The arrival of Latin American families from the 1990s, the neighborhoods and workplaces that received them, and the institutions they built.
In briefLatin American families began arriving in Carrboro and Chapel Hill in the 1990s: the neighborhoods and workplaces that received them, and the institutions they built.
Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.
The artist as a collaborator in the community : working with Latino youth in Carrboro, North Carolina
Almirall, Katie R. · 2007
Katie R. Almirall's senior honors thesis statement, written to accompany her exhibition in the Center Gallery of the ArtsCenter in Carrboro from April 2 to 28, 2007. Twenty one leaves with illustrations, describing collaborative art work with Latino young people in the town. Topics include community arts projects and Hispanic American youth in Carrboro.
Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hispanic American youth -- North Carolina -- Carrboro.
Northern Orange Latino community, Orange County, North Carolina : an action-oriented community diagnosis : findings and next steps of action
2005
An action oriented community diagnosis of the Latino community in northern Orange County, dated the tenth of May 2005 and produced at Chapel Hill. It sets out findings on health status and socioeconomic conditions and closes with proposed next steps for action. Topics include community health services, health status and socioeconomic factors. A bibliography runs across pages 78 and 79.
Undocumented immigrants and access to health care : the case of Hispanic women in Chapel Hill and Carrboro
Robbins, Patricia C. · 2005
Patricia C. Robbins looked at how undocumented Hispanic women in Chapel Hill and Carrboro reach medical care, in a 2005 paper of 56 leaves with a bibliography. It concerns medical care for Hispanic American women in the two towns. Of use to anyone tracing local public health and immigration work in the mid 2000s.
Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hispanic American women -- Medical care -- North Carolina -- Carrboro.
The Latino community of Carrboro, Orange County, NC : an action-oriented community diagnosis : a participatory assessment of the Latino community of Carrboro
2003
Action oriented community diagnosis of the Latino community in Carrboro, completed in May 2003 by students in health behavior and health education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Fifty-two pages with 98 leaves, illustrations and forms. Topics include Hispanic Americans in Carrboro, public health, and the town's social and economic conditions in the twenty-first century.
Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Hispanic Americans -- North Carolina -- Carrboro.
Revealing the reflecting plates : how Chapel Hill lavaplatos identify themselves and others
Farb, Jessica · 2003
Jessica Farb's 2003 study of lavaplatos, the dishwashers in Chapel Hill restaurants, and of how these Latin American workers understand their own ethnic identity and that of the people around them. Topics include Latin American employment and ethnic identity in Chapel Hill and restaurant employees there. A student paper, with a bibliography on leaves 67 to 71.
Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Latin Americans -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill -- Ethnic identity.
Un nuevo pueblo : an ethnography of a Hispanic protestant community of faith
Armijo, Enrique · 2000
An ethnography of a Hispanic Protestant congregation, Iglesia Unida de Cristo in Chapel Hill, written by Enrique Armijo in 2000. The typescript runs one hundred twenty-one leaves with a bibliography at the end. Topics include Hispanic Americans, Latin Americans and immigrants in Chapel Hill along with the congregation itself.
Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Latin Americans -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill.
Creating spaces : building a Latino community in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Papa, Caroline S. · 1998
Caroline S. Papa's 1998 account of the growing Latino community in Chapel Hill, with attention to immigration to the town and to the Iglesia Unida de Cristo congregation. Fifty eight pages with illustrations and two unnumbered leaves, closing with a bibliography. Topics include Hispanic Americans, Latin Americans and immigrants in Chapel Hill at the end of the century.
Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Latin Americans -- North Carolina -- Chapel Hill.
Hispanic / Latino Community (Chapel Hill Historical Society vertical file)
Folder on the Hispanic and Latino community of Chapel Hill, not yet inventoried. From the Chapel Hill History series of the Chapel Hill Historical Society's vertical files.
Dated events connected with this event: sixteen of 30, the highlights and a sample of the rest spread across the years, in date order. See all 30 dated events in the chronology →
Earliest first. Scroll sideways, or use the arrows.
16 dated events
1990 census counts the Hispanic-origin population of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel Hill
Statistic or record · Orange County
The 1990 census counted 1,279 persons of Hispanic origin in Orange County (1.4% of 93,851), 199 in Carrboro (1.7% of 11,553) and 607 in Chapel Hill (1.6% of 38,719). Census Bureau report 1990 CP-1-35, Table 5 (counties) and Table 6 (places).
El Centro Latino serves Latino residents from Carrboro
Founding or opening · Douglas Building, Main Street, Carrboro
El Centro Latino, incorporated in 1999, provided educational and social services, advocacy and cultural activities for Latinos in and around Orange County from Carrboro. It closed the day before Thanksgiving 2009 after funding losses and eight executive directors in ten years.
