The Florida Historical Society Oral History Project is an effort to continue diversifying the archival collections at our Library of Florida History by creating a digital and physical archive of oral histories, focusing on diverse and typically underserved communities in our state. These interviews preserve personal recollections, experiences, and perspectives on past events. These interviews capture the voices and memories of individuals who lived through significant historical periods, contributing to a richer understanding of the past.
Kymbat Iglikova was born in Talshik, Kazakhstan, in 1984. She recounted memories of her upbringing, particularly the uncertainty that followed Kazakhstan’s independence after the fall of the Soviet Union, as well as fond recollections of her parents and grandparents. Kymbat wished to pursue a career in chemistry; however, her mother discouraged her from working in such a field, citing geographical and gender concerns. Instead, her mother...
Silvia Huddleston was born in Lima, Peru, in 1969. She recollected memories of her upbringing in Lima, particularly the challenges growing up with terrorist attacks across the city during the 1970s and 1980s. Silvia discovered dance as a way to gain a deeper understanding of her native culture, one in which, as she explained, Peruvian schools did not teach and overlooked. She recounted her early dancing career, particularly her performance at the...
Edward H. Greene was born in Winter Park, Florida, in 1948. He grew up in several communities across Orlando in the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in Eatonville. He recalled his adolescent experience in Eatonville, particularly attending Hungerford High School. Edward’s family intersects deeply with Eatonville’s history, as his grandmother’s uncle was Joe Clark, the formerly enslaved African American who founded Eatonville in 1887. Edward’s...
Lisa Gong Guerrero was born in Guangdong Province, China, in 1977. Lisa emigrated to Tampa, Florida, at around five years old with her family. She explained the circumstances that prompted her family to leave China, emphasizing the limited opportunities, especially for young girls and women. Lisa recalled her K12 education experiences, particularly the racial and cultural challenges she faced as a Chinese immigrant. She credited her grandparents...
Guenet Gittens-Roberts was born in Guyana in 1975. She recollected her upbringing in Guyana during the 1980s, particularly how the country’s multicultural and diverse religious landscape influenced her profoundly. Guenet recalled memories of her parents owning a screen printing company and the intertwined relationship between work and life. Despite not explicitly realizing it then, Guenet reflected on the unique experience of being born only nine...
Samir Fkiyi was born in Morocco in 1986. After briefly discussing his experiences growing up in Morocco, Samir recounted his decision to leave and emigrate to the United States in 2011. He realized that perceptions in Morocco about Americans—and vice versa—differed from what he observed living in the States. In fact, Samir created a YouTube channel to challenge the cultural stereotypes often associated with Americans and Moroccans, leveraging the...
Reginald (Reggie) Finlayson was born on May 12, 1954, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father’s family history, however, has deep connections to Florida, particularly his grandfather, who built one of the oldest remaining Black churches in Miami—the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Coconut Grove. Reggie recollected stories about his grandfather’s time serving as the church’s minister and its significance to the Black community in...
Alex Erdmann was born on August 26th, 1969, in Thuringia, East Germany. Alex recollected his experience growing up in East Germany, from the Soviet influence to the difficulty of seeing family that lived across the Berlin Wall in West Germany. Alex joined the East German military to professionalize as a chef, which remained one of the few ways to practice culinary arts then. Interestingly, the end of Alex’s military service coincided with the...
Mayor Jerry L. Demings was born in Orlando, Florida, in 1959. He recounted his upbringing throughout the 1960s and early 1970s in Washington Shores, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Orlando. He recollected memories of his father working as a taxi driver for twelve hours a day, seven days a week, and his mother as a housemaid, all while both of them operated several small businesses within their communities to make ends meet. He described how...
Adriana Collado was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1966. Seven years removed from the start of the Cuban Revolution, Adriana recounted her upbringing in a society transitioning from a capitalistic free model to a communist oriented world. She emphasized how the state forced children to prioritize the leader and follow politics more than anything, including their own families. The idea of the Revolution enticed her parents to stay on the island, as...
Roksalana Cisyk was born in Ukraine , at the time the former Soviet Union , in 1969. She recounted her experiences growing up in the former Soviet Union. Roksalana shared how her worldview on the United States changed once her aunt , who lived in the US , brought items from the capitalist society. She visited the US several times and permanently emigrated to the country in 1994, three years after Ukrainian independence. Roksalana studied applied...
Volodymyr Chornyy was born in Ukraine in the former Soviet Union in 1981. Volodymyr recalled his experiences growing up in the former Soviet Union, particularly how education changed after the USSR fell in 1991. He fondly remembered the Ukrainian independent spirit of the 1990s, while also emphasizing the economic difficulties many families faced during this transition. Volodymyr studied medicine in Ukraine and shared his professional experiences...
