The Latino Oral History Collection

Because if you don’t have a history, you don’t have a present.

–Hilda A. Hidalgo, Oral History, June 5, 2009 (track HH09034)

New Jersey is home to the seventh largest Latino population in the United States. Between 2000 and 2010 the number of Hispanics in the state rose 39.2 percent, but the history of Latinos in New Jersey spans several generations. The first group to arrive in large numbers was the Puerto Rican community, whose numbers surged from under 10,000 to more than 240,000 between 1950 and 1980. Other Hispanic groups followed: Cubans, Dominicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, and Mexicans, among others. Today, 18 percent of New Jersey’s residents are Latino, making this population the state’s largest minority group.

Latino Oral Histories are intrinsic to the New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center’s mission to document and preserve the history of Latinos in the state of New Jersey. This collection of oral histories offers direct, first–person accounts of the lives and experiences of men and women from diverse Latino backgrounds who call New Jersey home. Their stories are a living testimony of 20^th Century Latino experience in the state, documenting the vibrant role this community has played in New Jersey’s social, political, and cultural history.

The New Jersey Historical Commission, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities and the Friends of the HRIC have generously supported the development of several distinct NJHRIC Latino oral history projects since 2007:

COLLECTIONS

“Photographs.” Amilkar Velez–López – Papers, Puerto Rican Community Archives at the Newark Public Library. OZ_SZ 4.	The Justice Project (2011-2012) 10 interviews focusing on the theme of justice. The interviewees’ professional backgrounds are diverse, including the legal profession and law enforcement, but also extending into prisoner advocacy, social services, labor organizing, media and electoral politics.
“Campaign – McCann ’85.” Eliú Rivera – Papers, Puerto Rican Community Archives at the Newark Public Library. OZ_SZ 1.	Latino Life Stories (2007-08) Interviews of 15 community leaders from different regions of the state.
	Activist Voices (2009-2010) [work in progress] Dr. Hilda A. Hidalgo, Pioneer Puerto Rican community leader, activist, educator Dr. Olga Jiménez–Wagenheim, Historian, educator, community leader This collection will be made available online as funding becomes available for additional processing.
	Latino Immigrant Experience in Newark (2018) [work in progress] This collection will be made available online as funding becomes available for additional processing.

LIST OF ALL INTERVIEWEES

The NJHRIC conducted targeted studies on the Cuban, Dominican, Colombian and Ecuadorian communities in New Jersey during the latter part of the 2000s, for a series of New Jersey Latino Community Profiles. As a result of this research, the Center is now in possession of four distinct collections of interviews documenting these communities. As funding becomes available these interviews will be processed and incorporated into the Latino Oral History Collection.

Biographical sketches, photos, audio clips and fully text–searchable transcripts are available by clicking on the links above.

All content is available free of charge for educational purposes.

Preferred citation: Interview of [Interviewee name] by [Interviewer name], [date of interview]; Hispanic Reference Collection of the NJ Hispanic Research & Information Center at the Newark Public Library.

Prepared by Ingrid Betancourt, September 17, 2012.