Holy Family parish in Hillsborough, which had grown from about 107 families in 1986 to about 250 in 1999, celebrated its first Spanish Mass in 2003 as Latino members joined the congregation. By 2012 the parish counted about 680 families and held a Sunday Spanish Mass alongside its three other services.
UNC's Latino Migration Project begins the New Roots/Nuevas Raíces oral history initiative
Founding or opening · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Latino Migration Project at UNC-Chapel Hill began New Roots/Nuevas Raíces to record stories of Latino migration, settlement and integration in North Carolina, with interviews archived through the Southern Oral History Program and University Libraries. The project has collected over 200 interviews, adding about 20 a year.
Gill started the Latino Migration Project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to improve public understanding of Latin American migration to North Carolina. The project describes itself as an initiative of INSITE Latin America and the Caribbean.
Law, policy or court · Hillsborough (Orange County)
At a county commissioners' meeting, Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass explained his decision to enroll the Orange County jail in the federal Secure Communities pilot, which checks the fingerprints of people booked into jail against federal databases including immigration records. Commissioners, who had resolved in 2007 not to join the 287(g) program, raised concerns but took no action.
2010 census counts the Hispanic or Latino population of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel Hill
Statistic or record · Orange County
The 2010 census counted 11,017 Hispanic or Latino residents in Orange County, 2,603 in Chapel Hill and 1,921 in Carrboro, as compiled in the NC Office of State Budget and Management's LINC Census Population dataset.
The Latino Migration Project began Building Integrated Communities, which Gill co-founded, to help North Carolina local governments plan with immigrant and refugee residents. Each partner community works with the program for about two years.
Law, policy or court · Carrboro (Frank Porter Graham Elementary)
After a district report named serving students with limited English and closing the achievement gap as the main purposes of dual language, and after forums that included sessions for Spanish-speaking and Karen and Burmese families, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board approved converting Frank Porter Graham Elementary into a Spanish-English magnet school. It reopened as the district's first dual-language magnet on August 26, 2013, with more than 500 students.
Carrboro aldermen declare the town a welcoming community for immigrant children
Law, policy or court · Carrboro
The Board of Aldermen unanimously passed a resolution declaring Carrboro a welcoming community for minors fleeing violence and affirming immigrant children's right to attend public school regardless of immigration status. The Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the ACLU of North Carolina helped develop it.
New Roots launches its bilingual digital archive
Founding or opening · University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
New Roots/Nuevas Raíces launched a Spanish and English website with more than 150 digitized interviews, including audio recordings, abstracts and full transcripts. UNC's University Libraries handled digitization, cataloging and preservation.
Founding or opening · New Hope (Orange County Schools)
After a year and a half of planning, New Hope Elementary opened a 50-50 Spanish-English dual-language program for 48 kindergarten students at the start of the 2018-19 school year, taught on alternating days in English and Spanish. The principal described it as a way for Latino students to take pride in their heritage and keep the Spanish they use with their families.
The Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously adopted a Language Access Plan in November 2019, following the 2018 Building Integrated Communities process in which immigrant and refugee residents named language access as a key need. The plan covered the town's leading non-English languages, Burmese, Karen, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
The Board of County Commissioners approved a policy requiring free interpretation and translation for residents with limited English across all county services, and directing each county department to keep a language access plan and train its staff.
Protest or organizing · St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill
At a public accountability assembly at St. Thomas More Catholic Church organized by Orange County Justice United and the North Carolina Congress of Latino Organizations, residents called for more mental health services in Spanish. That month Alliance Health announced $500,000 for El Futuro's services and programs in Orange County.
Carrboro Town Council reaffirms support for immigrant communities and its 4th Amendment status
Law, policy or court · Carrboro
The Town Council passed a resolution by council members Eliazar Posada-Orozco and Cristóbal Palmer condemning discriminatory actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and reaffirming Carrboro's status as a 4th Amendment town. The council had voted unanimously for that designation on May 20, 2025.
Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 1 with a known location.
New Roots interview: Martín X (pseudonym), 2011 (R-0487)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) During this interview we talked about various aspects of Martin’s experience as an immigrant in the US, in the Abbey Court community, and the strengths and weaknesses of the Human Rights Center of Cha…
New Roots interview: Manuel Rafael Gallegos Lerma, 2012 (R-0622)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Interview topics included Manuel Rafael Gallegos Lermas' family background, his educational background, his migration to the United States, his work with the Human Rights Center of Chapel Hill, N.C.
New Roots interview: Gloria Valdez, 2012 (R-0636)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Interview topics included Gloria Valdez’s immigration story, her educational background, the successes of the Don Jose shop in Carrboro, North Carolina, her opinions of the Latino and American relatio…
New Roots interview: Jacquelyn Gist, 2018 (R-0903)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Jacquelyn Gist talks about how she came to be involved with the local government of Carrboro and how she has attempted to use her position as an alderman to build community in Carrboro.
