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Oral history interview with Felix Songolo

 Collection
Identifier: SR12289

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Felix Songolo was conducted by Sankar Raman on February 10, 2018. 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, Songolo discusses his family background, the reasons his parents fled the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997, and his early life in Lusaka, Zambia. He then talks about immigrating to the United States in 2004 and settling in Portland, Oregon. Hetalks about his siblings and his early education in Portland. He discusses the Catholic charities that facilitated his family’s settlement in the U.S., as well as his own involvement in the Catholic Church. He talks about his parents’ careers; describes his experience as one of only a few black students in his classes; and discusses his cultural and ethnic identity, as well as some of the discrimination he experienced. He speaks at length about his middle and high school education at Catholic schools. He discusses experiences in the eighth grade that helped him to become more comfortable with his African heritage and to take his education seriously. He then speaks at length about his education as De La Salle North Catholic High School; applying for college; and playing soccer. He talks about his plans for college at Georgetown University, his volunteer work on behalf of immigrants and refugees, and scholarships he has applied for. He closes the interview by talking about his thoughts on the American Dream.

Dates

  • 2018 February 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

Felix Songolo was born in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2000. His family had fled violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo a few years earlier. In 2004, his family was approved for resettlement in the United States, and they immigrated to Portland, Oregon. He graduated from De La Salle North Catholic High School in 2018 and became a student at Georgetown University.

Extent

95.5 Megabytes (1 online resource (4 audio files (1 hr., 43 min., 11 sec.))) : MPEG-4

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Oral history interview with Felix Songolo conducted by Sankar Raman on February 10, 2018, for The Immigrant Story. Songolo, the son of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, immigrated to the United States with his family at age 4. They settled in Portland, Oregon, in 2004.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Immigrant Story, July 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-018).

Publication note

An article about Felix Songolo, "Something To Be Proud Of" by Rebekah Hildebrandt, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/proud/

Creator

Title
Guide to oral history interview with Felix Songolo
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2020
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
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