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Oral history interview with Baher Butti

 Collection
Identifier: SR 12301

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Baher Butti was conducted by Sankar Raman on January 10, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Butti discusses his early life in Baghdad, Iraq, talks about his family's history of political activism, and describes his experiences during the 1980 Iran-Iraq War. He speaks about life under the authoritarian governments in Iraq, particularly the Saddam Hussein regime. He also talks about practicing as a psychiatrist in Iraq. He describes his experiences during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and talks about the series of events that led to an assassination threat against him. He discusses the process of leaving Iraq and immigrating to the United States with his family. He talks about his life in Oregon, including his career, organizations he founded, and his work with refugees. He discusses the historical religious diversity of Iraqis. He closes the interview by talking about the process of applying for asylum in the United States and sharing his hopes for the future.

Dates

  • Creation: 2019 January 10

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

Baher Butti was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1961. In 1984, he earned a degree in psychiatry from the University of Baghdad. That same year, he and Balsam Matti were married; they later had three children. In 1995, he earned a Ph.D. in psychiatry, also from the University of Baghdad. In 1999, Butti became the director of the Al-Rashad Mental Health Hospital in Baghdad. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he became involved in politics. He founded the al-Jannah organization to advocate for what he describes as humanitarian psycho-social care and ran for office. He left Iraq after learning that he was on a list of assassination targets, and in 2007, he immigrated to Portland, Oregon; his family followed soon after. After arriving in Oregon, he started the first Arabic-language mental health program at Oregon Health & Science University, founded the Iraqi Society of Oregon and the Center for Intercultural Wellness, and worked as a mental health professional for Catholic Charities of Oregon.

Extent

638 Megabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 58 min., 5 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral history interview with Baher Butti conducted by Sankar Raman on January 10, 2019, for The Immigrant Story. Butti discusses his experiences living in Iraq during the latter half of the 20th century and as an immigrant to the United States.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2021 (RL2021-057).

Bibliography

An article about Baher Butti, "A Candle in the Darkness" by Jan Landis, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/candle/
Title
Guide to the oral history interview with Baher Butti
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240