. Paul in the 1930s - work in sugar beet fields in rural Minnesota and in meat packing plants in South St. Paul - work in a munitions plant in New Brighton - family life and history - and the people and customs of St. Paul's Mexican-American community. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

62. Interview with Arturo and Elvira Coronado

Creator:: Coronado, Arturo
Date Created:: 1975-08-18
Description:: Arturo Coronado was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. His father was a successful railroad conductor in Mexico, but in 1915, when Arturo was ten years old, the family left the country because his father didn't want to be involved in the Revolution. They returned to Mexico later, only to go back to the United States again. He arrived in Minnesota in 1923 and held a variety of jobs, primarily tailoring and dry cleaning. Elvira Coronado was born in 1908, also in San Luis Potosi. Her father had an accident while in the United States seeking his sister, and the family came to join him in Houston, Texas. She came to Minnesota with her husband. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Immediate family, including names, birth dates and occupations - personal life history - the community in St. Paul - Arturo Coronado's dry cleaning business, and his work in organizing a labor union for that trade (1930-1946) - their first restaurant in St. Paul, La Casa Coronado, and their later restaurant in Minneapolis - Guadalupe Church - and advice for future generations.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

63. Interview with Guadalupe Cruz

Creator:: Cruz, Guadalupe
Date Created:: 1975-07-07
Description:: Guadalupe Cruz was born in 1894 in Tepatlitan, Jalisco, Mexico. Her parents were Braulio Jimenez and Silvina Gutierrez. She was married in 1914 and entered the United States at El Paso, Texas, in 1921. Cruz lived and worked in California, Arizona and Colorado. Upon the death of her mother, she returned to Mexico for eight months. In April of 1929 she arrived in Minnesota with her husband and immediately became involved with activities in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church and in other activities of the Mexican-American community in St. Paul. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family and life in Mexico - the Mexican Revolution - travel and lice infestation on trains going to the border at Juarez, Mexico - life in the beet fields - life, activities and festivals for the early Mexican-American community in St. Paul - beginnings of activities of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church - leaders of the West Side community - songs sung for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 - and family history and family problems. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English. Cruz is one of the oldest members of St. Paul's Mexican-American community. She knew many of the first leaders and was involved with many of the first activities of the church and community.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

64. Interview with Jose Cung

Creator:: Cung, Jose
Date Created:: 1980-11-14 - 1981-02-13
Description:: Jose Cung was born August 24, 1940, in Saigon, South Vietnam. Her father was a businessman from North Vietnam. She grew up in Saigon and in 1958 enrolled at the University of Saigon. After one year she transferred to the University of Sydney in Australia, where she received a bachelor's degree in political science in 1963. In 1964 she married Tien Cung, a popular singer and composer as well as an agricultural economist trained in England. Their son Raphael was born in 1967. Before the fall of the South Vietnamese government, JosTe Cung was employed first by the Ministry of Social Affairs and later the Commission for Tourism. She also served as local coordinator for a research project of the Rand Corporation under contract by the United States Department of Defense. With the collapse of the government in April of 1975, the family fled Saigon on one of many barges used to take evacuees out to sea. The family was picked up by ships of the United States Seventh Fleet and taken to Subic Bay in the Philippines, and later to Guam. They spent about four weeks in a refugee camp at Fort Chafee, Arkansas, before they were released to a sponsor in Washington, D.C. Shortly after that, Tien Cung was offered employment by a foreign aid agency of the U.S. Department of State, and the family spent a year in Canberra, Australia. When the job was finished, the Cungs returned to the United States and settled temporarily in Dallas, Texas, where Tien's parents and sister, also refugees from Vietnam, had relocated. In 1977 the family moved to Minnesota, where Tien was offered a job with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. After arrival JosTe obtained employment in the city of St. Paul's Division of Manpower Services from 1977 to 1978 and again from 1980 to 1981. From 1978 to 1980 she also worked for the United Way. Cung was an early organizer and officer of the Vietnamese Cultural Association of Minnesota, which as early as 1977 sponsored a week-long conference, To Save and Maintain Our Culture
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

