| Welcome to the John Novak Digital Interview Collection
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The John Novak Digital Interview Collection consists of interviews about immigration, migration, and the Civil Rights Movement. The interviewees, who range in age from 20 to 90, speak of their experiences moving to and within the United States. Listen to interviews from Esperanza Perez whose Mexican mother crossed the border to give birth to her daughter so that she could be an American citizen, Earnest Stamps who recounts his train ride to Detroit and his wonderment upon arrival at the Michigan Central Station, or Yvonne Revell who was a participant in the Greensboro Sit-in demonstrations. The project began in 2004 as part of a Teacher-Scholar award received by Professor Dena Scher in the Psychology/ Social Sciences Department of Marygrove College. In 2006, librarian Michael Barnes adapted the digital interviews into a special collection within the auspices of the Marygrove College Library. The developing collection supports the goal of learning about history and human progress from the experiences of ordinary individuals. The Collection does not seek to interview famous individuals but to provide a better understanding of the challenges and choices ordinary people face in their daily lives. Each interview has audio files (MP3) and an interview index or transcript. Take a moment to listen to one of the Homestead, Florida interviews. The interviews from Homestead tell the experiences of immigrants and their hardships in coming to the United States to find work in agriculture. There are five interviews with immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Cuba, and Haiti. The interviewees range in age from their 20’s to late 60’s, and all live currently in or near Homestead. The interviews were collected in March of 2008 by Dr. Dena Scher as part of a service learning experience for the psychology course, Group Dynamics. Dr. Scher and students Tracee Anderson and Brenda Hobbs worked at the Open House Ministry tutoring in the after-school program and helping in the squash fields. All of the interviews were transcribed by Tracee Anderson. Click here or the door on the right to browse the Homestead, Florida interviews. |
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| Listen to Esperanza Perez talk about working in the U.S. as a child. Esperanza would work all week in the cotton fields of Texas to bring home five dollars for her family. or Click here for the full interview. |