2014
Second Oral History Project
A documentary based on the interviews filmed in 2013 was released in September, before an audience of more than 200 people. Don Shelby, media personality and former news anchor provided the narration. It was a great success. For more information about obtaining a copy, please click here.
Here is the trailer:
2013
First Oral History Project
During the spring, eleven interviews were filmed, transcribed and archived for public availability to historians, researchers and other interested parties.
In September, HORA was awarded its second “Legacy Grant”, worth $10,000, from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the Minnesota Historical Society. This grant will fund the creation of a documentary film based on the interviews conducted in early 2013 of Romanians immigrating to the Twin Cities during 1900-1940. The project will begin in November, to be completed by no later than September 1, 2014. HORA will once again partner with RGS, TST, and the Dakota County Historical Society. The project team is again lead by Vicki Albu, joined by Monica Nedelcu-Erickson, Arria Giulan, Dorrene Hern, Raluca Octav, Jodie Miller, and Mark DeJoy.
At this time, HORA members are passionately working on submitting an application for a third “Legacy Grant”. The aim of this project is to record oral histories from Romanians who arrived to the Twin Cities after WWII, covering the communist and post-communist eras. Wish us luck!
2012
Legacy Grand Awarded
HORA was awarded a Legacy Grant from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund to conduct an oral history project. The purpose of the project is to record and preserve the ways in which Romanian immigrants came to Minnesota and how their cultural heritage has been preserved here. The goal is to record ten oral histories to provide an archive of unique Romanian-American immigration-to-Minnesota stories. Interviews will be conducted between December 2012 and May 2013, and archived for public availability by historians, researchers and other interested parties.
Partners in this project are the grant applicant, the Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans in Minnesota (“HORA”), HORA’s sister organization, the Romanian Genealogy Society (“RGS”), and Town Square Television (“TST”). After a brief training, interviews will be planned and conducted by members of HORA and RGS. High-definition audio-video recordings will be professionally transcribed by a certified transcription service. The audio-video recordings and typewritten transcripts will be stored and made available at the Dakota County Historical Society in South St. Paul, MN, and offered to the Minnesota Historical Society and the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center.
The project team was led by Vicki Albu (HORA Board member and President of RGS), with support from Raluca Octav (HORA Board member and Previous HORA president), Monica Nedelcu Erickson (HORA Board member and President), Jodie Miller (TST) and Dorrene Dragos Hern (RGS Treasurer). The team will undergo training in January and will select interviewees based on their level of first-hand knowledge of Romanian immigration to Minnesota and their direct experiences with preservation of Romanian cultural heritage.
HORA board members are considering future grant applications, with a potential long-term goal of creating a documentary film. This project has been made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. “Legacy Grants” are administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.