Oral history interview with Abood Aldabea, 2018 May 18

Overview of the Collection

Interviewee
Aldabea, Abood (Abdulelah), 2002-
Title
Oral history interview with Abood Aldabea
Dates
2018 May 18
Quantity
87.5 megabytes, (1 online resource (1 audio file (1 hr., 34 min., 36 sec.)))  :  MPEG-4
Collection Number
SR 12270
Summary
Oral history interview with Abood Aldabea conducted by Sankar Raman on May 18, 2018, for The Immigrant Story. Aldabea and his family, refugees from Syria, immigrated to Portland, Oregon, in 2014.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Abdulelah "Abood" Aldabea was born in Damascus, Syria, in 2002. His family fled the civil war in Syria in 2012. They sought refuge with family in Jordan, and were approved for resettlement in the United States in 2014. The family settled in Portland, Oregon, where Aldabea attended Reynolds High School.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This oral history interview with Abood Aldabea was conducted by Sankar Raman on May 18, 2018. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Aldabea's family was present, and they occasionally contributed in Arabic. An unidentified neighbor was also present.

In this interview, Aldabea discusses his early life in Damascus, Syria, including his education, family, and neighborhood. He also describes some of his favorite Syrian foods. He shares his memories of the civil war in Syria, including being gassed by the Syrian military while heading home from his mosque and bombings in his neighborhood. He talks about fleeing to Jordan, and about life in Jordan as a Syrian refugee. He describes the process of being resettled in the United States in 2014. The unidentified neighbor talks about helping Aldabea's family get established in Portland, Oregon. Aldabea talks about adjusting to life in Portland, his education, and his involvement in sports. He closes the interview by discussing learning English as a second language, his friends, and his plans for the future.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

Oral history interview with Abood Aldabea, by Sankar Raman, SR 12270, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Restrictions on Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Gift of The Immigrant Story, July 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-018).

Bibliography

An article about Abood Aldabea, "Reprogrammed Like a Cell Phone" by Alia Burck, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/reprogrammed/.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Description Dates
Oral history interview with Abood Aldabea 2018 May 18

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • English language--Study and teaching--United States--Foreign speakers
  • Immigrants--Oregon
  • Refugees--Syria
  • Syrian Americans--Oregon

Personal Names

  • Aldabea, Abood (Abdulelah), 2002-

Geographical Names

  • Syria--History--Civil War, 2011-
  • United States--Immigration and emigration

Form or Genre Terms

  • interviews

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Raman, Sankar (interviewer)