Madeleine Coles
Staff Writer
History students at ISU recently participated in the Mis Memorias (My Memories) project as part of the 500 Years of Latino History initiative.
“Essentially it’s an oral history project where students learn how to prepare and conduct oral histories, and then they go out and interview local members of the Latino community,” said history professor Kathleen Kole de Peralta, who organized the project.
Multiple activities have been held at ISU this year to celebrate the 500 Years of Latino History initiative, including an art exhibit at the Transition Gallery and screenings of a PBS documentary series about the initiative, but Kole de Peralta said when she heard about the Mis Memorias project she really wanted to do it with her students.
The project was undertaken by students in Kole de Peralta’s History 2291 class, The Historian’s Craft.
“The main purpose of the class is to teach research skills, and oral history is in fact a research skill,” Kole de Peralta said. “There’s a lot of prep work that goes into it, so that you can go in and essentially create a document that not only preserves a person’s voice but creates a transcript that people can use later.”
After learning about how to conduct an oral history interview, Kole de Peralta’s students put their knowledge to use by interviewing Latino students at ISU about a wide variety of topics.
Although Kole de Peralta didn’t specify any specific subject students should tackle in the oral interviews, she said many students were interested in knowing how their interview subjects identified themselves.
“Even the word Latino can be a little controversial,” Kole de Peralta said. “This whole idea of identity is always shifting and fluid with the entire Latino population, so asking people how they view themselves was important.”
Other topics many students addressed in the interviews included what growing up was like and reactions on the current political state, particularly the views of Donald Trump on immigration.
The Mis Memorias project was important to Kole de Peralta for many reasons. She believes that it is an excellent way for students to learn more about oral history as well as their fellow Latino students.
There are only two things that Kole de Peralta said she hopes any student will have learned from participating in the project: a respect for oral history and an appreciation for the local Latino population.
“Part of the reason I wanted to do this project here is because I don’t think there’s enough awareness among ISU students of the Latino community,” Kole de Peralta said. “I just thought I need to make my students aware of this population, make them interact with this population, and understand this population.”
The project, however, is only one way that Kole de Peralta has attempted to convey the importance of understanding the Latino community to her classes. She also teaches her students about the discrimination many Latinos have faced throughout American history.
“I like to break down the stereotypes or impressions or dialogue that we have about immigration,” Kole de Peralta said. “In the current political situation, we talk about illegal immigrants like they want to come take advantage of America, and usually that’s not the case.”
Kole de Peralta will continue having her students participate in the oral history projects in the fall; although she said next year she may have the students focus specifically on the health and food culture of Latinos.
