Title: Gabriel & Alejandra oral history interview, 2011

Identifier: OH0265   (https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/16151)

Description: Audio recording and text transcription of a Latino oral history for an event held at Joyner Library, April 10, 2011. Gabriel and Alejandra describe their rural hometown of Guanajuato, Mexico, saying that it had become unsafe due to organized crime. They came to North Carolina in the early 1990s to join family. Having been a lawyer and a teacher in Mexico, Gabriel worked in construction and Alejandra worked cleaning houses. The difficulty of the work motivated them to seek other options. Now living in Goldsboro, they opened a store providing Hispanic groceries and services such as money transfers and airline tickets to the Hispanic community, which has grown immensely since they arrived. They also participate in the Hispanic Community Development Center, which aids families with health information and food assistance. Gabriel and Alejandra credit their success to their ability to sacrifice and save, as well as the possibilities in American society. The interview forms part of the Latino Oral History Archive, and was conducted by Drs. Ricardo Contreras (Anthropology, ECU) and David Griffith (Anthropology and Coastal Science and Policy, ECU) with funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council.