Stories of Scranton to Premiere Oct. 27

After two years in the making, Scranton’s Story: Our Nation’s Story will premiere the finale of the project’s Oral Histories collection initiative, “Scranton Stories,” with a portrait exhibit of the local residents featured in 25 oral history interviews. Videos of their personal narratives, along with their portraits taken by photographer Byron Maldonado, celebrate individual Scranton experiences while demonstrating the many threads that connect each story - a deep care for the city and its people, an awareness of our challenges, and heartfelt hopes for the future of Scranton and our nation.

The “Scranton Stories” premiere will take place Friday, Oct. 27 - starting with a panel discussion at 5 p.m. in the Pearn Auditorium of Brennan Hall, followed by a portrait exhibit from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Hope Horn Gallery, Hyland Hall, at The University of Scranton. The premiere is free of charge and open to the public.

“These 25 stories are one small piece of the larger mosaic of Scranton’s many stories, both past and present. Scranton has always been a microcosm of what was happening across our nation, and these 25 stories show the strength, grace, and character that exist in the face of our local and national challenges. They represent a small cross-section of the way people from many different cultures and backgrounds live, work, worship and play together in one city, in one nation,” said Kimberly Crafton, oral histories project coordinator and consultant. Crafton, together with Julie Schumacher Cohen, project director and assistant vice president for community engagement and government affairs at The University of Scranton, organized this part of the initiative in collaboration with a committee comprised of University and community partners and photographer Byron Maldonado.

The 25 “Scranton Stories” include a total of 33 individuals who have either lived or worked in Scranton or otherwise have strong ties to the city related to their childhood, racial or ethnic community, civic involvement, vocation or faith group. It includes individuals who have long standing family ties as descendants of industrial era European immigrants as well as African Americans with local roots that date as far back as the Civil War. Also highlighted are the journeys of more recent immigrants and refugees coming to the area from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia - some who have been here for generations now, and some who are more recent arrivals. There are teachers, artists, small business owners, younger and older adults, multi-generational families and more.

Interviewees shared their personal experiences in Scranton - their “Scranton Story,” as well as their aspirations around a number of timely topics.

“I am immensely grateful to the 33 individuals who shared their stories through this project. They voice a wide array of experiences that help us honor and expand the narrative of Scranton and the nation. Democracy only works when everyone is involved. Participation locally and nationally requires that sense of belonging,” Cohen.

“Those interviewed expressed concern or anxiety about the divisiveness that exists in the nation today, as well as hope for the future, if we can listen and learn from each other. We can’t gloss over hard histories or experiences. We can’t skip to unity. We have to work for it. This collection makes space for those nuanced conversation. The stories remind us of the humanity of our Scranton neighbors, our fellow Americans – our commonalities and our differences – and they challenge us to forge a better way forward,” said Cohen.

The premiere is the culmination of a multifaceted two-year project that seeks to illustrate and preserve the unique story of Scranton and relate it to the history of the United States. The project, Scranton’s Story: Our Nation’s Story, which involved multiple community partners and received National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant support, responds to the NEH special initiative “A More Perfect Union” which will commemorate the upcoming 250^th anniversary of the United States.

Scranton’s Story: Our Nation’s Story incorporates eight themes, ranging from how Scranton has been portrayed in the popular imagination, to its industrial era growth, Indigenous history, religious tapestry, diverse immigrant populations – past and present – and the role it played in the Underground Railroad and Black history. The project also seeks to share underrepresented Scranton stories in order to stitch together a full local and national narrative.

 “I am very grateful to be a part of a project that educates and features prior generations’ stories, and is making it a point to highlight contemporary stories, cultures, heritages and experiences that have not been told in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Jenny Gonzalez Monge, who with her mother Ana Monge, are among the 25 Scranton Stories that will be premiered Oct. 27. In their interview, they share the challenges they faced as immigrants and as one of few students of color in Scranton schools when they arrived about 30 years ago.

“Being able to share my mother's experience of how Scranton went from being an unknown, lonely and scary place for her to a place where she established long-term roots, raised her children, and ultimately became her home, was very rewarding. My hope is that through this project, future generations understand, appreciate and celebrate Scranton’s diverse cultural assets and community members, to continue the transformational work of creating a welcoming, empathetic and just community,” said Gonzalez Monge, who is a steering committee member for Scranton Stories and Marywood University STARS program director.

Panelists on Oct. 27 will include: Crafton, oral histories coordinator; Cohen, project director; and Glynis Johns, Black Scranton; Alejandra Marroquin, Lackawanna County Immigrant Inclusion Committee; Mary Ann Savakinus, Lackawanna Historical Society; and photographer Byron Maldonado.

The remaining individuals whose “Scranton Stories” will be premiered will be named at the event. Portraits of the participants displayed in the exhibit were created by Maldonado. The individuals each chose a location in Scranton for their photograph that had a special meaning to them. These images are another documentation of the city through their eyes.

The panel discussion and exhibit are free of charge and open to the public. The exhibit will be on display in the Hope Horn Gallery during gallery hours through to Nov. 17. The interviews will be available as of Oct. 27 via the University’s YouTube channel and the project website (www.scranton.edu/scrantonstory) and the full interviews will be archived by the Weinberg Memorial Library.

For more information, visit Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story website, or  email community@scranton.edu or call 570-941-4419 or visit www.scranton.edu/scrantonstory.