65. Interview with Thupten Dadak

Creator:: Dadak, Thupten
Date Created:: 2005-07-26
Description:: Thupten Dadak was born in Dingri, Tibet. He moved to India with his family when he was young. Dadak is a former Gyuto monk. He moved to Minnesota in 1986. Dadak was an instrumental figure in assisting Tibetans moving to Minnesota as part of the United States Tibetan Resettlement Project. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, family, life as a monk, having an American wife, deciding to come to Minnesota, Tibet, politics, Buddhism, U.S. Tibet Committee (USTC), deciding to leave monastic life, United States Tibetan Resettlement Project, Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota (TAFM), His Holiness the Dalai Lama, leading Tibetan community in Minnesota, community, educating Westerners about Tibet, Tibetan traditions, preserving Tibetan culture, differences and similarities between Tibetan and American values, aiding Tibetans in Tibet, finding work in Minnesota, starting business, non-violence, China, Tibetan Education Action, learning from Americans, starting monastery in Minnesota, holy sites, retiring.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

66. Interview with JinHee Darmer

Creator:: Darmer, JinHee
Date Created:: 2011-01-10
Description:: JinHee Darmer was born in Pusan, South Korea. She immigrated first to Iowa then moved to Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Coming to the United States - marrying an American - being a single mom - working multiple jobs - her family - college - discrimination in the workplace - her son growing up and his difficulties being half American half Korean - Korean adoptees finding their birth parents - Korean American Women's Association.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

67. Interview with Amos Deinard

Creator:: Deinard, Amos; United States
Date Created:: 1978-12-10
Description:: Amos Deinard was raised near Lake Minnetonka and later resided in Minneapolis. He was a prominent Jewish figure in Minnesota. In 1933 he married his sister's close friend. Together they raised their son and daughter. Among the many positions he served he continued to improve the community by serving as member and chairman on the Fair Employment Practices Commission from 1947 to 1964. He considered himself a liberal in ""the true sense of the word."" SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Temple of Isr
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

68. Interview with Gilbert de la O

Creator:: de la O, Gilbert; United States
Date Created:: 2010-03-39
Description:: Gilbert de la O was born in New Ulm, Minnesota. His family moved from Texas to Minnesota in search of work. He started working at the Neighborhood House, a community center, as a teen and continued for over fifty years. De la O is married with two children. He also served as the first Chicano ever on the St. Paul School Board. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background, community involvement - childhood growing up at the Neighborhood House child care center - revolution of 1910 - financial struggles - Our Lady of Guadalupe church - Jewish community - Latino community - lack of diversity - Black Bridge - racism in the classroom - the Chicano Movement with the Brown Berets - Chicano Studies at the University of Minnesota - serving in the Vietnam War - military order in his life - changing views towards being against wars - impact of sports - unemployment - growing diversity in Saint Paul - uniting the Latino community - education - and the West Side Boosters.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

69. Interview with Alfonso de Leon

Creator:: de Leon, Alfonso
Date Created:: 1975-07-08
Description:: Alfonso de Leon was born in Antila de Nopales, Real de Catorce, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 1902. He traveled with a military band during the Mexican Revolution and in 1918 came to the United States, where he worked in a mine in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He got married in 1922 in Bridgeport, Texas, where their first child was born. From 1923 to 1929 he worked in beet fields in Wyoming, Colorado, Iowa and Minnesota. They moved to Minnesota in 1929, and he started working in the Armour Packing House. He became involved in Mexican-American community organizations and activities in St. Paul. He retired from Armour in 1965. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Early life in Mexico - the Mexican Revolution - life in Texas - work in the beet fields - the early Mexican-American community in St. Paul, including its organizations and festivals - his family - and personal views and philosophy of life. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English. This is an extremely valuable interview on the early history of the Mexican-American community on St. Paul's West Side.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

