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Amantina Duran

Oral history interview conducted by Marcelo Herman

March 28, 1989

Call number: 1989.004.17

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0:05 - Mudanza a Brooklyn, transportación pública y comunidad latina católica en Brooklyn - Moving to Brooklyn, public transportation in and Hispanic Catholic community in Brooklyn

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6:32 - Razones para mudarse a NY, sistema de inmigración en los sesenta - Reasons for moving to NY, immigration system in 1960s

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12:43 - Grupo de Loma Prieta, ayuda a personas en RD y Williamsburg - Grupo de Loma Prieta organization, aid to people in the DR and in Williamsburg

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22:24 - Empleo en NY, ambiente de empleo, composición étnica de los empleados de fábricas - Employment in New York, work environment, ethnic composition of factory workers

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30:33 - Involucramiento de la Iglesia de la Transfiguración en la comunidad - Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church involvement with the community

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34:22 - Comunidad puertorriqueña en Williamsburg, bodegas dominicanas y organizaciones de comerciantes - Puerto Rican community in Williamsburg, Dominican bodegas and business organizations

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39:01 - Discriminación hacia latinos, machismo en la cultura dominicana, sueldos, condiciones de vida - Discrimination towards Latinos, misogyny in Dominican culture, wages, living conditions

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52:18 - Falta de interés en organizaciones y asuntos comunitarios por parte de los inmigrantes más recientes - Recent immigrant's lack of interest in community affairs and organizations

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61:24 - Involucramiento del grupo con otros grupos latinos, luchas de la comunidad latina - Group's involvement with other Hispanic groups, struggles of the Hispanic community

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Interview Description

Oral History Interview with Amantina Durán

Amantina Durán originated from the district of Loma Prieta, San José de las Matas, Dominican Republic. After arriving in New York City, she first lived in Manhattan and moved to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where she resided when the interview took place in 1989. Durán attended the Church of the Transfiguration along with many nearby Dominican Americans. With her two daughters in college, she studied English at Solidaridad Humana, a school on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

In the interview, Amantina Durán names her motivations for moving; one of her reasons for living in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn is its proximity to the Church of the Transfiguration. She states that many Dominicans from her hometown also live nearby. At the church, a group from Loma Prieta and from other small neighboring towns meet on a regular basis. They contribute to a fund that offers financial aid to needy members. Durán discusses the Church's Nuestros Ninos Day Care Center, where she sent her daughters, thus allowing her to go to work in small factories in lower Manhattan. She discusses changes in Williamsburg; once heavily Puerto Rican, but populated instead by those of Dominican and Mexican heritages at the time of the 1989 interview. Finally, she talks about the problems of drugs, gentrification pressures, and conflicts between Williamsburg's Latino and Jewish communities. Interview in Spanish conducted by Marcelo Herman.

Brooklyn Historical Society initiated the Hispanic Communities Documentation Project in 1988. Over fifty interviews were conducted to document the experiences of Brooklyn residents who arrived from Puerto Rico, Panama, Ecuador, and several other Central and South American nations in the latter half of the twentieth century. This collection includes recordings and transcripts of interviews conducted between 1988 and 1989. The oral histories often contain descriptions of immigration, living arrangements, neighborhood demographics, discrimination, employment, community development, and political leadership. Also included are photographs and printed ephemera.

Citation

Duran, Amantina, Oral history interview conducted by Marcelo Herman, March 28, 1989, Hispanic Communities Documentation Project records and oral histories, 1989.004.17; Brooklyn Historical Society.

People

  • Duran, Amantina
  • Walsh, Peggy, Sister

Topics

  • Community identity
  • Day care centers
  • Dominican Americans| Emigration and immigration
  • English as a second language
  • Ethnic identity
  • Hispanic Americans
  • Language and languages
  • Puerto Ricans

Places

  • Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
  • Dominican Republic
  • New York (N.Y.)
  • Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)

Finding Aid

Hispanic Communities Documentation Project records and oral histories