Episode 5 - Lula Martinez
Adding to a host of other immigrant groups, Hispanics came to Butte as early as the 1880s with majority arriving in the 1920’s and 30’s. Experienced in mining in Mexico, they made excellent copper miners. Lula Martinez and her eleven siblings grew up on East Galena Street where the sounds of the mines were among her earliest memories.
Episode 4 - Kathleen O’Sullivan
A defining influence on Butte’s heavily Catholic population came from those women who served in Holy Orders in the many parish schools. Kathleen O’Sullivan, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, made a lasting mark on the community.
Episode 3 - Aili Goldberg
In this segment, Aili Goldberg reminisces about her Finnish immigrant mother, Mary Maki, and their life in Butte. Her recollections are documented in an oral history recorded by Professor Mary Murphy in 1980. A detailed glimpse of the city, particularly its boarding houses, comes to life.
Episode 2 - Mary Trbovich
In this segment we explore the experience of Butte resident, Mary Trbovich, the daughter of Serbian immigrants. Her recollections are documented in an oral history interview recorded by Professor Mary Murphy in 1987, and give a detailed glimpse of one of Butte’s prominent ethnic communities.
Episode 1 - Perdita Duncan
Perdita was born in Butte in 1927, the second of four children in the Duncan family. They were among the Mining City’s small black population that hovered around two thousand, a scant two per cent of the total. While Jim Crow laws did not exist in Montana, African-Americans were not fully accepted in Butte.