New Roots interview: Charlie Pardo, 2012 (R-0626)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) The interview begins briefly with a description of Officer Charlie Pardo’s childhood and how his childhood life living in Puerto Rico differs from the childhood life his children are living in North C…
New Roots interview: Charlie Pardo, 2011 (R-0476)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Officer Charlie Pardo is the Hispanic/Latino Liaison Officer in the Community Relations Unit of the Chapel Hill Police Department.
New Roots interview: Rebecca Heine, 2018 (R-0904)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Rebecca Heines, better known as Becca, serves as the mentorship coordinator of North Carolina’s Service Learning Initiative (NC Sli).
New Roots interview: Rebecca Heine, 2018 (R-0905)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Rebecca Heines, better known as Becca, recalls her experience on her class trip to Guanajuato in March of 2018 as part of APPLES Global Course Guanajuato (GLBL 390 Latin American Immigrant Perspective…
New Roots interview: Iván Parra, 2014 (R-0693)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) In Hetali Lodaya's interview with Ivan Parra, Parra discusses his background in community organizing beginning in Colombia, and his subsequent move to the United States.
New Roots interview: Frances E. Reuland, 2016 (R-0861)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Frances Reuland describes her community in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and the changes she has seen due to the migration of different groups of people.
New Roots interview: Claire Weintraub, 2017 (R-0870)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Claire Weintraub, a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, met with Olivia Joyner to discuss her experiences growing up in North Carolina.
New Roots interview: Peter Gordon, 2018 (R-0985)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) This oral history interview is the first in a three-part series with Peter Gordon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on October 12, 2018.
New Roots interview: Peter Gordon, 2018 (R-0986)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) This oral history interview is the second in a three-part series with Peter Gordon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on December 7, 2018.
New Roots interview: Peter Gordon, 2019 (R-0987)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) This oral history interview is the third in a three-part series with Peter Gordon in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on 25 January 2019.
New Roots interview: Juan Sánchez (pseudonym), 2014 (R-0713)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Juan Sanchez (pseudonym) migrated to the United States from Guanajuato, Mexico about seventeen years ago, and now works in construction in Carrboro, North Carolina.
New Roots interview: Rafael Patiño, 2014 (R-0709)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Patiño, a permanent US resident who emigrated from Mexico with his family when he was eleven years old, learned English in school and adjusted easily to the United States.
New Roots interview: Andreina Malki, 2016 (R-0859)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Andreina Malki immigrated to the United States from the rural town of Paysandú, Uruguay in 2001 when she was thirteen years old.
New Roots interview: Paola Saldivias Méndez, 2024 (R-1023)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Paola Saldivias Méndez was born in Quito, Ecuador, before moving to Bolivia with her family as a baby and begins by detailing her family’s story.
New Roots interview: Ellie Kinnaird, 2014 (R-0690)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Ellie Kinnaird discusses various interactions she has had with undocumented workers and Hispanic immigrants, first as mayor of Carrboro, North Carolina, and then as a North Carolina State Senator.
New Roots interview: Ana Muñoz Molina, 2023 (R-1012)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Ana Muñoz Molina is a student at UNC Chapel Hill from Cuba who shares her experience emigrating to the United States and her role within the Latino community in Chapel Hill and Miami, where she lives…
New Roots interview: Jane Smith (pseudonym), 2014 (R-0698)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Jane Smith (pseudonym), speaks about her involvement with issues related to migration, and the broader landscape of student activism work related to immigration in North Carolina.
New Roots interview: Emily Bivins, 2018 (R-0898)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) The interviewee, Emily Bivins, is the principal of Frank Porter Graham Elementary (101 Smith Level Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516), the district’s Dual Language magnet school.
New Roots interview: Shaunna Jeffries, 2013 (R-0666)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Shaunna Jeffries is a fourth grade teaching assistant in the dual language program at Carrboro Elementary School in Carrboro, N.C.
New Roots interview: Nicole Lansdale, 2012 (R-0621)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) The interview was organized around several major themes: the basic understanding of a dual language program (Spanish and English) and what it does for students, including things such as how students a…
New Roots interview: Margarita Robledo, 2013 (R-0673)New Roots / Nuevas Raíces (UNC) Margarita Robledo is a Colombian native who currently works as a teacher in a fourth grade, dual-language classroom at Carrboro Elementary School in Carrboro, N.C.
Collections and databases
New Roots / Nuevas Raíces A statewide oral-history archive of migration to North Carolina; the interviews linked on this page are the ones connected to Orange County
Local History Help Hours and request formOCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
