María j. López Cerillos oral history, 2021 February 22

The Baltimore Latin American Immigrant oral history collection, 2021, contains interviews with immigrants from Latin America living in the Baltimore, Maryland area. The interviews were conducted by students in David Carey Jr.'s class HS485: Oral History in the Americas. The collection includes interview transcripts as well as audio and video files. The class partnered with Esperanza Center, a comprehensive resource center whose mission is to welcome immigrants by offering hope, compassionate services, and the power to improve their lives. Interviewees were affiliated with Esperanza Center as community members, employees, or volunteers, and volunteered to participate in the oral history project. The language used in interviews varies depending on the English and Spanish proficiency of the interviewers and interviewees. In some interviews, a translator from Esperanza Center is present to aid the conversation. Interviews may be entirely in Spanish, entirely in English, or in both languages.

In the interviews, interviewees discuss their life and upbringing in Latin America, the circumstances that brought them to the United States, their adjustment to life in a new country, and the values, beliefs, and priorities that shape their lives today.