70. Interview with Susana de Leon

Creator:: de Leon, Susana; United States
Date Created:: 2010-04-08
Description:: Susana de Leon was born in northern Mexico, in Zacatecas. De Leon attended normal school for four years for teaching. Afterwards she moved from California to Minnesota. She continued her education at the University of Minnesota and is currently an immigration attorney. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - childhood - education - Latino food and culture - jobs held - financial struggles - bilingual in Spanish and English - friendships - immigration - personal relationships - teaching - Minnesota winter - college recruiting - working with people with disabilities - West Side Latino community in Minnesota - folkloric Mexican dancing - and being proud of her heritage.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

71. Interview with Ralph Delgado

Creator:: Delgado, Ralph
Date Created:: 1976-07-26
Description:: Ralph Delgado, his older brother, Ray, Jr., and his younger brother, Francis, run a 900-acre potato farm, one of the largest in southern Minnesota. They, along with their father, Raymond, Sr., started buying land in 1953 after many years of doing farm work for other farmers. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Management and operation of the farm - hobbies and interests - family - education - discrimination - and advice to future generations.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

72. Interview with Maryan Del

Creator:: Del, Maryan
Date Created:: 2004-06-21
Description:: Maryan Del came to the United States from Somalia in 1992. Del lived in Virginia before moving to Minnesota and currently works for the Confederation for the Somali Community. She is head of the Somali Girls Power program. Subjects discussed include: Growing up in Somalia; first impressions of the United States; expectations when moving to Minnesota; Somali communities in Minnesota; being separated from her family; attending college; exposure to different cultures; adopting part of American culture; important aspects of Somali culture; maintaining Somali/Islamic culture; ways Somalis are losing their culture; opportunities for Somali teens; hardships facing Somali teens; negative aspects of American culture; working with Somali teens.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

73. Interview with De los Reyes Family

Creator:: De Los Reyes, Carl
Date Created:: 1979-03-16
Description:: The De los Reyes children: Carl (born in 1959), Alfredo (1961), Gene (1962), Nelson (1964), Marie-Rose (1965), and John (1969?). All were born in Manila, Philippines, except for John. The family moved to Seattle in 1968 and to Minnesota in 1969. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Fil-Minnesotan meetings and activities - importance of family and respect for parents.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

74. Interview with Maria G. de Palomo

Creator:: de Palomo, Maria Garcia
Date Created:: 1976-08-02
Description:: Maria Palomo was born in March of 1901 in Bustamante, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. She was married in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, and then moved with her husband to Fort Worth, Texas. In 1930 they moved to Fairfax, Minn., and later that year to St. Paul, where they settled. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Maria Palomo narrates her early family life and her brother's involvement in the revolution in Mexico in 1910. In 1930 her family was contracted to work in Fairfax, Minn., and in that same year they moved to St. Paul. Because the employment situation was poor, the family worked during the summer months on the farm and returned to St. Paul with the Salinas and Guzman families in the winter. She describes numerous Mexican foods and dishes, including the preparation of atole de mesquite, mole and queso de panela. She talks about her frequent visits to Mexico and her failure to understand why her American-born children hesitate in trying new foods and dishes while visiting relatives in Mexico. She also describes her husband's job with the railroad, her factory work, and the houses they lived in on St. Paul's West Side. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

75. Interview with Jagadish Desai

Creator:: Desai, Jagadish
Date Created:: 2003-07-15
Description:: Jagadish Desai was born in India and came to the United States in 1959 to study chemical engineering. He came to Minnesota in 1962. He was one of the founders of the India Association of Minnesota [IAM], formerly known as the India Club. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Coming to the United States to study chemical engineering - initial difficulty finding a job - meeting and marrying his wife - moving to Minnesota - first job with Gould-National Batteries - housing and job discrimination - meeting other Indians through the University of Minnesota's Indo-American club - involvement with the International Institute, and subsequently the Festival of Nations - involvement in the foundation of the India Club - process of inviting speakers, musicians, artists, and others from India to speak and give performances in Minnesota - involvement in Bicentennial activities - meeting people of various ethnic backgrounds in Minnesota - becoming a United States citizen and involvement in politics - obtaining his law degree - and retirement.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

