OREoh37.xml Guide to the Indian-Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection 2016 Indian-Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection Finding Aid Authors: Finding aid prepared by Natalia Fernández. Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center 2017
121 The Valley Library Oregon State University Corvallis, OR, 97331-4501 Phone: 541-737-2075 Email: scarc@oregonstate.edu Web: http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/findingaids
This finding aid was encoded in EAD by Archon 3.21 from an SQL database source on June 5th, 2018. Encoding was modified by Elizabeth Nielsen for Archives West compliance. Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard, 2nd Edition). Tadepalli, Sravya. Indian-Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection 2016 OH 037 4.00 gigabytes, including 4 audio files and 2 video files Materials in English. Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library Oregon State University Corvallis, OR, 97331-4501 Phone: 541-737-2075 Email: scarc@oregonstate.edu Web: http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/findingaids
The Indian-Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection is a set of six interviews featuring ten members of the Indian-American community in Corvallis. Biographical Note:

Eldurkar Bhaskar was born in Chennai, India, in Tamil Nadu in 1942. He came to Corvallis for the first time in 1969 to do his master’s degree in solid state devices. He moved back to India after completing his degree, but moved back to Corvallis in 1980 to do his PhD and work at Hewlett-Packard. While he did not manage to complete his doctorate, Bhaskar made significant research contributions at HP to technology contributing to the creation of the inkjet printer.

Sucheta Bhaskar was born in Vellore, India, in Tamil Nadu in July, 1949. Before living in Corvallis, she worked in India as a preparatory (kindergarten) teacher. After marrying and moving to Corvallis, Sucheta worked as a preschool teacher. She is married to Eldurkar Bhaskar and has two children, Jayant and Jyoti Bhaskar.

Bella Bose was born in a small village in India in 1950. He moved to the United States in 1977 to do his PhD in 1977, coming to Oregon State University in 1980. He is currently a professor and Senior Associate School Head of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His current research interests include error control codes, parallel processing, and computer networks. He has two children, Sonia and Varun.

Sam Karipalli was born in April 1942 in Lakkavaram, India.  He moved to the United States in 1980 and worked at Hewlett-Packard for more than twenty-five years. He is currently retired. He is married to Jessie Karipalli and has two children, Kaasu and Sunnika.

Jessie Karipalli was born in November 1946 in Sakhinetipalli, India. She moved to the United States in 1980, first working in a nursing home and then and working at Hewlett-Packard. She is currently retired. She is married to Sam Karipalli and has two children, Kaasu and Sunnika.

Parthasarathy (Partha) Lakkur was born in July 1944, in Hosadurga, India as one of six children. After doing a bachelor’s in sciences and bachelors in engineering in India, he came to the United States in 1967 to attend college at SUNY Stony Brook, during the height of the Vietnam War. After receiving his master’s degree and PhD, Partha moved to Corvallis, Oregon to work at Hewlett-Packard. He has lived in Corvallis for almost forty years. He is married to Surya Lakkur and has two children, Manu and Vinu.

Surya Lakkur was born in the small town of Kommbai, India, in October of 1950. She is a first-generation college student and is grateful to her parents for moving her family to the city of Tiruchirapalli (Trichi), India, so their six children could all get a good education. Surya did her B.S. in economics in Trichi and later did a second B.S. in computer science at Oregon State University, later working as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard and FISA (Fiserv, a financial services company with a Corvallis office). She is married to Partha Lakkur and has two children, Manu and Vinu.

Muthukrishna (Ram) Ramanujam was born October, 1950, in Tiruchirappalli, India. Ram resides in Corvallis, Oregon, originally coming to Oregon State University for graduate school in 1979, and then returning to Corvallis in 1988 to work at Hewlett-Packard. Before moving to Corvallis permanently, Ram worked in California for both National Semiconductor and Intel. He is married to Kalyani Ramanujam, and has three children, Sangeetha, Chuck, and Madhu.

Kalyani Ramanujam was born May, 1958, in Kariyamanickam, India. Kalyani lives in Corvallis, Oregon, moving to the town in 1988 with her family. Before living in Corvallis, Kalyani lived in Hyderabad, India, and California. She currently works in quality control at Hewlett-Packard. She is married to Ram Ramanujam and has three children, Sangeetha, Chuck, and Madhu.

