Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Series
Title
Oral history interview with Zsuzsanna Vamos
Date(s)
- 2018-08-20 (Creation)
Extent
1.16 gigabytes; 1 online resource (1 audio file (1 hr., 48 min., 11 sec.)) WAV
Name of creator
Biographical history
Zsuzsanna Vamos was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1953. She attended Semmelweis University in Budapest and earned a master's degree in pharmacology in 1977. In 1978, she and Istvan Adany were married; they later had three children. In 1988, she earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology. She immigrated to the United States in 1989 and first settled in Kansas, where she worked at the Kansas University Medical Center. She became a U.S. citizen in 1997. She and her family relocated to Hillsboro, Oregon, in 2009, and she became a pharmacist for Albertson's in Hillsboro. She is also an artist and has had her work exhibited in several galleries in the Pacific Northwest.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This oral history interview with Zsuszanna Vamos was conducted by Sankar Raman and Briana Ybanez on August 20, 2018. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. In this interview, Vamos discusses her family background and early life in Budapest, Hungary, including conditions under the Communist government, her education, and listening to American radio as a teenager. She talks about her interest in chemistry and her admiration for Marie Curie, as well as her experiences attending Semmelweis University to study pharmacology. She discusses her marriage to Istvan Adany and his career, and she talks about her career in biomedical research and frustration at her inability to do the research she wanted. She then talks about applying for jobs in other countries, which led to a job offer from Kansas University Medical Center. She describes the process of immigrating to the United States and adjusting to life afterward. She talks about her children, their careers, and their families. She discusses getting her green card in 1997, Istvan Adany's career in the U.S., and their move to Hillsboro, Oregon. She closes the interview by talking about her work as an artist, her thoughts on the American Dream, and her reaction to the treatment of refugees at the time of the interview in 2018.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of The Immigrant Story, July 2020 (Lib. Acc. RL2020-018).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Related descriptions
Publication notes
An article about Zsuzsanna Vamos, "The Gift of New Opportunities" by Nancy E. Dollahite, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at https://theimmigrantstory.org/new-opportunities/.
Notes element
General note
Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Zsuzsanna Vamos, by Sankar Raman and Briana Ybanez, SR 12293, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition.
Sources used
Archivist's note
Sarah Stroman
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Raman, Sankar (Contributor)
- Ybanez, Briana (Contributor)