Scranton Stories Oral Histories

“Scranton Stories” is part of a community-wide project, Scranton's Story, Our Nation's Story, which explored themes of history, belonging, identity, community, and democracy. These 25 "Scranton Stories" are excerpted from the oral history interviews of 33 individuals. Each give voice to a broad array of Scranton experiences that connect our city to our nation’s ongoing story, in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

The 33 individuals interviewed have either lived or worked in Scranton. They have strong ties to the city related to their childhood, racial or ethnic community, civic involvement, vocation, or faith group. The collection 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 mid-1800’s. 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 have been in Scranton for generations now and some are more recent arrivals. There are teachers, civic leaders, artists, small business owners, younger and older adults, multi-generational families and more. While the project is broad, it is not meant to be an exhaustive representation of Scranton’s many facets, nor does it present a conclusive collection of Scranton stories. Rather, it builds on the many excellent public history and humanities projects that have come before it, some of which are included on this resource list.

Each excerpted interview, provided below, includes the participant relaying their "Scranton Story" - as well as their hopes for the city of Scranton and their hopes for the nation. We thank them for generously giving of their time - and for their courage and graciousness in sharing their story with all of us. Their collective stories create a video snapshot - a small part of the mosaic of who we, as Scrantonians, are at this moment in history and what we still aspire to be as citizens of our nation.

The full oral history interviews will be archived at the Weinberg Memorial Library. “Scranton Stories” was made possible with a broad group of funders, supporters, community partners, and project team and committee members, detailed at the bottom of the page. View the videos, with their full descriptions, on YouTube and access the fall 2023 exhibition program booklet with each interview description here.