Oral History Project

Since 2023 the Civil Rights Institute has been conducting interviews for the Homegrown Heroes exhibition. The exhibit began as an oral history project and over the course of the year we interviewed 25 elders and emerging leaders who are advancing civil rights in our region we are also releasing 2 never-before-seen interviews from Lalit Acharya (1951-2022) and Ofelia Valdez-Yeager (1947-2024). Explore short oral history clips as well as the full interviews for each Homegrown Hero. 

These oral histories are some of the first items that will comprise our digital archive, funded in part by the office of Senator Roth.