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 Arturo Griffiths tells the story of how he got involved as a Latino immigrant teenager in the very first D.C. Latino Festivals held in Adams Morgan. He tells the story of various presidents, many of whom were elected before he was elected President in 1987. Griffiths, together with his committee, organized the last D.C. Latino Festival to b e held in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. In 1989 Griffiths took the Festival “downtown” – to the grounds of the Washington Monument. He tells the story...

Scope and Contents Assane Konte speaks about the importance that dance has played in his life, growing up in Senegal, and his first impressions of the United States. His life in dance led him to start visiting the United States for dance festivals, which eventually led him to decide to relocate to the U.S. He highlights the importance of hard work and discipline in dancing as well as and how these virtues contribute to other aspects of life. He believes that his upbringing in Senegal helped to teach him these...

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José Diaz discusses moving to the US at age 15, his recovery from polio, Mount Pleasant in the 1980s, tensions between latino and african-american youth, the Mount Pleasant riot, and community-police relations.

Scope and Contents In this interview, Mei discusses her family's move from Hong Kong to Washington, D.C., her relationships with other Chinatown kids, the Chinatown program at Calvary Baptist Church, and attended Wilson High School. Mei also recalls helping out at her grandfather's laundry, celebrating Chinese holidays, and her regret that her parents worked so much during her childhood. She concludes by speculating about the future of Chinatown in D.C., and how she believes that another Chinatown can spring...

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...

Scope and Contents From the Collection:

D.C. Oral History Collaborative (DCOHC) is a citywide initiative to train community members in oral history skills, fund new and ongoing oral history projects, connect volunteers with oral history projects, and publicize existing oral history collections. DCOHC is a project of DC Public Library, HumanitiesDC, and the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. This collection contains oral history interviews, transcripts, and indexes produced by DCOHC grantees.

Scope and Contents In this interview, Sunny Luk talks about helping out at his family's restaurant, race relations between the Chinese and Black residents, attending Catholic school, programs and activities offered to children in Chinatown, and playing sports in high school. Luk talks about his own children, struggling to make a good life for his family, the Chinese Young Club, and the generational differences between first generation immigrants and later generations and their relationships to money. Luk...

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In this interview, Wallace Lee describes his and his parents journey from Hong Kong to Washington, D.C., where he grew up. Lee recalls meeting people at the Lee Family Association, helping his family's laundry business, attending Catholic school, moving to the suburbs, and playing sports with other Chinatown kids. He concludes by describing the decline of D.C.'s Chinatown, his desire to preserve the area, and businesses closing down.

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...