Oral histories preserve the stories of communities that might otherwise be lost

Oral history preserves the past by recording people’s real voices. It’s not just about recording the stories people tell. It’s also about the way they tell them. Oral history is about memory and humanity. It’s a form of history that anyone can be a part of.

This hour, we’re returning to our conversations with two Connecticut residents about the stories they have preserved through oral history.

Author and educator Mary Romney-Schaab talks about her father's experience as a Black person imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. And Amanda Rivera, a PhD candidate in American Studies at Yale University, discusses the history of Connecticut's Puerto Rican communities.

GUESTS:

• Mary Romney-Schaab: retired teacher and author of An Afro-Caribbean in the Nazi Era: From Papiamentu to German. The book details her father’s experience in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II

• Amanda Rivera: PhD candidate in the Department of American Studies at Yale University. Her work explores activism and education reform in Puerto Rican communities in southern Connecticut.

This episode originally aired on April 25, 2025.

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