Abstract
Statement of the Problem: The Placer County Archives and Research Center and the author desire an oral history project that will serve as the basis for an ongoing oral history program to document the history of the immigration experiences of Auburn’s undocumented Hispanic community. Auburn consists of numerous families in which the parents are undocumented, but their children were born and were born and raised in Auburn. A great deal of collective memory and family history will be lost about immigration experiences unless their stories are documented before these community members pass away.
Sources of Data: The Silenced Voices of Auburn’s Undocumented Community uses ten oral history interviews as a primary source of data collection to describe immigration experiences. Most secondary source material was obtained from the California State University, Sacramento library.
Conclusions Reached: The Silenced Voices of Auburn’s Undocumented Community created a practical model to serve as the base of an oral history program dedicated to the undocumented population in Auburn. The project interviews contribute to the understanding of growing up in Mexico; arriving in the US; Setting in Auburn; Life in Auburn; Auburn’s Hispanic community; adapting to life in Auburn; challenges and successes; reflections on leaving Mexico; and living today in Auburn. The author’s goal is to use The Silenced Voices of Auburn’s Undocumented Community as an educational tool to further motivate the undocumented population in the United States and to tell their stories thereby enhancing the existing documentary evidence.