AUGUSTA — Oral History and Folklife Research Inc. is seeking the stories of Maine immigrants for its new oral history project, Immigrant Voices, funded by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. 

Throughout Maine there are stories of harrowing escapes from war and refugee camps; stories of children separated from their parents; stories of coming to a new land with an intense desire to make a contribution; and stories, sometimes, of surviving in communities that did not understand or did not want them.

OHFR is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the stories and voices of Maine. Interviews are being conducted with a broad spectrum of immigrants, including immigrants who arrived in the U.S. decades ago from southeast Asia, and more recent immigrants from Africa and the Persian Gulf.

The interviews will allow immigrants to tell their own stories in podcasts that can be accessed on the OHFR website. In addition, the full interviews will also be archived for use by scholars and researchers.

Keith Ludden, the director of OHFR, said he hopes the interviews and the podcasts will lead to greater understanding and appreciation of the immigrant experience in the community at large.

“They bring us gifts in their stories, their music, their perspective on the world, their strength and their energy,” said Ludden.

FMI: www.oralhistoryandfolklife.org.