76. Interview with Maria Esther Diaz

Creator:: Diaz, Maria Esther
Date Created:: 2010-12-02
Description:: Maria Esther Diaz was born in Cuauchichinola, Mexico. Diaz moved from California to Minnesota seeking better opportunities. She became an entrepreneur with a Mexican food business in Kandiyohi County. She is now an active Latino community organizer addressing issues of immigration, education, and business. Diaz has one daughter and lives in Willmar, Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - education - relationships - childhood - culture shock from California to Minnesota - difficulty communicating in English - Latino community in Minnesota - Latino culture and foods - Minnesota weather - racism - business - dual citizenship - Willmar community - contact with family and friends - bilingual in Spanish and English - holidays - Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement - division between Hispanic groups - unifying Latino community - crime - immigration reform - English Language Learner - Willmar Area Multicultural Market - and politics.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

77. Interview with Miguel Diaz

Creator:: Diaz, Miguel; United States
Date Created:: 2/23/2013
Description:: Miguel Diaz was born in 1987 in Uriangato, Guanajuato, Mexico. He graduated with his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Concordia College. At the time of the interview was working on a Master's degree at North Dakota State University and was living in Moorhead, Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - Latinos in Pelican Rapids and broader Minnesota - Lutheran Social Services - Mexican cultural traditions, celebrations - cultural events in Pelican Rapids.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

78. Interview with Porfirio Diaz

Creator:: Diaz, Porfirio; United States
Date Created:: 2013-02-24
Description:: Porfirio Diaz was born and raised in Moroleon, Guanajuato, Mexico. He graudated from Concordia College with a degree in International Business. At the time of the interview Diaz resided in Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - Lutheran Social Services - education - community engagement - Mexican cultural retention - generational differences in the Mexican community - demographic shifts in Pelican Rapids.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

79. Interview with Elia Dimayuga-Bruggeman

Creator:: Dimayuga-Bruggeman, Elia
Date Created:: 2010-11-01
Description:: Elia Dimayuga-Bruggeman was born in the small town of Las Mesas, Mexico. She moved to Sleepy Eye, Minnesota where she married and had three children. Dimayuga-Bruggeman attended Mankato State University to become a teacher. She worked as a Spanish teacher and as an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher before pursuing her master's in Spanish Literature and Culture. She continued her education receiving her superintendent's degree and her K-12 principal licensure. She would serve as Dean of Students of Sleepy Eye Public Schools and later as a high school principal. Dimayuga-Bruggeman was the academic dean of Shattuck-St. Mary's private school. She was the Director of Educational Services of the Northwest Suburban School District, and is now Assistant Commissioner of Education to the State of Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - Bracero Program - farm work - importance of education - financial struggles - Mexican folklore dancing - difference in treatment from being a migrant student to a foreign exchange student - Youth For Understanding - Minnesota winter - English as a Second Language - Latino culture - Minnesota Migrant Program - Hispanic community - racial tensions - student leaders - diversity - cultural center - Chicano Latino Affairs Council - high school graduation rate - and the Chicano Latino Affairs Council. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Transcript is available in both English and Spanish.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

80. Interview with Yangchen Dolkar

Creator:: Dolkar, Yangchen
Date Created:: 2005-08-26
Description:: Tenzin Dolkar was born in Dingri, Tibet. She moved to Nepal when she was young with her family. Dolkar moved to Minnesota in 1993 as part of the United States Tibetan Resettlement Project. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, family, leaving Tibet, living in a Tibetan settlement in Nepal, United States Tibetan Resettlement Project, Tibetan Green Book, deciding to come to the U.S., family separation, coming to the US, challenges, including gangs and violence, community, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, finding work in Minnesota, immigration challenges, caring for ill husband, death of son, Buddhism, opportunities in the U.S., Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), singing. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: This interview was conducted in Tibetan and transcribed in English.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

