Magdalena Maiz-Peña oral history interview, September 12, 2002

Description

Magdalena Maiz-Peña, a Spanish professor at Davidson College, talks about her life growing up near the Mexican-Texan border. Being born in Monterrey, Mexico, Ms. Maiz-Peña lived traveling between the United States and Mexico as she had family on either side of the border. She grew up with both cultures equally dominant in her life. Her mother tongue is Spanish, but her mother who was born and grew up in Texas spoke and taught her and her brothers English. Ms. Maiz-Peña talks about how her mother brought her and her twelve brothers up celebrating festivities from both cultures. After discussing her childhood, Ms. Maiz-Peña delves into her present experiences as an immigrant living in the United States. She talks about the difficulties many immigrants experience because of the culture shock and language barriers. Having volunteered for various programs, Ms. Maiz-Peña has worked directly with immigrants in easing the cultural assimilation and aiding with the difficulties they experience. Ms. Maiz-Peña talks about her career as a Spanish professor as being very rewarding, as she tries to open up Americans to the culture and ways of Latinos so that her students can gain a better understanding and have a more accepting perspective of other cultures different from their own. In viewing specific photos provided by the interviewer, Ms. Maiz-Peña talks about what the photos mean to her, and the emotions and ideas they evoke pertaining to her own personal anecdotes. She talks about pictures that portray the Day of the Dead, Catholicism, education, and immigration, which all hold cultural significance in Latino culture.

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Latinos in Charlotte

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Title: Magdalena Maiz-Peña oral history interview, 2002 September 12
Interviewee: Maiz-Peña, Magdalena
Interviewer: Shand, Joanne
Place of Publication: Charlotte, North Carolina
Publisher: J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Date of Interview: 2002-09-12
Physical Description: 1 audio file (1:02:32) : digital, MP3 + 2 transcripts (original Spanish: 17 pages) (English translation: 16 pages)
Object Type: sound recording-nonmusical
Genre: spoken word
Language: spa
Interviewee Biography: Magdalena Maiz-Peña was a 47-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place in her office at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. She was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1955. She completed her PhD at Arizona State University and was employed as an associate professor of Spanish at Davidson College.
Abstract: Magdalena Maiz-Peña, a Spanish professor at Davidson College, talks about her life growing up near the Mexican-Texan border. Being born in Monterrey, Mexico, Ms. Maiz-Peña lived traveling between the United States and Mexico as she had family on either side of the border. She grew up with both cultures equally dominant in her life. Her mother tongue is Spanish, but her mother who was born and grew up in Texas spoke and taught her and her brothers English. Ms. Maiz-Peña talks about how her mother brought her and her twelve brothers up celebrating festivities from both cultures. After discussing her childhood, Ms. Maiz-Peña delves into her present experiences as an immigrant living in the United States. She talks about the difficulties many immigrants experience because of the culture shock and language barriers. Having volunteered for various programs, Ms. Maiz-Peña has worked directly with immigrants in easing the cultural assimilation and aiding with the difficulties they experience. Ms. Maiz-Peña talks about her career as a Spanish professor as being very rewarding, as she tries to open up Americans to the culture and ways of Latinos so that her students can gain a better understanding and have a more accepting perspective of other cultures different from their own. In viewing specific photos provided by the interviewer, Ms. Maiz-Peña talks about what the photos mean to her, and the emotions and ideas they evoke pertaining to her own personal anecdotes. She talks about pictures that portray the Day of the Dead, Catholicism, education, and immigration, which all hold cultural significance in Latino culture.
Digital Object Notes: MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on two minidiscs and reformatted using a Digidesign 003 rack.
Interviewee Occupations: College teachers
Subjects--Names: Maiz-Peña, Magdalena
Subjects--Organizations: Catholic Church
Subjects--Topics: Latin Americans
Hispanic Americans
Biculturalism
Hispanic American families
Hispanic Americans--Social life and customs
Emigration and immigration
Immigrants--Social conditions
Spanish language--Study and teaching
Voluntarism
All Souls' Day
Subjects--Geographic: Mexico--Monterrey
Arizona
North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Davidson
Subjects--Genre: Interviews
Oral histories
Coverage--Dates: 1970-2010
Digital Collection Title: Levine Museum of the New South
Digital Collection Series Title: Latinos in Charlotte
Rights: This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
This material is protected by copyright. Copyright is held by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Internet Media Type: audio/mpeg
Identifier: MU-PE0175

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