Emiliano Martinez Collection
name: label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life
label: Interviewer
content: Ahlborn, Richard E., 1933-2015
label: Author
content: Martinez, Emiliano
label: Interviewer
content: Martin, Juana
place: label: Place
content: Fort Chaffee (Ark.)
topic: label: Topic
content: Carpentry
label: Topic
content: Emigration and immigration
label: Topic
content: Hispanic Americans -- 1950-2000
label: Topic
content: Homelessness
label: Topic
content: Housing
label: Topic
content: Political refugees
label: Topic
content: Poverty
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Emilio Martinez.
creator: label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life
label: Interviewer
content: Ahlborn, Richard E., 1933-2015
label: Author
content: Martinez, Emiliano
label: Interviewer
content: Martin, Juana
setName: label: See more items in
content: Emiliano Martinez Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Papers, oral history, and transcripts relating to Emiliano Martinez, a Cuban immigrant.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The story of Emiliano Martinez, a Cuban refugee, was publicized as an example of the ingenuity and survival skills of recent immigrants to this nation. Martinez fled Cuba in one of the freedom flotillas of 1980. After a year in a refugee camp at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, he arrived in Washington, D.C. in April 1981. He shared apartments with other Cuban refugees until October 1982. Using his carpentry skills, he constructed a hut on undeveloped land at the National Zoo, where he lived from December 1982 until March 1984. He then moved into a boarding house in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. He made his livelihood by selling aluminum cans to a Safeway grocery store for an average of sixty-five dollars a month.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.15 Cubic feet (1 box)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1984
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Interview made for museum, 1984.
label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Community Life(now Division of Cultural and Community Life).
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0176
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audiocassettes
label: Type
content: Audiotapes
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Oral history
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Transcripts
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Robert Harding, 1985
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Audiocassettes
label: Genre/Form
content: Audiotapes
label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Oral history
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1980-2000
label: Genre/Form
content: Transcripts
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Papers and photographs related to the immigration experience of Cuban refugee Martinez: a story from the Washington Post, March 12, 1984; a 45-minute cassette recording of an interview (in Spanish) by Richard E. Ahlborn with Martinez; a transcription in Spanish of the interview; six photographs of the hut taken by a zoo photographer; a covering memorandum from Ahlborn; a copy of Martinez's earnings from the sale of cans; and a diagram of his hut. Ahlborn, a curator in the Division of Community Life, was assisted by Juana Martin, a social worker.