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Oral history interview with Patricia Walker

Anacostia Community Museum

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.
Interviewer
Knight, Anthony
Names
Walker, Patricia
Collection Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
Place
Costa Rica
Washington (D.C.)
United States
Topic
Afro-West Indians
Women
Costa Ricans
African Americans
Latin Americans
Emigration and immigration
Cultural pluralism
Group identity
Racism
Discipline
Catholicism
Intermarriage
Identity
Manners and customs
Interviews
Interviewer
Knight, Anthony
Culture
West Indians
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
3 Digital files
2 Sound cassettes
Date
1991 April 09
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 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Scope and Contents
Patricia Walker spoke about her childhood growing up and her school experience in San Jose, Costa Rica as a person of African descent; the differences between her parents' childhoods and her childhood in Costa Rica; history of Costa Rica; and her family history, including her grandfather who migrated from Jamaica to Costa Rica to work for the United Fruit Company, and her mother's side of the family migrated from Barbados. Walker explained the educational and language differences throughout her family across generations as well as the relationships and interactions among various communities in Costa Rica because of cultural, racial, and ethnic differences. She explained her identity as Afro-West Indian female born in Costa Rica. Walker also spoke about why and how she immigrated, as a child, to the United States; her first impression of the United States; racism she experienced as a child in the United States; being raised by her aunt, a strict disciplinarian, before her parents immigrated to the United States; her educational experiences in the Washington, DC area; her aunt's and parents' work and experience in the United States, and their return to Costa Rica; and her brothers, husband, and child. She explained how Costa Rica has changed since she was a child; why she does not plan to live in the United States the rest of her life; her thoughts on interracial marriage; cultural differences between her and her husband, who was from Grenada; her relationship with African Americans and West Indians in the United States; how her West Indian and Catholic upbringing, culture, and identity influenced her work and her life; and the differences between Costa Rican / Latino culture and West Indian culture. Patricia Walker was interviewed by Anthony Knight. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include white noise and static, and some background noise; interviewee can be heard clearly for the most part. There is a short sudden interruption in recording.
Collection Restrictions
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1712088000981-1712088003371-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa7b262f980-23a0-44e2-a6a4-a32bcf0b1de6

Related Content

  • Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records

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