81. Interview with Tenzin Dolsel

Creator:: Dolsel, Tenzin
Date Created:: 2005-09-02
Description:: Tenzin Dolsel was born in Bylakuppee, India. She moved to Minnesota in 1997. Dolsel is a graduate of Edison High School and is an undergraduate student at the University of Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Parents, family, moving to Minnesota, expectations of Minnesota, growing up in a Tibetan settlement, similarities and differences between India and the United States, English, school experiences in India and the U.S., Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), making friends, moving to a big city, college experiences, nursing, Middle-Way, Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), autonomy, Tibetan political issues, Buddhism, non-violence, preserving culture, China, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

82. Interview with Mario Duarte

Creator:: Duarte, Mario
Date Created:: 2010-09-17
Description:: Mario Duarte was born in El Salvador, to Raul Bustamante and Maria Luisa Duarte. He attended the Dale Carnegie Institute and the National University of El Salvador for sociology. Duarte later married Esperanza Quesada and together raised four children. Due to the Civil War in El Salvador Duarte and his family escaped to the United States in 1982. He would serve as a prominent figure for the Latino community in Minnesota. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - financial hardships - education - community organizations - social injustice - Civil War - learning the English language - Chicano community - travel - media and radio - and identity.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

83. Interview with Eloisa Echavez

Creator:: Echavez, Eloisa
Date Created:: 2010-11-08
Description:: Eloisa Echavez was born in Colombia as one of five sisters in her family. Echavez received her associate's degree in computer science and learned English through the Colombo Americano program. She completed her master's degree at Augsburg College in education and leadership for administration. She serves as a mentor and leader for the Latino community as director of La Oportunidad. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - religion - education's importance in her life as well as providing educational opportunities for others - culture - Latino community - leadership - bilingual benefits of learning Spanish and English - inspiration to help struggling Latinos - community programs - and communication for a unified Latino voice.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

84. Interview with Angelo and Marcella Elizondo

Creator:: Elizondo, Angelo
Date Created:: 1975-07-08
Description:: Angelo Elizondo was born in Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in 1909. At the age of three he came to the United State with his parents, who were seeking employment. He grew up working in Texas coal mines during the winter and in beet fields in other states during the summer. Marcella Elizondo was born in Taft, Texas, in 1919. She grew up working in beet fields and came to Minnesota in 1929. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Their families, including parents and siblings - their children's names and occupations - experiences in Marcella's life which include several visits by apparitions - the evil eye" - remedies made from herbs - and advice for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

85. Interview with Samphoun Em

Creator:: Em, Samphoun
Date Created:: 1992-07-31
Description:: Samphoun Em was nineteen years old at the time the Khmer Rouge came to power in Cambodia. He and his family were evacuated from their village and were separated. He and two siblings were sent to work in a camp about 50 kilometers from his home village. Many people, including his sister, starved to death. He developed asthma and required medicine so he escaped to a refugee camp in Thailand and later immigrated to America.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Moving Image
Format:: Oral histories

86. Interview with Dr. Irwin Epstein, United Jewish Fund and Council Oral History Project Phase 1, St. Paul, Minnesota

Creator:: Epstein, Irwin, 1900-1986
Date Created:: 1978-04-04
Description:: Audio file of an interview with Irwin Epstein conducted by Laia Berstein. The interview includes: Epstein's experiences growing up in St. Paul; schooling; religious education; and medical school.
Contributing Institution:: University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

