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This interview between Mavishka Lankatilleke and Malindi Lankatilleke explores her twenty-year long journey as an immigrant from Sri Lanka to the United States. Malindi emphasizes how the constant changes and leaving instilled in her a “temporary lifestyle” where she never felt like she belonged to one place.
This interview was conducted as part of an undergraduate final project for the University of Maryland, College Park course HIST 428M (Spring 2020). This course was led by Professor Anne Rush of the Department of History, College of Arts and Humanities, and was sponsored by the Center for Global Migration Studies.
Kachisiso Achebe (pseudonym) describes the transition from Nigeria to the United States, differences in culture, the effect of the economy on immigrants and their employment, as well as education in the USA.
The individual interviewed preferred to remain anonymous. For this reason, specific names have been removed from the text. Whenever this occurred, it has been noted. The interviewee details her childhood in India before coming to the United States as a young woman entering into an arranged marriage. She details her experiences as a working mother of two in a different culture as well as the process of becoming an American citizen.
Dr. Manu Manohar discusses his education in biochemistry, comparisons and contrasts between American and Indian cultures as well as employment in USA in this comprehensive interview with his son.
Thea LaFond relates her immigration to the United States from Dominica as a young child. Her account details her initial perceptions of America and popular culture, her family's move to DC Metro area, as well as immigrant assimilation in the United States.
Edwarda M. Buda-Okreglak discusses immigrating from Poland to the United States as a young girl in the 1960s. She especially focuses on her education in the U.S. and her journey towards becoming a medical doctor. Dr. Buda-Okreglak also illuminates the Polish-American community of the mid-Twentieth century.
This interview is of Juvenal Valeriano, an immigrant from Peru. James Lastarria, Juvenal's son, conducted the interview and wrote the following description:
"After looking back at the interview, I see some themes that could probably be explored more on a follow up interview. Mr. Lastarria places a lot of importance on education. He did not succumbed to the ideas of the senderistas or corrupt officers and politicians because he was well educated. It is demonstrated during the first couple of minutes in the interview when he spoke about his mother and the importance and sacrifices she did in order for her children to get an education. My uncle became an attorney, my dad an undercover agent, and my other uncles and aunts obtained blue collar jobs. Another major theme in this interview is family. The decisions that Mr. Lastarria made were for the sake of his family. He may have taken his job to heart, which is noted during his long absence from his family, but there is also a sense of regret on his part. As he stated during the last minutes of the interview, he wished that he would’ve enjoyed his family more. Who knows, maybe if he had, the problems that are now facing my family would have gone away. My own personal view of his may have been different from what it is today. After this interview it did change a little; however, it is going to take a lot more time to mend the gap that 17 years of absence has caused. Corruption in the government is another theme that could definitely be explored further on another interview. Due to our limitations to an hour and a half, I could not fully explore the corruption within the Peruvian government. I realize that the goal of this interview was to get a narrative of the interviewee’s journey to the US, but events like corruption and distrust in the government play key role for certain individuals to come to the US."
In this oral history interview, Violeta Rivas discusses her experience as an American immigrant. Born in Nicaragua in 1960, Violeta and her husband came to the U.S. in 1984 to escape the Sandinista regime and to build a new life. Thirty years later, they are still here. Although Violeta had originally intended to return to Nicaragua, she and her family stayed, and throughout the course of the interview, she displays an acute awareness of her life in retrospect. Leaving her home was a sacrifice, but she did it for her family; every obstacle she faced and every cultural barrier she had to overcome was for her family. That is the essence of the interview, and throughout the course of this oral history, Violeta guides her listeners through the things that matter the most to her: religion, tradition, and moral values. Violeta’s story is not just one of many Central American immigrant narratives; it is a part of a whole, and without it, the picture is not complete.
This oral history interview is of Carlos Morales, the father of the interviewer, Monica Morales. Carlos immigrated to the United States in the 1980s from El Salvador.
