This project contains fifteen oral histories of pioneering leaders from New Jersey's Latino community. The interviews contain a wealth of information on the early history of Latino communities throughout the state and the founding of several important Hispanic organizations during the second half of the twentieth century. The focus of these Oral Histories is the unique life experiences of the interviewees, which taken as a whole document the Latino experience and the foundation of a unified history of the Latino community. While the Oral Histories are as unique as their subjects, commonalities in their experiences, perceptions and struggles emerge. Latino Life Stories includes interviews with a founding member of Puertorriqueños Asociados for Community Organization, Inc. (PACO) in Jersey City; the first Latino Deputy Mayor of Newark; the founder of the Hispanic Association for Higher Education (HAHE) in New Jersey; the co–founders of Mercer County Hispanic Association (MECHA) in Trenton; the President and CEO of Focus Inc., the oldest community–based Latino organization in New Jersey; and other community advocates and activists in the fields of education, social work, religion, law enforcement, local politics, music and dance.
(Prepared by Ingrid Betancourt, NJHRIC Director, October 2012)

(The NJHRIC at the Newark Public Library would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge, in addition to the credited participants of this project, the hard work of archival assistants, Juber Ayala and Crystal Izquierdo, and intern, Giselle Torres.)

Access to full verbatim interview transcripts and audio recordings are available by appointment only. Contact an NJHRIC archivist at njhric@npl.org, (973)733–4791, or via mail, NJHRIC at The Newark Public Library, 5 Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07102 with your request.