87. Interview with Sen and Helen Fan

Creator:: Fan, Sen
Date Created:: 1979-12-01
Description:: Sen Fan was born in 1927 in Haimen, a rural village in Jiangsu Province, near Shanghai. He was about ten years old when the Japanese invaded China, and his father died during the Sino-Japanese War. After the war he went to Shanghai for about a year, and in 1948 he moved with his mother, sisters and brothers to Taiwan. He attended normal school in Taipei, and after he received a bachelor's degree he taught mathematics and ecology at Ching Kung University in southern Taiwan. In 1958 he accepted a position at Nanyang University in Singapore, where he taught mathematics until 1960. He then decided to continue his studies in the United States. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1960 and 1961 and received a master's degree, and late in 1961 he accepted a job at the University of Minnesota at Morris. With the exception of about three years, Fan has continued to teach in the mathematics department at Morris. In 1965 and 1966 he furthered his graduate studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and from 1966 to 1968 he taught at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. In 1958 Fan married Ying Ying Hsu (Helen Fan) in Taiwan, and the couple moved to Singapore together. Helen Fan was born in 1931 in the city of Changzhou in Jiangsu Province. Her father was a clerk for the railroad in Jiangsu. In 1948 she moved to Taiwan with her sister and brother. She attended normal school there, and after receiving a bachelor's degree she taught elementary school for three years. After the couple's marriage and move to Singapore, their first son, Paul, was born. When Sen Fan decided to go to the University of Illinois, Helen Fan and Paul remained in Taiwan until arriving in Morris in late 1961, by which time Sen had finished his studies and taken the job at Morris. Another son, Robert, and a daughter, Grace, were born after the family was reunited in Morris. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: They discuss problems they have encountered in raising their children in an isolated town in central Minnesota where few other Chinese live - differences in Chinese and American child-rearing practices - and adjustments they have made. They also point out that they and their children have been well-accepted in Morris, aside from some name-calling in elementary school. Although they would like their children to interact with other Chinese with whom they could identify, both agree that in the larger university settings such as the University of Illinois and Brown University, where there are many Chinese students and faculty, they found far less social intermingling between Americans and Chinese than occurs at Morris. The Fans point to the fact that they are frequently invited to the homes of faculty and other staff as an indication of the warm reception they have had in the university community in Morris. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Sen and Helen Fan are representative of the many professionals among the Chinese who have settled in Minnesota since the early 1960s. As the first Chinese to live in Morris, they provide an interesting commentary on the process of acculturation in an environment very different from what they had known in China.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

88. Interview with Patrick Faunillan

Creator:: Faunillan, Patrick
Date Created:: 2010-12-22
Description:: Patrick Faunillan was born in Quezon City, Philippines but moved to the United States when he was three years old. He graduated as Salutatorian from the Main Street School of Performing Arts in Hopkins, Minnesota. He is a student at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and hopes to become a nurse anesthetist. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Childhood in the U.S. and Philippines - transportation - Filipino foods - family structure - education - high school - theatre - dance - college - Filipino-American Youth Organization - volunteering - heroes - race and growing up - goals.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

89. Interview with Angel M. Fernandez

Creator:: Fernandez, Angel M.
Date Created:: 1975-08-08
Description:: Angel M. Fernandez was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in September of 1932. He came to the United States in 1956 in response to an advertisement by the American consulate in Mexico that offered opportunities for single men to go to the United States. He enlisted in the Air Force and soon was stationed at Fort Snelling. He was married in 1959 to Anita Morales Liscano. He held several jobs and at the time of the interview was an accountant for the Minnesota Department of Public Welfare. Subjects discussed include: Family history - life in Mexico - employment record - religion - alcoholism - adapting to marriage - experiences in the Air Force - educational systems in the United States and Mexico - adapting to life in the United States and to the English language - and advice to the young. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

90. Interview with Frank Fernandez

Creator:: Fernandez, Frank
Date Created:: 2011-01-17
Description:: Frank Fernandez was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fernandez attended Arizona State University majoring in political science. He later moved to Minnesota and attended Hamline University School of Law. He held several positions including executive director of the Nevada Association of Health Plans. Fernandez is currently the vice president of government programs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, president and CEO of Blue Plus, and co-chair to the Diversity Council. He is married with two children. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Jobs held - family background - childhood - Latino community - diversity - playing soccer - religion - bilingual in Spanish and English - folkloric dance and traditions - racism - relationships - friendships - Minnesota weather - Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio - Latino Law Student Association - Hispanic Bar Association - Latino businesses - citizenship - Jovenes de Salud - working with high risk Latino youth - translating - National Society of Hispanic MBAs - fundraising - law school - and community involvement.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

