Search Interviews

Seto You, age 92/93 or 97/98, is interviewed by his son, Ed You, age 26, about his early days in the USA. He arrived from China in 1916, worked as a cook in this country well into his 80's. He...

Paul Nilsen (83) is interviewed by his friend and former student Jim Perkins (64) about his work to make sure students with HIV were protected in the school he worked in 1980's in Wilmette, IL.

The photo featured here is from 1992, our first year together. When Stonewall happened, neither of us knew. We became a couple in Chicago 23 years later. The chorus of CeCe Peniston's "Finally," a tune that was popular during our...

My father’s name is Alan Johnson. He was born in the year 1957 in Royal Oak, Michigan. He told me that his first job was a caddy at a country club but he didn’t know how to carry the clubs...

Friends and fellow Questbridge scholars, Akie Kadota (19), Christian Reyes, (21) and Carter Liebman (19), talk about their experiences as low-income first-generation college students at Northwestern University. They talk about their family histories, parental role reversal, navigating bureaucratic systems without...

Longtime friends Buta Muzuri (49) and Pierre Bashale (54) talk about their respective life journeys, including living as political refugees in Boise, Idaho.

Megan Grandstaff (35) and her colleague Becky Kidd (51) talk about their involvement as volunteer fixers at Community Glue Workshop, a free monthly community repair clinic in Chicago.

Charlie Wilson (69) talks to his new acquaintance, Brandi Washington (18), about growing up in Mississippi, moving to the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago in the 1970s, his family, his work, and his advice to young people on making a...

Spouses Jamie Koch (71) and Cathy Koch (71) reminisce about their family, life in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, their involvement with the church, historic preservation, and their occupations.

John Ford, a long-time client of EZRA's, sits down with a member of EZRA's Social Action team to discuss his experiences growing up as a Black man in Chicago, working with EZRA, and gentrification in Uptown, Chicago.

Xavier McElrath-Bey (43) and James Dold (36) reflect on their childhood and the people that helped them become the men they are today.

Emma VandeWater is a student in the Master of Urban Planning program at the University of Kansas. Sean Tapia is a graduate of the University of Kansas and works at a planning firm in Chicago. In this interview we talked...

Sue Espey Ellis (55) talks with her father, John Espey (83), about growing up in Clearwater, Florida, attending the same college of Florida State University, Chicago, segregation and desegregation of the north and south.

Colleagues Terry Conrad (76) and William Marcus (70) discuss their careers in public radio.

Siblings Ambar Rizwan (36) and Daanish Rizwan [no age given] discuss their childhoods, going to a predominately white High School, and expectations from their parents. Daanish describes his UX work and his efforts to bring about representation and inclusion. Ambar...

Michael Stalzer (76) talks to his daughter, Kathy Kubik (46), about growing up on the South Side of Chicago, serving with the 330th Radio Research Company in the Army during the War in Viet Nam, working for ComEd for 38...

One Small Step conversation partners Hannah Mitchell [no age given] and Arlene El-Amin [no age given] discuss growing up in Montreal and Chicago. They also discuss their Unitarian and Muslim beliefs and the ways that their beliefs are similar.

Karol Kennedy (59) talks with her mother, Kristina "Kris" Young Smirl (83), about her childhood, parenting, memories, jobs, and hobbies.

Cleo Francine Wilson (77) speaks to her partner Bob Roth (74) about her first experience at a camp traveling outside of her Chicago West Side neighborhood, and feeling a "fish out of the water" after her trip.

My Grandfather, John Grey, has had an interesting upbringing moving from place to place with his family. He was raised as a young child in Chicago Illinois, and later moved to Dallas Texas with his family. In this interview, Me...

Aidan Bank (14) talks with his mother, Elysa Jimenez (33) about her life being a young mother and how she overcame challenges.

This Interview was conducted as part of a class assignment for SOWK 732 Migration, Human Rights, and Social Justice, a graduate level social work course at Loyola University Chicago. The Interview mainly focuses on immigration and economic justice from the...

Phyllis Brooks Toback (76) talks to new acquaintance, Kathy Bergen (66) about growing up in Brooklyn, marrying her high school sweetheart, her educational and career pursuits, the transformations of her work and spiritual beliefs throughout her life, her children, and...

Kurt Whitney (47) and Katja Schindler (52) interviews Kurt’s dad Ken Whitney (81) about his early life, past times, and his time in the military.

One Small Step conversation partners Charles "Chak" Lawrence (42) and Jacquie Johnson (63) being adopted, adopting a child of a different race, finding multi-cultural identity and living overseas in North Africa.