Indian Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection, 2016-2018

The collection consists of eight born digital recordings (6 audio; 2 video) of interviews with members of the Corvallis Indian American community. Audio recordings were originally captured in *.mp3, video recordings were *.mov, and all files have been saved as preservation copies for each interview. All interviews held in the collection have been transcribed by Sravya Tadepalli, the interviewer and collection donor. Researcher access to both the collection's interviews and transcripts is available on site and online. Links to online audio recordings and transcripts are provided within the item-level description of this collection. All interviews were conducted in Corvallis, Oregon by Sravya Tadepalli, a student at the University of Oregon, with family living in Corvallis, at the time she completed the project .

Interviewees include twelve members of the Corvallis Indian American community; four of the interviews are with couples. Topics discussed include the interviewees' experiences growing up in India and immigration to the United States; experiences with education in both India and the United States; dealing with discrimination and bias; the challenges and rewards of living in the United States; religion; community service; issues of race and identity as Indian Americans; and reflections on how they have changed as a result of living in Corvallis, Oregon.

All of the digital recordings, except for one, of the interviews are available online.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Eldurkar Bhaskar was born in Chennai, India, in Tamil Nadu in 1942. He came to Corvallis for the first time in 1969 to do his master’s degree in solid state devices. He moved back to India after completing his degree, but moved back to Corvallis in 1980 to do his PhD and work at Hewlett-Packard. While he did not manage to complete his doctorate, Bhaskar made significant research contributions at HP to technology contributing to the creation of the inkjet printer.

Sucheta Bhaskar was born in Vellore, India, in Tamil Nadu in July, 1949. Before living in Corvallis, she worked in India as a preparatory (kindergarten) teacher. After marrying and moving to Corvallis, Sucheta worked as a preschool teacher. She is married to Eldurkar Bhaskar and has two children, Jayant and Jyoti Bhaskar.

Bella Bose was born in a small village in India in 1950. He moved to the United States in 1977 to do his PhD in 1977, coming to Oregon State University in 1980. He is currently a professor and Senior Associate School Head of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His current research interests include error control codes, parallel processing, and computer networks. He has two children, Sonia and Varun.

Sankar Chakrabarti was born in Azamuganj, India in the early 1940s. He was born during the year of the Bengal Famine and only a few years before the partition between India and Pakistan divided his home state into two countries. He obtained his PhD from the School of Physics at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and came to the United States as a post-doc at Harvard Medical School. He worked at the University of Oregon before receiving a job at HP as an engineer, eventually becoming a peer manager. During Chakrabarti’s time at HP, he contributed to a number of projects related to ink pen development. He is married to Usha Chakrabarti and has two children, Meghna and Samidh. Meghna is co-host of NPR’s nationally syndicated news program On Point, and Samidh is now the head of civic engagement at Facebook.

Usha Chakrabarti was born in Bombay in the early 1940s. She studied chemistry and did her master’s degree at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, where she met her husband, Sankar Chakrabarti. After moving to Corvallis, Chakrabarti began working in HP’s Research and Development Lab, where she worked in the development of ink pens for printers. Chakrabarti has been an active member of the Corvallis community, serving as a mentor for Saturday Academy students and volunteering for Benton County Democrats. She has two children, Meghna and Samidh, who both graduated from Crescent Valley High School as valedictorians. Meghna is co-host of NPR’s nationally syndicated news program On Point, and Samidh is now the head of civic engagement at Facebook.

Sam Karipalli was born in April 1942 in Lakkavaram, India. He moved to the United States in 1980 and worked at Hewlett-Packard for more than twenty-five years. He is currently retired. He is married to Jessie Karipalli and has two children, Kaasu and Sunnika.

Jessie Karipalli was born in November 1946 in Sakhinetipalli, India. She moved to the United States in 1980, first working in a nursing home and then and working at Hewlett-Packard. She is currently retired. She is married to Sam Karipalli and has two children, Kaasu and Sunnika.

Parthasarathy (Partha) Lakkur was born in July 1944, in Hosadurga, India as one of six children. After doing a bachelor’s in sciences and bachelors in engineering in India, he came to the United States in 1967 to attend college at SUNY Stony Brook, during the height of the Vietnam War. After receiving his master’s degree and PhD, Partha moved to Corvallis, Oregon to work at Hewlett-Packard. He has lived in Corvallis for almost forty years. He is married to Surya Lakkur and has two children, Manu and Vinu.

Surya Lakkur was born in the small town of Kommbai, India, in October of 1950. She is a first-generation college student and is grateful to her parents for moving her family to the city of Tiruchirapalli (Trichi), India, so their six children could all get a good education. Surya did her B.S. in economics in Trichi and later did a second B.S. in computer science at Oregon State University, later working as a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard and FISA (Fiserv, a financial services company with a Corvallis office). She is married to Partha Lakkur and has two children, Manu and Vinu.

Muthukrishna (Ram) Ramanujam was born October, 1950, in Tiruchirappalli, India. Ram resides in Corvallis, Oregon, originally coming to Oregon State University for graduate school in 1979, and then returning to Corvallis in 1988 to work at Hewlett-Packard. Before moving to Corvallis permanently, Ram worked in California for both National Semiconductor and Intel. He is married to Kalyani Ramanujam, and has three children, Sangeetha, Chuck, and Madhu.

Kalyani Ramanujam was born May, 1958, in Kariyamanickam, India. Kalyani lives in Corvallis, Oregon, moving to the town in 1988 with her family. Before living in Corvallis, Kalyani lived in Hyderabad, India, and California. She currently works in quality control at Hewlett-Packard. She is married to Ram Ramanujam and has three children, Sangeetha, Chuck, and Madhu.

Prasad Tadepalli was born on January 24th, 1959 in Machilipatnam, India. He moved to the United States in 1982 on assignment as a programmer. He later decided to do a PhD in computer science, graduating from Rutgers University in 1989 and taking a job at Oregon State University as an assistant professor. He is now a professor in computer science, specializing in artificial intelligence.

Author: Sravya Tadepalli

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 6 audio files; 2 video files

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: Sravya Tadepalli, a student at the University of Oregon at the time she completed the project and with family living in Corvallis, donated the set of oral history interviews to the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

Related Materials:

This collection is a component of the Oregon Multicultural Archives.

There are records from the Indian Student Association in the International Students of Oregon State University (ISOSU) Records (RG 247) as well as the Student Leadership and Involvement Records (RG 232).

Other oral history collections devoted to or placing a strong emphasis on multicultural themes include the Oregon Native American Language Sound Recordings (OH 12), the Japanese-American Association of Lane County, Oregon Oral History Collection (OH 15), the Oregon Multicultural Archives Oral History Collection (OH 18), the Oregon State University Cultural Centers Oral History Collection (OH 21), the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 26) and African-American Railroad Porter Oral History Collection (OH 29), and the Asian Family Center Oral History Collection (OH 30).

Preferred Citation: Indian Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection (OH 37), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Indian Americans in Corvallis, Oregon Oral History Collection, 2016-2018

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