Prasad Tadepalli was born on January 24th, 1959 in Machilipatnam, India. He moved to the United States in 1982 on assignment as a programmer. He later decided to do a PhD in computer science, graduating from Rutgers University in 1989 and taking a job at Oregon State University as an assistant professor. He is now a professor in computer science, specializing in artificial intelligence.

 Oregon State University. Department of Computer Science. Born digital. Oral histories (literary works) Corvallis (Or.) East Indian Americans—Oregon—Corvallis. Colleges and Universities Multiculturalism Technology Women Corvallis Oral Histories

Sravya Tadepalli, a student at the University of Oregon at the time she completed the project and with family living in Corvallis, donated the set of oral history interviews to the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

Collection is open for research.

Indian-Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection (OH 37), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

This collection is a component of the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

There are records from the Indian Student Association in the International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU) Records (RG 247) as well as the Student Leadership and Involvement Records (RG 232).

Other oral history collections devoted to or placing a strong emphasis on multicultural themes include the Oregon Native American Language Sound Recordings (OH 12), the Japanese-American Association of Lane County, Oregon Oral History Collection (OH 15), the Oregon Multicultural Archives Oral History Collection (OH 18), the Oregon State University Cultural Centers Oral History Collection (OH 21), the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 26) and African-American Railroad Porter Oral History Collection (OH 29), and the Asian Family Center Oral History Collection (OH 30).

Interviews are arranged chronologically.

The collection consists of six born digital recordings (4 audio; 2 video) of interviews with members of the Corvallis Indian-American community. Audio recordings were originally captured in *.mp3, video recordings were *.mov, and all files have been saved as preservation copies for each interview. All interviews held in the collection have been transcribed by Sravya Tadepalli, the interviewer and collection donor. Researcher access to both the collection's interviews and transcripts is available on site and online. Links to online audio recordings and transcripts are provided within the item-level description of this collection. All interviews were conducted in Corvallis, Oregon by Sravya Tadepalli, a student at the University of Oregon at the time she completed the project and with family living in Corvallis.

Interviewees include ten members of the Corvallis Indian-American community; four of the six interviews are with couples. Topics discussed include the interviewees' experiences growing up in India and immigration to the United States; experiences with education in both India and the United States; dealing with discrimination and bias; the challenges and rewards of living in the United States; religion; community service; issues of race and identity as Indian-Americans; and reflections on how they have changed as a result of living in Corvallis, Oregon.

All of the digital recordings of the interview are available online.

 Series 1 Interviews 2016

A set of six interviews featuring ten members of the Indian-American community in Corvallis, Oregon.

 Muthukrishna (Ram) Ramanujam and Kalyani Ramanujam August 7, 2016

(01:08:55) In this interview, Muthukrishna and Kalyani Ramanujam talk about their families and memories of growing up in India, their educations and the experience of an arranged marriage, their immigration stories, their experience of life in Corvallis, as well as their time living in California, and their children. [Interview video and transcript available online]

 Partha Lakkur and Surya Lakkur August 17, 2016

(01:28:30) In this interview, Partha and Surya Lakkur discuss their lives growing up in India; their experiences with education in both India and the United States; dealing with discrimination and bias; and how they have changed as a result of living in Corvallis, Oregon. [Interview audio and transcript available online]

 Samnirmal (Sam) Karipalli and Jessie Karipalli August 21, 2016

(01:07:12) In this interview, Jessie and Sam Karipalli talk about growing up in India and moving to the United States, touching on the challenges and rewards of living in the United States, religion, community service, and other issues. [Interview audio and transcript available online]

 Eldurkar Bhaskar and Sucheta Bhaskar August 25, 2016

(01:29:31) In this interview, Eldurkar and Sucheta Bhaskar discuss their lives in India and their journey to the United States, particularly touching on issues of race and identity as Indian-Americans. [Interview audio and transcript available online]

 Prasad Tadepalli September 5, 2016

(00:34:26) In this interview, Prasad Tadepalli talks about his family and experiences growing up and going to school in India, his journey toward becoming a computer science professor, his experiences as an immigrant in the United States, as well as his life in Corvallis, and his research. [Interview video and transcript available online]

 Bella Bose September 12, 2016

(00:31:41) In this interview, Bella Bose talks about his experiences growing up and going to school in India and the challenges of going to school in the United States. He also discusses how the OSU computer science department has changed and grown since he arrived in 1980. [Interview audio and transcript available online]