Ellie Waltman, Managing Editor
Maddy Thurber, Staff Writer
The Latino Virginia Oral History Project presented 70 interviews with Latino Virginians at the Hispanic Heritage celebration at the Sacred Heart Center on Sept. 16.
The expansive oral history project captures the experiences of Latinos in Virginia and was conducted by VCU professors and undergraduate and graduate students, according to VCUnews.
The event featured opening remarks from Catherine Ingrassia, the dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences, both professors who co-led the project and students who helped conduct the interviews.
Virginia’s Latino population continues to be a significant percentage of the state’s population, with over 8.8 million in the entire state. Richmond’s population of people self-identifying as Hispanic or Latino is 226,522, or 10.7%, according to census.gov.
Daniel Morales, an associate professor of history at VCU, said that despite the growing number of Latinos in Virginia and their status as the largest minority in the U.S., academic research and projects on the population are often overlooked.
“What we’re trying to show is that this is something that’s worthy of study and importance,” Morales said. “One in five Americans is Latino, they have the fastest-growing population in Virginia. It’s generally not considered important to know about Latinos and we think that’s wrong. We think that creates a distorted view of American history and we’re trying to rectify that by telling these stories and building it as an archive.”
The interviews include experiences shaped by economic opportunity, family unification and education as part of a broader effort with VCU’s Department of Sociology. Morales said the interview histories provide individual accounts of how people built their lives and found communities in Virginia.
“The bulk of the archive and interviews is about making a life here,” Morales said. “It’s not necessarily about migration or leaving Latin America. A very large percentage of people that we interviewed were born in the U.S. and born in Virginia.” e
Morales said that he hopes through the publication of this archive that the individuals whose interviews were featured feel represented and that the broader community understands that Latinos are changing Virginia.
“They’re [Latinos] changing the economy of Virginia and they’re changing the culture of Virginia. That’s a good thing, not a scary thing,” Morales said. “Understand that if you want to understand American history, society, culture, academic or not academic, you have to include Latino voices in that.”
Gabriela León-Pérez, an associate professor of sociology at VCU, said that the need to highlight the stories and diversity of the Latino community stems from the stereotypes and myths surrounding the community.
“Across the United States, almost two-thirds of Latinos are U.S. born,” León-Pérez said. “There’s always this interpretation that all Latinos are immigrants, but no, many were born here. They were raised here and their experience is different, so it was important for us to also shed light on this community.”
First- and second-generation Latinos, including immigrants and children of immigrants, are featured in interviews in the archive to show the diversity in origins within the community and break common stereotypes, according to León-Pérez.
“There’s people who come to Virginia and the U.S. for a variety of reasons, with many different backgrounds from many countries,” León-Pérez said. “Our archive has people from every single country of Latin America represented.”
Alongside publishing a digital archive, the Latino Project also published a lesson plan in collaboration with the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, León-Pérez said.
“These are lesson plans local teachers created so middle school and high school students can learn about the Latino community through these interviews,” León-Pérez said. “We also have a fact sheet that was created for us that provides a bunch of demographic statistics about the Latino community in Virginia.”
León-Pérez said that her main takeaway, and what she hopes others who engage with this project will take away, has been the resilience of the Latino community despite the obstacles that many of the individuals have faced.
“Many of these stories include experiences, challenges and obstacles, but at the end of the day, all of these stories show us resilience and how people have such a positive outlook on life,” León-Pérez said. “It really highlights how much the Latino community has contributed to the social, political and economic life in Virginia.”