91. Interview with Gladys Jacobs Field

Creator:: Field, Gladys Jacobs
Date Created:: 1978-01-29
Description:: Gladys Jacobs was born in 1903 and raised in Minneapolis. Her father operated Jacobs Jewelry in Minneapolis, and her mother's family was involved in the G. Pflaum and Sons cigar factory in St. Anthony. Jacobs married Harold Finkelstein (of the Finkelstein and Rubin theater chain) of St. Paul in 1926. In 1936 they changed their last name to Field. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Growing up in a large German-Jewish family - her close relationships with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins - incidences of anti-Semitism that she experienced - her involvement with the Minneapolis Art Institute, the Walker Art Center, and community and Jewish organizations - and her feelings about being Jewish.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

92. Interview with Luis Fitch

Creator:: Fitch, Luis - Uno Hispanic Branding
Date Created:: 2010-10-11
Description:: Luis Fitch was born in Tijuana, Mexico. He grew up in California and Mexico, and moved to San Diego to attend New School of Architecture and San Diego City College where he found his calling in art. He would work as a freelancer and gained admission to the prestigious Art Center College of Design. Fitch continued his art career focusing on Latino arts and was truly inspired by his heritage. His talents allowed him to work in both the corporate and local communities. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family - childhood - attending Catholic schools - interest in art - mother's influence in his life - financial struggles - questioning the United States Mexico border or the tortilla wall" - bilingual (Spanish and English) - Latino culture - commercial and local art - Minnesota art - CreArte - internet's impact on Mexico - working for Fitch
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

93. Interview with Ernie Fliegel

Creator:: Fliegel, Ernie
Date Created:: 5/7/76
Description:: Ernie Fliegel was born in Barlad, Romania, in 1904 and came to the United States in 1910 with his grandmother, mother, brother and sister. (His father was also in this country but had little contact with the family). His mother worked in a New York sweatshop to earn money for their trip to Minneapolis. Fliegel sold newspapers by age seven and later became a professional boxer. He was a contender for the featherweight championship before an eye injury forced him to retire in 1927. He became a fight promoter, traveled with Jack Dempsey and became an owner, with his friend Max Winter, of the 620 Club on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis. He married his wife Eileen in about 1925, and they have one son, Richard. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: His childhood in Romania and Minneapolis - extreme poverty - selling newspapers, including a 1916 strike by newsboys - his amateur and professional boxing career - the 1930s Depression - bootlegging - the 620 Club - the truckers' strike of 1934 - and education. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: Fliegel bar mitzvahed with Edward P. Schwartz, who was also interviewed for this oral history project.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

94. Interview with Gummadi J. Franklin

Creator:: Franklin, Gummadi
Date Created:: 2004-07-31
Description:: Gummadi Franklin graduated from pharmacy school in India before immigrating to Minnesota in 1969. He became president of the India Association of Minnesota [IAM] in 1998. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Childhood - growing up in India - family - education - getting married - moving to Minnesota and finding a job - involvement with the Trustee Advisory Committee of the IAM - creation of the School of India for Languages and Culture [SILC] - various demographical branches of the IAM - importance of community - membership in the association - involvement in the Festival of Nations - serving as president of the association - fiftieth anniversary of India's independence celebration - involvement in relief projects - commercialization of the organization - future of the association.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

