Ana Soler Oral History Interview

Title

Ana Soler Oral History Interview

Subject

Ana Soler was born in Puerto Rico in 1943. She grew up without a toilet or refrigerator, and by the time she was six she was cooking for the family while her mother worked in a cigar factory. Her father was in the Army. She migrated to El Barrio in 1953. She remembers midnight Christmas parandas and a close neighborhood culture. Her father was paralyzed in a factory accident when she was a teenager, and she dropped out of school to care for him. She moved to Mott Haven, 139th Street and Cypress Avenue, in 1965, right after she got married (after an extended courtship) to a musician she met at a dance. They had three children and moved to Millbrook Houses. Against her husband’s wishes, she went to work at a dry cleaners at 145th Street and Willis Avenue, where she worked for 27 years, until the repeated robberies got to be too much for her. She was involved with local youth baseball and the Catholic church, mainly St. Pius, until it closed. She now lives in Mitchel Houses and attends St. Jerome’s. At age 76, she still cares for foster children, and visits housebound sick and elderly people in her spare time. She loves eating in restaurants and going to the casino with her best friend (also named Ana) and she loves New York City, especially in the winter.

Description

In this interview Ana Soler discusses life as a migrant from Puerto Rico to New York City and Puerto Rican culture in the city, growing up in a working class family with a strict father, and raising children in New York City. Particular detail is given to family relationships, such as how she met her husband and the trajectory their marriage and also her close relationship with her father. She also discusses her involvement with the Church and gentrification over time in the neighborhood.

Date

2018-06-13

Format

audio

Interviewer

Amy Starecheski

Interviewee

Ana Soler

Files



Citation

“Ana Soler Oral History Interview,” Mott Haven Oral History Archive, accessed March 28, 2024, https://motthavenhistory.org/items/show/40.

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