Oral history interview with Madam Safoa and Serwa Akoto
Object Details
- General
- Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
- Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
- Names
- Akoto, Serwa
- Collection Creator
- Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
- Place
- Ghana
- Washington (D.C.)
- United States
- Topic
- Women
- Businesswomen
- Women dressmakers
- Women tailors
- Africans
- Clothing and dress
- Dressmaking
- Sewing
- Women-owned business enterprises
- Emigration and immigration
- Interviews
- Culture
- Ghanaians
- See more items in
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews
- Sponsor
- Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
- Extent
- 1 Digital file
- 1 Sound cassette
- Date
- circa 1992-1993
- Archival Repository
- Anacostia Community Museum Archives
- Type
- Archival materials
- Digital files
- Sound cassettes
- Citation
- Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
- Collection Rights
- Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
- Note
- The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 35 minutes.
- Scope and Contents
- Madam Safoa spoke about the opening of her business where she sells all types of African materials and sews any style of clothing; and hiring her assistant, Serwa. She explained the demographics of her customers; why everyone wants to wear cultural dress; and that her business shares space with a grocery store in Langley Park Mall. Madam Safoa and Serwa Akoto spoke about when and why they came to Washington, DC from Ghana; how they learned to sew and who taught them; the types and styles of clothing they make; customers' responses to the clothing they make; the prices of the clothing; and their future plans. They named and described the different dresses and styles of clothing; and explained the meanings of the names of the clothing. Madam Safoa also explained she attended a training school for seamstresses in Ghana and was taught to sew clothing without using patterns. Serwa Akoto also spoke about her joy working for Madam Safoa's business. Interviews are mostly in English; names of clothing are not in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static, and loud background noise. Interviewees' voices are intelligible for the most part.
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
- Record ID
- ebl-1712088000981-1712088003375-1
- Metadata Usage
- CC0