Oral history interview with Mekdes Hilete

Collection

Identifier: SR 12351

Staff Only

Oral history interview with Mekdes Hilete

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Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Mekdes Hilete was conducted by Sankar Raman and Lindsey Keefer on December 16, 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, Hilete discusses the reasons her mother worked in the United States while Hilete remained in Ethiopia with her father, and talks about her reasons for joining her mother in the U.S. in 2015. She shares her memories of her early life and education in Addis Ababa, talks about her career plans, and describes how her education in the U.S. has helped her to pursue her goals. She discusses adjusting to life in the U.S., including learning to speak English, and speaks at length about her high school experience in Portland, Oregon. She closes the interview by sharing her plans for the future.

Dates

Creation: 2019 December 16

Creator

Hilete, Mekdes, 2001- (Interviewee, Person)
Raman, Sankar (Interviewer, Person)
Keefer, Lindsey (Interviewer, Person)
Immigrant Story (Hillsboro, Or.) (Organization)

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, https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Biographical note

Mekdes Hilete was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2001. Her mother lived and worked in the United States, and in 2015, she joined her mother in Portland, Oregon. She attended Wellesley College from 2020 to 2022.

Source: Information provided by Hilete in her interview; information from Hilete’s profile on LinkedIn.com

Extent

925 Megabytes (1 audio file (WAV, 1 hr., 26 min., 41 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Mekdes Hilete, conducted by Sankar Raman and Lindsey Keefer on December 16, 2019, for The Immigrant Story. Hilete discusses her experience as an Ethiopian immigrant and high school student in Portland, Oregon.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Audio available online in OHS Digital Collections.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2023 (RL2023-081).

Publication note

An article about Mekdes Hilete, "Seeking out the 'How'" by Lindsey Keefer, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/seeking-out-the-how/.