Priyanka Chandra Sen was born in Orlando, Florida, in 1994. She recounted her upbringing, particularly her experiences navigating her dual American and Indian identity, from her parents maintaining Indian cultural norms at home while attempting to assimilate her within American society, to her own cultural encounters throughout her K-12 education in Orlando. She specifically remembered how she and the other few Indian girls tried to match a...
Subhash Chandra was born in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1944. He recalled how India’s independence in 1947 affected his earlier years and his family more broadly. In addition to the challenges brought with independence, Subhash remembered the financial difficulties his family experienced during his childhood. A fascination with American society and culture, learned through films and word of mouth, and a desire to complete his higher...
Madhu Chandra was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1947. She recollected memories of her upbringing, particularly how frequently her family moved from various cities across India, given her father’s position in government. Born a few months into the Partition, Madhu remembered stories that her family passed down during her childhood years after the freedom movement ended. She recounted how the event impacted her family specifically and...
Puxiao Cen was born in Guangzhou City, China, in 1968. She recounted her upbringing, particularly her father’s crucial influence in developing an affinity for medicine, as well as her understanding of the centrality of self-critical thinking and questioning while living under the Chinese communist regime during the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to recollecting stories from the Cultural Revolution, Puxiao described witnessing the 1989 Tiananmen...
Xiongwei “Will” Cao was born in Hangzhou, China, in 1977. Will recounted his upbringing, particularly the economic challenges his parents faced as poor communal farmers. He shared stories that his family passed down regarding China’s Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, particularly how the Red Guards tortured his great-great maternal grandmother to death for her “superstitious” medical practices. Will also remembered how the educational...
Aquanza Cadogan was born on September 20, 1981, in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. At around eight years old, Aquanza and his family moved to Pine Hills, Florida. From East Flatbush, where many West Indian cultures resided (Aquanza’s parents are originally from Georgetown, Guyana—located in South America), Aquanza recalled his difficulties adjusting to Pine Hills. He attended the University of Florida and explained how his college experience...
Drasa C. Brown was born in Orlando, Florida, on March 30, 1976. He remembered growing up in Orlando during the 1980s and early 1990s, particularly how central Christianity proved for his family and attending Edgewater High School. Drasa also shared his incarceration experience and how transformative it remains for him. He explained what drew him to attend the 2025 Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, highlighting its...
Louis “Lou” Boria Jr. was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1927. A child of Puerto Rican parents, he recalled the contentious racial climate growing up in Brooklyn during the 1930s and early 1940s. He vividly remembered the racially charged statements he received as an adolescent, particularly “F— Puerto Rican this, F— Puerto Rico that,” and how that largely influenced his identity and his decision to join the Marine Corps underage in 1943. Boria...
Vasyl Boichook was born in Ukraine in 1966. Vasyl recounted his adolescent experience in the former Soviet Union throughout the 1980s, particularly as the empire opened and eroded. He explained his inspiration for studying artistic woodworking and how he developed his versatility in a school he attended in Ukraine. In December 1991, Vasyl emigrated to the United States, approximately a few days after Ukrainians ratified their independence. He...
Valerie Boey Ramsey was born in New York in 1967. She recollected memories of her upbringing, particularly growing up in a middle-class Chinese-American home in New York. She shared stories of her family’s Asian lineage. In 1991, Valerie moved to Florida to work for WINK News in Fort Myers. In 2003, TSP Tampa hired her, initially covering state politics in Tallahassee. Valerie left TSP to join FOX 35 in Orlando in 2008. Additionally, Valerie...
Thamara Bejarano was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1978. A daughter of two journalists, Thamara recalled her experience growing up in Caracas, especially in the 1990s. She explained in detail the 1998 election, in which Hugo Chavez gained power, leading to the kleptocracy that continues to plague the nation today. Given that Thamara and her parents worked in media, she highlighted how the Chavez and Nicolas Maduro regimes impacted her family...
Jasdeep “Jazzy” Aujla was born in Barking, East London, United Kingdom, in 1990. She emigrated to Central Florida at four years old with her father. Economic difficulties prompted Jasdeep’s parents to leave the UK, while relatives already living in Central Florida facilitated their decision and transition to the Sunshine State. As an Indian immigrant, Jasdeep recalled early challenges acclimating to American culture, from language to aesthetics...
Surabhi Adesh was born in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1965. Her father received a position with the Indian High Commission to teach Hindi music and culture in the West Indies and report on the broader conditions of the Indian diaspora in that region. As a result, in 1966, when Surabhi was around a year old, the family moved to Trinidad. In 1967, her father established the Bharatiya Vidya Sansthhaan Institute, also known as the Institute of...