Browse Items (49 total)

Maria is a detective within the Domestic Violence/ Sex Crimes unit of the Wichita Police Department. She came to the United States as a young child and attended elementary through college within Kansas. In this interview, Maria reflects on her…

Luis came to Kansas from Santiago de Veraguas, Panama. Due to limited opportunities in Panama, he arrived in Kansas to pursue a Masters degree at Emporia State University. However, things were not always so positive: when he first arrived at the…

Lourdes is a filmmaker based in New York. She is bilingual due to her mother’s efforts to teach Lourdes as well as her younger brother and sister Spanish. She reflects on being Latina in Kansas and how several individuals have had difficulties…

Josef’s father was from Michoacán, Mexico and his mother, of Mexican heritage, was from Lyons, Kansas. Josef, a Korean War veteran, remembers the importance of education and became an educator and principal in Wichita, KS. In this oral history, you…

Josef was born in Michoacán, Mexico to a Mexican father and a mother with Spanish and indigenous heritage. He was married in St. John, Kansas. He worked on the railroad through sweltering summers and freezing winters. Josef received two degrees from…

José Faus is a celebrated Latino poet, writer, and muralist originally from Bucaramanga, Colombia. In this interview, he shares what it means to be an immigrant, his various interactions with several Latino and non-Latino communities, and stories…

Joel lives in Kirksville, Missouri and is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When asked what his biggest challenge is, Joel answered that it is the language. He also recounts his initial impressions of Kirksville and the racism he encountered.…

Joao is from Bahia, Brazil. In Brazil, he took night classes from a local college while working full-time at a company. During this time, Joao also started to take English lessons. He arrived in the U.S. and took business classes at Pittsburg State…

Interview Summary
Jessica’s mother is from Benin and her father is from Ghana. Her parents came to the United States to give Jessica a better opportunity and worked various small jobs to supplement their income. Jessica says that her family is…

Jesse’s parents are from Mexico, but he grew up in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas. After graduating from high school, Jesse enrolled in community college but decided to work for the railroad. Now that he is retired, he frequently…