Immigrant Oral History Project (Mss. Gr. 32)

The collection consists of 11 audio cassette tapes, transcripts, student papers, and biographical material of 13 individuals who related their life experiences as immigrants living in Rhode Island. The student papers discuss the the interviewee's ethnic heritage and include an outline of questions that were asked during each interview.

The transcript of one set of interviews, that of Portuguese Americans Mamie Goes Mello and Lydia Paulino Rego, includes a news clipping from the Providence Journal, dated November 15, 1978, which reported on Portuguese-American demonstrations agitating for greater recognition of Portuguese needs by the mayor’s office of New Bedford, MA. The Mary Pennine transcript does not have an accompanying tape, or a historical background discussion paper. The Pennine interview was conducted by Dr. Valerie Quinney in her capacity as the Associate Director of the State Oral History Project in 1976. The interviews of Scottish immigrants John Semple and Richard Cairns contain only partial transcriptions.