Welcome to Urban Borderlands!

Project : The Latino Business Community in Somerville, Massachusetts.

This is a project in the Anthropology department at Tufts University with Professor Deborah Pacini Hernandez. My name is Emily Chasan and I worked with David Pistrang during the fall of 2003 to compile oral histories about the Latino Business Community in Somerville, Mass. We also worked with AHORA student partners Bianca Salazar and Evelin Santos.

We went into the Community throughout the semester to learn about the businesses and talk to business owners. Though we talked to many different people who helped us on our project, we interviewed some business owners in depth. By clicking on the Businesses section you will be able to see some of the business owners I interviewed and learn about their stores.

We also compiled a larger picture of the Latino Business Community in Somerville through our Directory. If you follow the directory you can visit these businesses yourself!

What is Urban Borderlands?

Urban Borderlands is a class in the Anthropology department at Tufts University. The goal of the course is to learn about the Latino community in Somerville and create an oral history project on certain aspects of the Latino community there.

Why did we choose to study Latino businesses?

We thought businesses were a good topic to study because they are a focal point of the community. The growth of Latino businesses comes right along with the growth of the Latino community in Somerville. They are a good indication of the needs and desires of the community and they provide clues into what goes on in the Latino community in Somerville.

How did we do it?

We found businesses in the community and a group of business owners were nice enough to find time to talk to us. They told us their stories and we thank every one of them for helping us!

What did we look at?

In our project we tried to focus on the history of the community, the relationship of the community to other ethnic groups in Somerville, family networks of business owners and the way the businesses are perceived in the larger community as well as their relationships with the Latino community.