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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
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