Stuart Levenson was born and educated in Savannah, Georgia. He attended Armstrong College before working for the Social Security Administration for 36 years. Levenson talks about growing up visually impaired, emphasizing the changing role of…
Vashaun Jones was born in Portsmouth, Virginia. He describes being blind or visually impaired throughout his life. He talks about his career, emphasizing the importance of failure to achieving success.
Rita Harris was born in Good Hope, Georgia. She worked in the school system assisting children with disabilities before she became visually impaired due to retinitis pigmentosa. Harris describes adjusting to life as a visually impaired person. A…
Empish Thomas grew up sighted before losing her vision after college to uveitis, a condition that causes inflammation in the back of the eye near the retina. Thomas describes navigating the workforce while blind, discussing her careers in human…
Jarrett McNutt served in the army during World War II before becoming a minister and working for the Clinical Pastoral Care Organization. He talks about his family history and his career as a minister.
Bridgette Suttle was born in New Jersey, but she grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. She became legally blind as an adult due to complications from type 2 diabetes. Suttle describes managing her diabetes, having to have her foot amputated due diabetes, and…
John McCarty is an autistic, non-reliable speaker with impaired vision. In this interview, Joan McCarty reads her son, John McCarty’s, account of his struggle with communication before learning the Rapid Prompting Method (RPM), which enabled him to…
Chris Vandeford became blind as an adult due to diabetic retinopathy. He talks about losing his vision, going through vocational rehabilitation, and becoming involved in his community, both through his work at the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation…
Brian Mosely became blind, lost his sense of smell, and got epilepsy in an accident as an adult. Mosely describes how assistive technology has helped him retain his independence, mentioning the use of the Job Access With Speech (JAWS) screen reader…
Candace Rogers was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) which caused her to become legally blind and have issues with mobility. Rogers describes fighting for disability benefits, purchasing a house, and encouraging others people who have MS.
Daryl Rootledge is a vocational rehabilitation therapist and minister. He was born with aniridia, an illness that impacts the development of the eye during birth. Rootledge describes navigating the educational system and raising his daughter as a…
Anna Trotman was born in Montgomery, Alabama and experienced numerous health problems as a child that caused her to become visually impaired. In this interview, Trotman talks about her education and career as a braille instructor at various…
Alina Garcia Ravelo was born in Cuba and attended the University of Havana, graduating with a degree in industrial engineering. She eventually moved to the U.S. and currently lives in Bainbridge, Georgia, where she works at Georgia Industries for the…
Gaylon Tootle was born in Georgia and attended the Georgia Academy for the Blind, before attending the University of Georgia. After graduation, he worked for the U.S. Army at Fort Stewart and the Moody Air Force Base. Presently, Tootle works at the…
Luis Narimatsu was born in the Panama Canal Zone. He began losing his vision in college as a symptom of glaucoma. After his diagnosis, Narimatsu eventually found work in the 94th Signal Company as a telephone operator. Afterward, Naritmatsu moved to…
Robert Woodward grew up in Decatur County, Georgia. He worked in a variety of jobs, including as an ambulance inspector, food services inspector, and as an employee of Georgia Industries for the Blind (GIB). After retirement, Woordward opened his own…
Cornelius Butler was born in Dawsonville, Georgia and currently lives in Bainbridge, Georgia. At a young age, Butler was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, which has caused progressive loss in sight throughout his life and will result in eventual…
Verna Miller Smith was born in 1946. She grew up on a family farm off Brooklyn road in Athens, Georgia. In this interview, she discusses her family history and describes the Brooklyn neighborhood which was historically African American. She…
Reverend James Williams is the Church Historian for Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. He grew up in El Paso, Texas before moving to Elbert County, Georgia at age ten. In this interview, he focuses on his education. He compares his integrated school in…
Reverend James Williams is the Church Historian for Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. He grew up in El Paso, Texas before moving to Elbert County, Georgia at age ten. In this follow-up interview, he focuses on his time at the University of Georgia. He…
