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An Ever-Evolving City

By Hady Mawajdeh,
Frank Stasio
Published February 26, 2015 at 12:01 PM EST
Sarita and her family arrived from Nepal in 2008, where they had lived in a refugee camp for many years after fleeing political instability in Bhutan.
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Sarita and her family arrived from Nepal in 2008, where they had lived in a refugee camp for many years after fleeing political instability in Bhutan.
Andrea Patiño Contreras
A native of El Salvador, Antonio came to the United States as an eleven-year-old kid.
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A native of El Salvador, Antonio came to the United States as an eleven-year-old kid.
Andrea Patiño Contreras
Awatif came to the United States with two sons and a daughter, after a third son—a 24-year-old college student—was murdered in Iraq.
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Awatif came to the United States with two sons and a daughter, after a third son—a 24-year-old college student—was murdered in Iraq.";s:
Andrea Patiño Contreras
Jose is close to his grandmother in Guatemala, even though they can only communicate through Skype.
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Jose is close to his grandmother in Guatemala, even though they can only communicate through Skype.
Andrea Patiño Contreras
A native of the Dominican Republican, Jose moved to Lynn in the 1980s to work in the shoe factories after his mother and siblings migrated gradually to the United States.
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A native of the Dominican Republican, Jose moved to Lynn in the 1980s to work in the shoe factories after his mother and siblings migrated gradually to the United States.
Andrea Patiño Contreras

The economy can have a major influence on the history of a city.

Factories once brought folks from the world over to new places with a similar goals in mind - to prosper and make a better life. That is the story of Lynn, Massachusetts. Once the home of General Electric and the countless shoe factories, the city was home to immigrants from Canada, Ireland, Greece, Italy and Armenia. Now, Lynn bears only the vestiges of its industrial success and is economically depressed. Immigration continues but from new areas of the world.

Host Frank Stasio talks with UNC graduate student and storyteller Andrea Patiño Contreras about documenting the story of Lynn and the immigrants who call it home.

From the World to Lynn: Stories of Immigration, a multimedia exhibit by Andrea Patiño Contreras can be viewed at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies through April 13, 2015.

Tags
The State of ThingsImmigrationPhotographyAndrea Patiño ContrerasLynn MassachusettsIraqGuatemalaDominican RepublicBhutan
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Hady Mawajdeh
Hady Mawajdeh is a native Texan, born and raised in San Antonio. He listened to Fresh Air growing up and fell in love with public radio. He earned his B.A. in Mass Communication at Texas State University and specialized in electronic media. He worked at NPR affiliate stations KUT and KUTX in Austin, Texas as an intern, producer, social media coordinator, and a late-night deejay.
See stories by Hady Mawajdeh
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
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