Avanzando Through College celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with oral histories, Lorain history exhibit

ELYRIA — When Xiomara Yochum first came to the United States it was less than two years after the strongest El Nino event on record had hit Ecuador. She was 10 years old, she told her husband, Kirk, during an interview for Avanzando Through College, a program for first- and second-year Latino and Hispanic students on campus. It was the early 1980s and she arrived in Cleveland by way of New York, buying the first lollipop she'd ever had at a roadside stop along the drive to her aunt and uncle's house. "I have fond memories of Ecuador, but I'm more Americanized than anything else," she said in the recording, Kirk Yochum holding his phone up to the microphone for attendees to hear. It was decades after she'd learned English from watching Care Bears and G.I. Joe, and she appreciated the nationwide support for social justice issues and the access to education that being in the U.S. afforded her. Xiomara's story was one of three shared at the student celebration on Wednesday at the Stocker Arts Center's Cirigliano Theatre. Kirk Yochum, a second-year cybersecurity student, had interviewed her as part of Avanzando's oral history project — an offshoot of the oral histories collected by the Lorain Historical Society, Oberlin College and El Centro for Lorain's 100 Years of Latino History exhibit. Yalexis Acevedo, a first-year phlebotomy student, interviewed her mother-in-law about Hurricane Maria's damage to Puerto Rico. The deadly Category 5 storm surged through the Caribbean in September 2017, killing more than 3,000 and decimating infrastructure on the island territory. Acevedo had heard about her husband's experiences on the island, but hearing her mother-in-law's fears was different. Her mother-in-law was focused on moving three kids and Acevedo's grandmother-in-law after the river rose into their home. "We're never ready for a natural disaster," Acevedo said, noting she still gets scared when she sees lightning outside. Betzaneth Espada, a first-year prelaw student, interviewed her stepfather, finding similarities in his story and her own. Both were born in Puerto Rico, but while Espada grew up in south Lorain, her stepfather grew up in Connecticut. At that time, his family walked about 10 miles to work and didn't speak any English. He had problems in school — bullied because he was Hispanic — and was suspended a number of times. But still, he offered her advice she took to heart: "No matter how hard life gets or where you're at, if you want something, just go for it … sooner or later life compensates you for your work." After hearing his story, she said she started to have more compassion and be more appreciative of the things he went through — and always find a way to celebrate. Last year, Espada's grandmother came to Ohio from Puerto Rico for the first time, and left a piece of the island with her granddaughter. Proudly holding a small Puerto Rican flag, Espada said her grandmother's gift was to remember no matter where she was, her roots will remain. El Centro Executive Director Victor Leandry, Lorain Historical Society Executive Director Barb Piscopo and Oberlin College Professor Gina Perez each touched on the award-winning 100 Years of Latinos in Lorain exhibit. The mobile exhibit, which has been shown throughout the county during this Hispanic Heritage Month after its opening last year, focuses on the history of Vine Avenue in Lorain. Piscopo said when she first came to Lorain, much of the history captured by the Historical Society was focused on European history — she referenced a group of dolls meant to represent the International City but all were from European countries save for a Pocahontas doll. She went to El Centro to get help in collecting the city's Latino history, but she never expected the project to take the shape it has, she said. The exhibit's beginnings saw a meeting that lasted more than two hours — with many of the attendees reminiscing about south Lorain and, more specifically, Vine Avenue. The road had been the center of the city prior to urban renewal in the 1970s — which cut the thoroughfare at East 30th Street when it used to go East 28th Street and the steel mills. What stood out as the project went forward were the first-person narratives collected in interviews from longtime residents — and those first-person narratives were included in the final exhibits. Leandry agreed, noting as the meetings to formulate the exhibit progressed, they knew they needed oral histories to shape those designs. Perez, who teaches a Latino oral history class at Oberlin College, spearheaded collecting those stories with her students, even in the midst of COVID-19. Interviews that may have taken place sitting next to someone on a living room couch were traded for Zoom interviews. The exhibit is up at LCCC Stocker Arts Center through the end of the month — and while it may be starting to show its wear, it won't be retired anytime soon, Piscopo assured. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.