Collection is open for research.
Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2023 (RL2023-081).
Fidel Gonzales Ferrer was born in Santiago, Cuba, in 1988. He served one year in the Cuban military, then attended dental school in Havana. In 2010, he immigrated to the United States. He attended Portland Community College, and in 2019, he earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Portland State University. He worked as an intern studying HIV at the Oregon Health & Science University Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute. In 2019, he founded Project LEDO, a nonprofit organization that provides access to science and technology education for students at Title I schools, including LEGO robotics workshops.
Sources: Information provided by Ferrer in his interview; Project LEDO's website, accessed December 3, 2024,
Oral history interview with Fidel Gonzales Ferrer, by Sankar Raman and Angelica Alarcon, SR 12347, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Fidel Gonzales Ferrer was conducted by Sankar Raman and Angelica Alarcon on January 23, 2020. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States.
In this interview, Ferrer discusses his early life in Santiago, Cuba, including growing up with an abusive father. He talks about his education and about his love of music and dance. He shares his experience during his year of mandatory military service. He discusses attending dental school in Havana, and describes immigrating to the United States in 2010. He talks about adjusting to life in Oregon, including learning English while attending Portland Community College; about reuniting with his father; and about working in jobs outside his field until he found a position as a dental assistant. He speaks about his work as an intern researching HIV at the Oregon Health & Science University Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute. He closes the interview by discussing Project LEDO, the non-profit organization he founded, and by sharing his plans for the future.
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,
An article about Fidel Gonzales Ferrer, "Giving Back to Move Forward" by Angelica Alarcon, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at