ORAL HISTORIES

This project includes oral history interviews conducted in spring 2019 for Philadelphia Immigration, and in the early 1980s for I Remember When: Times Gone But Not Forgotten, a radio documentary series broadcast on WHYY-FM. In these interviews, immigrants and the children of immigrants recount the history of Philadelphia in the early decades of the twentieth century and twenty-first century. talk in vivid detail about their reasons for leaving their home countries, their move to the United States and adjustment to life in Philadelphia, educational and work experiences, family and neighborhood life, city politics, courtship and romance, and city culture.

West Chester University students have curated each interview with an OHMS (Oral History Metadata Synchronizer) index, enabling you to not only hear the voices, but to see them and their families, the streets of Philadelphia, the row houses, the factory floors, and personal documents and papers. GPS coordinates show you where events took place, creating an immersive, multisensory experience.

All interviews are archived at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview: John Flynn (Pseudonym)

Born in the tough Irish-American neighborhood of Grays Ferry, John Flynn learned how to fight at a young age, started to work full time at the age of 14, and…
Interview: Sam Brosilow

Sam Brosilow was born to Jewish immigrant parents who fled Russia around 1900. The Brosilow family lived on 11th and Cherry Street before moving to 22nd and…
Interview: John Calpin (1st…

When he graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1925, John Calpin (1904-1991) became a police reporter for The Philadelphia Bulletin.…
Interview: Dennis Clark (2nd…

Dennis Clark (1927-1993) grew up in the Kensington neighborhood in north Philadelphia during the Great Depression. A glazer by profession, Clark's father could…
Interview: Armand DiStefano

Armand DiStefano (1912-1987), the son of Italian immigrants, grew up in a small row house in South Philadelphia. There, his father instilled in him the value of…
Interview: Catherine Ehrmann

Catherine Ehrmann came with her family from Hungary to Philadelphia in 1904, when she was two years old. She grew up right around the corner from the Stetson…
Interview: Michael Giovanelli &…

Interviewed at the Marconi Center in South Philadelphia, these two Italian-American men recount their early experiences with education and work life. Giovanelli…
Interview: David Kaplan

David Kaplan (b. circa 1889) was born in a Russian village to a Jewish family. With his father in America, Kaplan had to work as a child to support his family.…
Interview: John Calpin (2nd…

When he graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1925, John Calpin (1904-1991) became a police reporter for The Philadelphia Bulletin.…
Interview: Anna Lavin (2nd…

Anna Lavin came with her family from Russia to Philadelphia in 1896 aboard the S.S. Pennland and landed in the immigration station at the foot of Washington…
Interview: Anna Lavin (1st…

Anna Lavin came with her family from Russia to Philadelphia in 1896 aboard the S.S. Pennland and landed in the immigration station at the foot of Washington…
Interview: John H. Rudolph

John "Herb" Rudolph (b. 1901), worked at the Stetson factory in North Philadelphia for forty-nine years. In his 1982 oral history interview, Rudolph provided a…
Interview: Anna Farris, Anna Van…

In this group interview conducted at the St. Anne’s Senior Center in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, women of Eastern European descent recall…
Interview: Anna Van Dyke and…

In this group interview conducted at the St. Anne’s Senior Center in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, women of Eastern European descent recall…
Interview: Anna Aleski

Anna Aleski (born circa 1902) emigrated from Poland to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and eventually moved with her brother to Philadelphia. She recalls in this…
Interview: Esther M. Davalos (1st…

Born in 1908, Esther Davalos was born as a third generation American; her family came from Spain and settled in the part of Mexico that later became Texas.…
Interview: Max Tannenbaum

Max Tannenbaum (b. 1905) was 7 when his father left Ukraine in 1912 for the United States. For the next decade, Tannenbaum worked to provide for his mother and…
Interview: Louise Abrucesse, Tony…

Conducted at the Marconi Center in South Philadelphia, this group interview recounts the childhood and adolescent years of three Italian-Americans who grew up…
Interview: Gilda Cetrullo

Gilda Cemi Cetrullo (b. 1903) was 20 when she left Abruzzi, Italy, to join her parents in Philadelphia, arriving in 1923. In her 1982 interview, Cetrullo talked…
Interview: Bertha Gruenberg