95. Interview with Ketan Gada

Creator:: Gada, Ketan
Date Created:: 2000-05-23
Description:: Ketan Gada grew up in Minnesota. His parents emigrated from India. His mother was one of the founding members of SILC. As a child, he attended SILC for about 10 years. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Personal background; involvement with SILC; experiences as a student; memories; significant things learned; socializing; classes; subjects: General Knowledge, language classes, cooking, dance, yoga, music, SILC Achievement Project; motivation; how studies at SILC affected later life; volunteer teachers; milk and cookie break; maintaining connections; Festival of Nations; benefits of SILC; SILC experience and trips to India.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

96. Interview with Lincoln Gada

Creator:: Gada, Lincoln
Date Created:: 1998-12-14
Description:: Lincoln Gada was born in India where he attended school and college. He worked in Singapore before coming to the U.S. in the mid-1990s. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Family background - education - experiences in Singapore - arrival and adjustment to Minnesota - Indian community in Minnesota - work experience in India and Minnesota - differences in work environments, promotional opportunities and resources between India and Minnesota - consulting work and traveling - prevalence of computers in India - marriage - differences between Indian and American parenting styles - family values - maintaining ties with family in India - participation in Indian associations - future goals - impressions of U.S. before and after moving here.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

97. Interview with Neena Gada, 2000

Creator:: Gada, Neena
Date Created:: 2000-03-15
Description:: Neena Gada was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. as an adult. She is one of the founding members of SILC. She has served as a teacher, administrator and board member. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Personal background; founding of SILC; purpose and goals of SILC; first day; organizational structure tuition; student and staff recruitment; managing an all volunteer organization; teaching materials; experiences as a teacher; rewards and challenges of teaching; school board; enrollment; secularity; outreach activities; maintaining ties; important visitors; discipline; special events; Festival of Nations; programming for adopted children; parental perspective; SILC experience and trips to India.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

98. Interview with Neena Gada, 2004

Creator:: Gada, Neena
Date Created:: 2004-07-24
Description:: Neena Gada immigrated to Minnesota in 1967. She was active in both the School of India for Languages and Culture [SILC] and the India Association of Minnesota [IAM]. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Coming to the United States after marriage - meeting other Indian families - involvement in early cultural programs - involvement with the Indo-American Association - participation in the Festival of Nations - involvement in SILC, including recruiting participants and teachers - involvement in the India Club - planning the first India Day activities - importance of teaching her children about Indian culture - recruiting members for IAM - involvement in MAIDA [Minnesota Asian Indian Democratic Association] - and retirement.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

99. Interview with Ram Gada

Creator:: Gada, Ram
Date Created:: 1994-12-07
Description:: Ram Gada was born in India where he graduated from college. He also completed a graduate degree in North Dakota and then moved to Minnesota. Presently, he operates his own consulting firm. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Childhood years - experiences growing up in India - education - arranging to come to school in the U.S - arriving in and adjusting to climate in North Dakota. Marriage - family values - cultural differences - the Gujarati Samaj - religion - vegetarianism, activities of the Jain group in Minneapolis - India Club - School of India for Languages and Culture (SILC) - relations within the Indian community - recent political involvement - work history - imparting values to children, mixing Eastern and Western cultural values - plans for children's futures, the growth of Indian community in the Twin Cities - and maintaining family ties to India.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

100. Interview with Alfonso Galvan

Creator:: Galvan, Alfonso
Date Created:: 1975-07-30
Description:: Alfonso Galvan was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in 1898. He fought in the Mexican Revolution and came to the United States in 1919. In 1923 he came to Chaska, Minnesota, and worked in the fields. He also worked as a butcher, for Armour for four years and for Swift for six years. He worked for Cudahy's for twenty-five years until 1954, when the plant closed. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: The Mexican Revolution - crossing the river and entering the United States - working for railroads, in farm fields and in the meatpacking industry - the first people in the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul - the Anahuac Society - celebrations on the West Side - his philosophy and advice to the young. COMMENTS ON INTERVIEW: In Spanish, transcribed into English.
Contributing Institution:: Minnesota Historical Society
Type:: Sound Recording Nonmusical
Format:: Oral histories

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