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Our mission is to preserve, promote, and propel the right of all people to a place where they can live and prosper—a place to call home.

    Alexandra Mello

    Content Warnings: None

    Audio Quality Notes: We decided against using headphones to monitor audio quality. Audio levels were tested and adjusted on the recorder.

    At a Glance

    Public Housing Residency: Meadowbrook Apartments, Hilltop Apartments of Village Hill

    Themes: Section 8, Housing, Education, Community

    Content Warnings: None

    Primary time periods: None

    Primary locations: Northampton, Massachusetts

    Keywords: people, college, rent, property, subsidized, landlord, homeowners, apartment, units, housing, pandemic, neighbors

    Descriptive Context

    Interview Summary

    Content Warnings: None

    In this oral history, Alexandra speaks passionately about her life experiences, some of which eventually lead her to having to apply for Section 8. Although an adjustment, Alexandra has found herself dedicating more time to community based work and connecting with people. She also highlights important disparities between public housing and homeowners by way of landlords, placements, and requirements to maintain housing vouchers.

    About the Narrator

    Narrator Full Name: Alexandra Mello

    Narrator pronouns: she/her

    Refer to as: None

    Self-identified race and/or ethnicity: Caucasian

    Biographical Context:
    None
    Life Dates:
    • Birth: 1976
    About the Interview

    Interviewer: Kia Aoki

    Date of Interview: 2022-10-21

    Method of Interview: in-person

    Location of Interview: Northampton, MA

    Language: English

    Duration: 00:55:49

    Formats Available: .mp3

    Audio Quality and other notes: We decided against using headphones to monitor audio quality. Audio levels were tested and adjusted on the recorder.

    Post-Production by: Kia Aoki, cosmo

    Contextual Information Last Updated: None

    Time-Stamped Index

    No index available for this file.

    Access and Use Guidelines

    Access Level: restricted

    Rights Overview:

    Each oral history interview is considered to be co-created, ‘joint work’ among the oral historian, narrator, and, in this case, the National Public Housing Museum.

    NPHM manages the components of copyright (reproduction, distribution, adaption, performance, and display) using Creative Commons Licenses. Most interviews are shared with Attribution and Non-Commercial 4.0 International licenses (CC BY-NC 4.0 Deed), meaning that they can be reproduced, distributed, performed, and displayed for the general public IF the user:

    Credits the co-creators (Attribution), and
    Does not make money from the usage (Non-Commercial). 
    Narrators also have the option to apply a No-Derivatives License to their interview(s), meaning that the public is forbidden from adapting the work. These works are published under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Deed).

    Please contact the NPHM Oral History Programs Manager if you are interested in downloading a copy of any of the interview materials (audio file, transcript, or finding aid contents).

    Note that the final decision about whether to share downloadable copies and whether to allow usage remains with the narrator. 

    Citation Guidelines:

    When using an interview from the NPHM Oral History Archive, use the narrator’s full name the first time you reference them. Use the narrator’s “Refer to As” name in additional mentions of their name. 

    Please use the following formatting when citing the interview in academic settings:

    Bibliography Example

    Pegues, Janetta Sue. Interviewed by Francesco De Salvatore. National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded June 18, 2018, accessed June 2, 2024: pp. 10-15.

    Bibliography Format

    [NarratorFullName in Last, First Middle order]. Interviewed by [InterviewerFullName in First Middle Last Order]. National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded [write out full date of interview], accessed [write out full date of most recent access]: pp. [pages of transcript cited]. 

    Footnote Example

    Janetta Sue Pegues, interviewed by Francesco De Salvatore, National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded June 18, 2018, accessed June 2, 2024: pp. 10-15. 

    Footnote Format

    [NarratorFullName in First Middle Last Order], interviewed by [InterviewerFullName in First Middle Last Order] National Public Housing Museum Oral History Archive, [insert URL], recorded [write out full date of interview], accessed [write out full date of most recent access]: pp. [pages of transcript cited]. 

    Transcript and Supplemental Attachments
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