Immigrant Oral Experience Interview
Immigrant Oral Experience Interview
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Date
2014-05
Authors
Ferguson, Amber M.
Gunderson, Olive
Advisor
Citation
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Abstract
I had the pleasure of interviewing Olive, an Air Force wife and mother who immigrated to the
United States from Port Antonio, Jamaica. Born in 1933, Olive moved to several places around
the world and now has six children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. I am her
granddaughter. The themes that we focused during the interview were: Early Childhood,
Jamaican Culture, Racial Identity, Military Life and the Civil Rights Movement. Olive has a
unique story in many ways. She was an interracial Jamaican who married an African-American
military officer. In the early 1970s, Olive become mildly involved in the Civil Rights movement
after meeting Rosa Parks. Throughout this interview you will read about the experience of an
extraordinary Jamaican immigrant who became a world traveler and a living source of history.
Notes
Undergraduate final project submitted to Professor Thomas A. Castillo of the History Department, College of Arts and Humanities for a course sponsored by the Center for the New America, University of Maryland, College Park. Final project for HIST428N Immigrant Life Stories: An Oral History Practicum (spring 2014).