Abstract Angel Saltos tells the story of how, as a recent young student immigrant from Ecuador, he landed his first professional job with ABL Associates, a D.C. public relations marketing firm. Saltos who studied public relations and marketing at American University was interested in the Hispanic Marketing arena. In the late 1980’s Hispanic marketing was a brand new field. Tensia Alvirez, President of ABL Associates, was known in the D.C. community for her public relations work with private and...

Abstract Audio of interview with Carlos Gonzalez. Mr. Gonzalez discusses his early years growing up in New Holland, Pennsylvania after immigrating with his family from Colombia, his relocation to Washington, D.C. and unique exposure to the many varied cultures and histories of Latin American countries in the city, the story of how he became a member of the Organizing Committee for Fiesta D.C. in 1990 and the work he continues to do to help Latin American communities. Mr. Gonzalez reflects on the...

Abstract Audio of interview with Marta Burrell. Ms. Burrell discusses immigrating from Paraguay and adjusting to a new culture and way of life. She first attended the DC Latino Festival the last time it was held in Adams Morgan in 1988. Then she met Walter Burrell who was actively involved in the 1989-1990 Festivals. Burrell was excited to see the Festival move to the Mall. She recalls meeting the mayor, and was amazed at seeing the wide variety of representations from all the Latin American and...

Abstract Norberto Borja describes the early years when his family migrated from Colombia and lived on Ontario Road in Adams Morgan. Borja describes the neighborhood in the 1970’s: full of Latino families who knew each other. He describes his first job working at the SED Center, located next to his house. Borja first got involved in the D C Latino Festival in the early years when it was held on Colombia Rd. He describes how his young Colombian group of drummers was asked to perform in the Festival. By...

Abstract Audio interview of Norma Small-Warren. She describes how her mother, Olga Small, started the Panamanian folkloric group, and how it grew when the Festival moved to the Mall in 1989. Small-Warren reflects on how the Festival brought Latinos together with the common goal of presenting the dances and music from the various Latin American countries. She believes that the Festival outgrew its space on Columbia Road and that exposure on Constitution Avenue and the Mall was the way to expand the...

Abstract This project interviewed a group of people who were present during the 1989-1990 annual D.C. Latino Festival. It documents the first time the DC Latino immigrant community was given a permit to occupy a public space so sacred to national history- the national Mall and the Monument grounds. The project asked important research questions such as: 'why did the D.C. Latino community decide to move the parade to Constitution Avenue NW and the festival to the National Mall and what impact did that...

Abstract This project interviewed a group of people who were present during the 1989-1990 annual D.C. Latino Festival. It documents the first time the DC Latino immigrant community was given a permit to occupy a public space so sacred to national history- the national Mall and the Monument grounds. The project asked important research questions such as: 'why did the D.C. Latino community decide to move the parade to Constitution Avenue NW and the festival to the National Mall and what impact did that...

Abstract Audio interview of Vilma Williams. Williams describes her life in Adams Morgan and Mt. Pleasant when it was the heart of the DC Latino community. She met other Latinos and eventually volunteered to work on Festival Committees in 1988-1990. She describes how she managed to organize the 1988 Reinado (Beauty Pageant) with no money and donations from local Latino businesses. She explains that the goal of the Festival was to expose Latinos, as well as others, to Latino culture, music, and dances....

Abstract Audio of interview with Walter Burrell. In 1988-1989 a friend suggested Mr. Burrell work as a volunteer for the Festival, and he joined as a Vice-President for the team that won elections in 1988. He helped organize the Parade, helped with marketing, and planned logistics and visual aspects of the Parade. As part of the Organizing Committee, he attended many events hosted by the various national groups who spent the entire year fundraising to secure funds to pay for the floats and dance...

Abstract The interview is in Spanish. Willians Silva talks about his early years in Peru before he immigrated to the Washington metro area. He talks about his first job in housekeeping at the Grand Hotel in Washington D.C.. He talks about being fired for trying to organize a union at that hotel. He talks about the difficulties of union organizing. But despite his despair at being fired, Silva met Arturo Griffiths who was an Organizer with Local 25. That friendship led to Silva's participation in the...