Dublin Core
Title
Anelle Lopes on Edna Negron, Maria Sanchez, and Juan Fuentes
Subject
Edna Negron, Maria Sanchez, and Juan Fuentes
Description
Anelle Lopes speaking about Edna Negron, Maria Sanchez, and Juan Fuentes. Edna Negron is an educator, consultant, and community organizer who created the first family resource center and school-based health clinic in the nation. She began teaching at the Ann St Bilingual Community School and then went on to serve as the coordinator of the Bilingual and Bicultural Education Program for Hartford public schools. In 1989, Negron was elected as President of La Casa de Puerto Rico, and a year later she became the state's 6th House District representative. She has advocated for bilingual education and Puerto Rican history and culture at colleges and universities along with radio and television shows. For this line reference Mari Smith-Negron, her mother, and Anelle Lopes’s interviews recounting Edna’s legacy. Maria Sanchez was an advocate, mentor, and was immensely respected city-wide. Most strikingly, she served on the Hartford Board of Education, and advocated for bilingual education among public schools. Additionally, in 1988, she was the first Latina elected to the Connecticut General Assembly. She was known as the godmother of the Puerto Rican community in Hartford. As she arrived in Hartford with only an 8th grade education, she sought to better her life and the life of those around her. She opened her own news stand which eventually became the space for her political movements along with a space for community members to voice their opinions. Her major accomplishments include a school named after her and an induction into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. For this line reference Anelle Lopes's interview recounting Maria’s legacy. Juan Fuentes, always with his camera at hand, photographed the realities of Hartford, specifically within the Puerto Rican community. His photography was displayed and published both throughout Hartford and nationally. He was extremely present within the community as he taught photography to students in Hartford schools and seniors through community organizations. For this line reference John Fuentes, his grandson, Lucy Fuentes, his wife, and Anelle Lopes’s interviews recounting Juan’s legacy.
Creator
Frog Hollow Oral History Research Team
Source
Interview
Publisher
Trinity College Liberal Arts Action Lab
Date
November 6, 2021
Contributor
Frog Hollow Oral History Research Team
Format
MP3, JPG
Language
English
Type
Interview
Identifier
Frog Hollow, Heroes of Frog Hollow, Edna Negron, Bilingual Education, Maria Sanchez, Maria's News Stand, Juan Fuentes, Photography
Coverage
Heroes of Frog Hollow Project
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Sophie Sczurko, Kristina Kendall
Interviewee
Anelle Lopes
Location
The Park Street Library @ the Lyric
Transcription
Anelle Lopes (1).MP3
Speaker 1 [00:00:01] So if you could just state your name.
Speaker 2 [00:00:03] My name is Anelle Lopes maiden name, Anelle Torres and I was part of the recruited teachers in the 70s for the bilingual program from Puerto Rico to here, and I worked in the in this community for eight years and then the Parkfield community for 30 more years. So I knew Juan Fuentes in person, Edna Negron in person, Maria Sanchez in person, and they impacted my life as a bilingual teacher, and we were also required to work in the community. So every Friday with the social worker, we would come around and visit the parents in our community, the parents of our of our students that were not treated well in the Hartford public system. But we got to know and understand their needs and try to deal with with those needs.
Speaker 1 [00:01:24] Can you share how these heroes have impacted you personally?
Speaker 2 [00:01:28] Well, OK, I'm going to start with Edna Negron. I did not attend La Escuelita, but I worked at Burns School, which is within this community and the Burns Annex. And she was an excellent role model to me as a teacher, as a friend and as a her interest in the community and the people that we work with. Also, Juan Fuentes who was like a slave to his camera, always going around, not trying to take pretty pictures, but pictures of what was really happening in our community. Maria Sanchez, that was something special with a little news stand, I had been there many times as a as a teacher and giving us excellent advice and how to go about certain situations that we were encountering in our classrooms and in the schools that we were working in and how to go about about that diplomatically. But to make an impact.
Speaker 1 [00:03:03] And can you share how these heroes have impacted the Frog Hollow Comminity, you kind of touched on that. Specifically, could you talk more about the news stand, like kind of like what that did for the community and like how it was set up.