Born in Austria, Bertha (Sanford) Gruenberg (1888-1987) moved with her family to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1893 and then to Philadelphia in 1910. There, she and…
Interview: Johnny Mulligan

After immigrating from Scotland to Philadelphia in 1922, Johnny Mulligan boxed professionally, danced with the Irish Merrymakers, and played striker for the…
Interview: Esther M. Davalos (2nd…

Born in 1908, Esther Davalos was born as a third generation American; her family came from Spain and settled in the part of Mexico that later became Texas.…
Interview: Antony Catalano

Anthony Catalano (b. 1910), the son of a hat maker, grew up in South Philadelphia. Like his father, Catalano worked at John B. Stetson Company and Stylepark…
Interview: Dennis Clark (1st…

Dennis Clark (1927-1993) grew up in the Kensington neighborhood of north Philadelphia during the Great Depression. A glazer by profession, Clark's father could…
Interview: Sam Spritz (1st…

Sam Spritz was born (circa 1898) into a Jewish family in pre-revolution Russia. In 1913, he moved with his father and brother to Philadelphia, attracted by the…
Interview: Isatu Kallon

In this interview, Isatu Kallon, born in 1991, speaks about her experiences growing up in Kenema, Sierra Leone, her family, and what it was like growing up…
Interview: Bangde "Annie" Fu

Bangde "Annie" Fu (b. 1998) grew up in a small town in Guangxi, China. In search of a better life, Fu moved with her mother to the United States to join her…
Interview: Yan Tai Lau

Yan Tai Lau emigrated from Hong Kong to Philadelphia in 2016. The interview discusses Lau's migration from China and the challenges she faced in trying to…
Interview: Marco Jara

Jara begins by reflecting on his early childhood memories and family in Mexico City; he remembers his first home and the family and pets that lived there with…
Interview: Irina Melekhina

Irena Melekhina recounts her experiences growing up in the USSR, earning a degree in dentistry, and then seeking refugee status along with her husband prior to…
Interview: Xichuan "Matt" Zhang

Matt Zhang discusses his journey from Shaanxi Province, China to Delaware, then to Northeast Philadelphia. He starts by discussing his childhood and what he…
Interview: Min "Mandy" Wang

Wang details the journey her husband made to America before they were married. He lived in Philadelphia for ten years, and now has his citizenship. She then…
Interview: Abolaji Amosu

Abolaji Amosu, born in Lagos, Nigeria in 2000, came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at age 6 in 2006. In this interview, Amosu discusses her childhood in Nigeria,…
Interview: Mingchu Pearl Huynh

As part of the “Oral History of Philadelphia Immigration” course at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, Mingchu Pearl Huynh was interviewed about her…
Interview: Algassimu Bah

Algassimu Bah and his family left Liberia when he was 11 years old, they went to Gambia and later, at 13, he and his family relocated to the United States…
Interview: Dilmohan "Dale" Grewal

Kelsey Bastien interviews Dale Grewal about his experience immigrating to America. Grewal speaks about the start of his life in India and discusses his…
Interview: Enitan Aigbomian

Enitan Aigbomian shares the story of her arrival and transition into the American lifestyle. Aigbomian is a 25 year old Nigerian immigrant who moved to the…
Interview: Ana Maria Roldan

Ana Maria Roldan has been living a life full of love, ambition, and hard work to get to where she is now in Philadelphia. From moving away from Puerto Rico when…
Interview: Malka Al Saadi & Mutaz…

Moving back and forth between their shared and separate life experiences, Dr. Malka Al Saadi and her son Mutaz Al Mudaris talk about their lives in Iraq; his…
Interview: Mutaz Al Mudaris

Al Mudaris talks about his life, beginning with his early childhood in London, his struggles to learn Arabic in school after the family’s return to Iraq; his…
Interview: Laura Gomez

In this interview, Gomez discusses her move from Colombia to the United States and enrolling at West Chester University. She talks about the cultural…
Interview: Hayfaa Ibrahem…

Hayfaa Ibrahem Abdulqadar shares her experiences as a refugee who fled from Baghdad, Iraq in 2005, first to Jordan, then to Philadelphia in 2009. She came to…