• “They called it slums but it was never a slum to me.”

    Carol Jacques remembers growing up in Chavez Ravine, a Mexican-American neighborhood in Los Angeles that was replaced by Dodger Stadium.

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    Recorded in East Los Angeles, CA
  • “I never have found another neighborhood like that one.”

    Alfred Zepeda (L) talks to his friend Albert Elias (R) about their childhood in Chavez Ravine, a Mexican-American neighborhood in Los Angeles that was replaced by Dodger Stadium.

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    Recorded in Montebello, CA
  • “I just thought I was going to go to a gym and get in the ring and fight.”

    17-year-old amateur boxing champion Seniesa Estrada talks to her father and coach, Joe Estrada, about how she got started in the sport.

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    Recorded in Los Angeles, CA
  • “I remember being in court every day...”

    Sylvia Mendez (L), 73, talks to her sister Sandra Mendez Duran (R), 59, about Mendez v. Westminster, their family's 1945 lawsuit that won Mexican-American children the right to attend white schools.

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    Recorded in Walnut, CA
  • “Before they would see a doctor, the families in the community would come to see her.”

    Graciela Kavulla tells her husband, Timothy, about her grandmother, who was a midwife.

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    Recorded in Houston, TX
  • “The biggest struggle was to take messages.”

    Claritza Abreu, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, tells her friend Gerardo Villacres about one of her first jobs in the United States.

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    Recorded in Cambridge, MA
  • “I was sick; I had no job; I was lonely—and then Felix called me.”

    Rob Sanchez (R) and his friend Felix Aponte (L), who both served time at Sing Sing Penitentiary, talk about Rob's diagnosis with an aggressive form of kidney disease.

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    Recorded in New York, NY
  • “I was in the ICU and there was a man dying of tuberculosis...”

    Dr. Pedro "Joe" Greer talks to his wife, Janus, about how he started working with Miami's homeless.

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    Recorded in Miami, FL
  • “My mother would tell me, 'If you don't straighten yourself out, you're going to end up going to Springer.'”

    Larry Hoover tells his granddaughter Anastacia Garcia about his time at The New Mexico Boys' School in Springer, New Mexico.

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    Recorded in Taos, NM
  • “I learned from her, and that's why I can pass it on to you guys.”

    Richard Anthony Torres talks to his daughter Kathy Namba about his mother, Guadalupe Torres.

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    Recorded in Taos, NM
  • “I knew the top ten on the radio and I could do my nails, but I didn't even know how to cook.”

    Lucille Mascarenas tells her son, Victor, about what happened when she moved from the city to work on her husband's family farm.

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    Recorded in Taos, NM
  • “They had one or two cans of this cranberry stuff...”

    Adolph Carranza remembers an unusual holiday donation from the Salvation Army.

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    Recorded in Paonia, CO
  • “From the little English that we knew, my brother and I knew that we were not going to have class that day.”

    Jose Fernandez tells his wife, Teresita, about the first Thanksgiving he spent in the United States.

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    Recorded in New York, NY
  • “She didn't speak English but she understood 'A.'”

    Congressman Raul Grijalva talks to his daughter Marisa about his mother's influence on his education.

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    Recorded in Washington, D.C.
  • “I was six years old when she left for New York City.”

    Jose Cruz tells his daughter, Grace, about living in Villa Juana, a neighborhood in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, while his mother was living in New York City.

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    Recorded in New York, NY
  • “We couldn't afford to buy toys.”

    Secretary of the Interior, Kenneth Salazar (R) and his brother, Congressman John Salazar (L), talk about growing up in a family of eight children.

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    Recorded in Washington, D.C.
  • “I didn't know if I was ever going to see you again.”

    Sergeant Papsy Lemus tells her daughter Griselda about going off to war in Iraq.

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    Recorded in Salt Lake City, UT
  • “We had to do a good deed every day...”

    John Hope Franklin, the late scholar of African American history, tells his son, John, about being a Boy Scout during the 1920s.

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    Recorded in Tulsa, OK
  • “Everywhere we went my mother would make sure that they enrolled us in school.”

    Lourdes Villanueva tells her son Roger about growing up in a family of migrant workers.

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    Recorded in Tampa, FL
  • “She still thought I was in Iraq.”

    Hector Vega and his wife, Leopoldina, remember the day Hector returned home from war.

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    Recorded in New York, NY