About the Project

In 1981, high school students at D.C.’s Columbia Heights-based Latin American Youth Center started an ambitious project. Their mission was to preserve important D.C. history: Central Americans were fleeing their homelands in record numbers — escaping war and economic crisis.

When many sought refuge in the Land of Opportunity’s Capital, they were surprised at the new life they found. LAYC’s students switched on their tape recorders and began collecting oral histories with the newest members of Washington’s Latino community. They wanted to know: what’s it like to uproot your life and start over — thousands of miles away in an unfamiliar place with a language not your own?

The Latino narrators told them the truth — all of it: how difficult it is to adapt, to obtain affordable housing and bilingual education, to find new churches and friends. They became dishwashers, police officers, community activists. And their impact, influence, and achievements live on in the District today.

We honor the creators and narrators by ensuring their efforts and voices live on.

Our Work

We aim to promote historical, cultural, and language learning with our episodic video podcast.

Each YouTube video contains the ability for English and Spanish captions to be activated at the user’s preference. Quick interactive quizzes (and hard copy versions) are available on each episode page of this site to supplement the original content.