Speaker 2 [00:03:19] Well, it was it was a little this is a little kiosk go, a little stand. And she had candy and newspaper and little trinkets selling and things that you could find in Puerto Rico that you could find here. That was, you know, special candies and delicacies. But you could see like politicians there and other educators at her stand and just talking and exchanging, you know, exchanging ideas. And problems and solutions. It was really a nice, informal place to go to and you come back with so much information.
Speaker 1 [00:04:20] How do you think we can? Or how do you think the community can honor the legacy of these heroes?
Speaker 2 [00:04:28] The murals is an excellent idea. Also, if there if there is someone who can continue their work and I know there are a lot of a lot of people that are continuing their work and volunteers. I worked in this community for so many years and I'm retired now, but I still see, you know, the change in the neighborhood. At one point, it was really detrimental. You know me visiting the area, visiting parents, some of the buildings we were afraid to go into. But others, you know, the families were very tight, very close, and they wanted a better life for their kids. And that's what we were there for to provide this improvement in their lives, trying to be their heroes in the lives of these students. So I think continuing what other people are doing now are the community workers and the community centers. That's that should be ongoing.
Speaker 1 [00:06:02] Do you have any questions for us?
Speaker 2 [00:06:04] So what do you girls do?
Speaker 1 [00:00:01] So if you could just state your name.
Speaker 2 [00:00:03] My name is Anelle Lopes maiden name, Anelle Torres and I was part of the recruited teachers in the 70s for the bilingual program from Puerto Rico to here, and I worked in the in this community for eight years and then the Parkfield community for 30 more years. So I knew Juan Fuentes in person, Edna Negron in person, Maria Sanchez in person, and they impacted my life as a bilingual teacher, and we were also required to work in the community. So every Friday with the social worker, we would come around and visit the parents in our community, the parents of our of our students that were not treated well in the Hartford public system. But we got to know and understand their needs and try to deal with with those needs.
Speaker 1 [00:01:24] Can you share how these heroes have impacted you personally?
Speaker 2 [00:01:28] Well, OK, I'm going to start with Edna Negron. I did not attend La Escuelita, but I worked at Burns School, which is within this community and the Burns Annex. And she was an excellent role model to me as a teacher, as a friend and as a her interest in the community and the people that we work with. Also, Juan Fuentes who was like a slave to his camera, always going around, not trying to take pretty pictures, but pictures of what was really happening in our community. Maria Sanchez, that was something special with a little news stand, I had been there many times as a as a teacher and giving us excellent advice and how to go about certain situations that we were encountering in our classrooms and in the schools that we were working in and how to go about about that diplomatically. But to make an impact.
Speaker 1 [00:03:03] And can you share how these heroes have impacted the Frog Hollow Comminity, you kind of touched on that. Specifically, could you talk more about the news stand, like kind of like what that did for the community and like how it was set up.
Speaker 2 [00:03:19] Well, it was it was a little this is a little kiosk go, a little stand. And she had candy and newspaper and little trinkets selling and things that you could find in Puerto Rico that you could find here. That was, you know, special candies and delicacies. But you could see like politicians there and other educators at her stand and just talking and exchanging, you know, exchanging ideas. And problems and solutions. It was really a nice, informal place to go to and you come back with so much information.
Speaker 1 [00:04:20] How do you think we can? Or how do you think the community can honor the legacy of these heroes?
Speaker 2 [00:04:28] The murals is an excellent idea. Also, if there if there is someone who can continue their work and I know there are a lot of a lot of people that are continuing their work and volunteers. I worked in this community for so many years and I'm retired now, but I still see, you know, the change in the neighborhood. At one point, it was really detrimental. You know me visiting the area, visiting parents, some of the buildings we were afraid to go into. But others, you know, the families were very tight, very close, and they wanted a better life for their kids. And that's what we were there for to provide this improvement in their lives, trying to be their heroes in the lives of these students. So I think continuing what other people are doing now are the community workers and the community centers. That's that should be ongoing.
Speaker 1 [00:06:02] Do you have any questions for us?
Speaker 2 [00:06:04] So what do you girls do?
Original Format
Audio Recording
Duration
6 minutes