Immigration Stories Italy: Mustapha

Mustapha's journey begins in Gambia and travels through 7 different countries before reaching Calabria, Italy. Mustapha tells of the great risk as he leaves his family behind to travel for months to Libya. Mustapha tells us of how when he...

Immigration Stories Italy: Jorida

Jorida Dervishi is an idealist through and through. Jorida came from Albania to Milan 4 years ago and opened her own school for women immigrants to help them learn to speak Italian. While working with her school devoted to women...

Common Ground Tacony: Janice Monzo-Perry

This week I interview my cousin Janice Monzo who is originally from South Philadelphia 5th & Dudley Sts, but worked all over the city with the Salvation Army for 34 years. While working for the Salvation Army Janice's job was...

Stina Nanavati: A mother’s day interview

This is an interview with Stina Nanavati (mother) being questioned by John Nanavati (husband) and Ravi Nanavati (son). We asked questions about her family, the history of her talking feet, and a bit about her experiences with racism while growing...

Common Ground Tacony Oral History Project: Rafaela

Rafaela is a long time resident of North East Philadelphia and frequently attends art classes at Mural Arts Philadelphia Tacony. Rafaela speaks about her experiences being born in Philadelphia and partially being raised in South Korea and Philadelphia and then...

“Some of them as young as five and six had passed away throughout the course of the year”

Alex Semper Upton was a camp counselor for several years through many programs and leaderships. In this interview, she talks about becoming a certified lifeguard, putting on fun shows, and working with kids with Cystic Fibrosis. She talks about how...

Justine Chapel on her 22 Birthday

Jody speaks with her daughter, Justine, on how it feels to turn 22 and some of her favorite memories and experiences in life thus far.

Grandmother Evangeline Charles recalls how she yearned for a baby girl.

After giving birth to three boys, Evangeline Charles was hoping for a girl. However, her fourth child, Curtis, was born a boy. Nevertheless, when Evangeline first saw her child, she realized "I loved him more than I could any baby...

My mom Crystal Hamon talks about her childhood life to life now.

Me and my mom Crystal sat down on November 28,2017 at our house while I asked her a few questions about her life. My mom talked about her childhood and how it made her who she is today. I asked...

Interview with my Mom

The interview was so hilarious and full of enjoyment! My Mom shared some some I never knew. The best part of the interview was when she told me that she was a cry baby when she went to school and...

Reflecting on the past 96 years.

This is an interview with my Grandma, Yolanda Costa, on her 96th birthday. She grew up in Greenpoint, New York. She was one of 11 children in a large Catholic family. She was married to her husband, Joseph Costa for...