Family Portraits In Global Perspectives: An Oral History Collection

Family Portraits In Global Perspectives showcases a collection of vivid and touching memoirs of the surprising lives of ordinary elders from across the globe. Surviving the Great Depression, WWII, famines, migration & poverty, the collection will move and inspire you to chronicle your elders' histories for posterity.The memoirs were recorded and translated by university students. The narratives capture transnational accounts of lived experiences during pivotal events dating back to the 1920's through contemporary times. The range of topics in this volume includes intimate accounts of the Great Depression, Civil Rights, World War II, Latin American history, military coup d'états, natural disasters, communism, and migration. The collection of memoirs showcased in Family Portraits reflects student diversity, spanning many cultures, and including diverse regions of the United States, Mexico, China, Japan, Greece, Korea, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Philippines, Nepal, Burma, and Malaysia. The oral histories offer a space from where to empathize with the everyday realities of the previous generations, and the many resourceful ways in which our ancestors lived their lives. Family Portraits is a work of love, and it's about writing family history, writing memoir, and writing about place. This collection chronicles memories that contribute to humanizing and expanding the historical record and meet a deep need for the older generation to tell their story for posterity.