Brenda Lopez Romero was born in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and immigrated to Georgia with her parents while she was a young child. As a first generation scholar, Romero recounts her experiences dealing with racism within public schools, university, and the…
Sam Zamarripa was born in Fort Benning to a Mexican immigrant and an American national. As his father was in the military, Zamarripa’s family moved often, but he considers himself a Southerner. In this interview, Zamarripa discusses his…
Jeffrey Tapia is the former Executive Director of the Latin American Association (LAA) as well as the former Director of Hispanic Services at Catholic Social Services. Tapia has dedicated her life to serving the Latino community through outreach. In…
This interview was recorded remotely. Maritza Soto Keen is an associate director and senior public service faculty at the Fanning Institute at the University of Georgia. Keen has also spent many years leading the Latin American Association as the…
Isabel Gonzalez Whitaker was born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Cuban refugees before they settled in Atlanta. Throughout her career, Whitaker has worked various jobs in journalism, with one of her earliest positions being booker and producer of…
Yiceth Caicedo was born in Colombia and fled to Ecuador with her husband before she arrived in the United States in spring 2017 with her two young children. She had been in college studying sociology before she had to leave Colombia. Her husband…
Chou Ly left Cambodia during the reign of Pol Pot and lived as a refugee in Thailand before moving to the United States in the early 80s. She and her family lived at Jubilee Partners before moving to Lilburn, Georgia. Chou returned to Jubilee as a…
Robbie Buller was one of the first volunteers at Jubilee Partners and became a partner soon after. He speaks of his Mennonite upbringing and desire to live in Christian community, as well as his work at Jubilee. He discusses his marriage to Chou Ly…
Nasrin Rouhani and her family left Iran because they are members of the Baha'i faith. They arrived in Georgia in August 1984. In this interview, she speaks about the process of reestablishing her professional career and proving her nursing…
Nasrin Rouhani and her family left Iran because they are members of the Baha'i faith. They arrived in Georgia in August 1984. In this interview, she speaks about the process of reestablishing her professional career and proving her nursing…
Bennie Gantt was born in Comer, Georgia in 1937. His parents were sharecroppers for most of his life, but they also ran a small restaurant in Comer in the late 1940s. Gantt attended the Comer Colored School through 11th grade. Madison County built…
Nancy MacNair was born in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania in 1938 and moved to Athens in 1975 when her husband got a job as a professor of social work at the University of Georgia. In this interview, she discusses her work as a sexual health educator during…
Sam Denney was born in Athens in 1989 and is an aerial dance instructor at Canopy Studios. In this interview she discusses the development of her lesbian identity, the difficulties she has faced as a Queer person, and the Queer community in Athens.…
JW Chin was born in Atlanta but considers themself an Athens native. Currently, JW is living in Athens and attending the University of Georgia to obtain a Master’s degree in social work. In this interview they discuss the formation of their…
Content Warning: This interview includes references to mental distress and suicide.Adrya Stembridge was born in 1970 and grew up in Athens. In this interview, she discusses the fraught process of discovering her transgender identity and the…
Christiana Henry was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, before moving to Atlanta, and finally settling in Athens in 2015. In this interview she discusses her experiences as a trans woman and finding Queer community in Athens through the art and music…
James Barbour was born in Jackson, Mississippi, and moved to Atlanta when he was a child. He came to Athens to study business at the University of Georgia, and remains in Athens today. He is a drag performer and a founding member of the drag troupe,…
Thomas Schoenbaum interviews Martin Hillenbrand about Berlin, the Berlin Wall, and the Soviet Union.Martin Hillenbrand served as U.S. diplomat and ambassador (1939-1976) and director of the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs (1977-1982).
Richard Rusk interviews Andrew Steigman about his career in the U.S. Department of State.Andrew Steigman served as a U.S. foreign service officer and ambassador (1958-1985).
Richard Rusk interviews Harry Shlaudeman. Topics include the U.S. Department of State, President Johnson, and social conditions in the Dominican Republic.Harry Shlaudeman served as U.S. foreign service officer and ambassador from 1955-1992.
