Jiménez de Wagenheim, Olga 1941–

(Olga Jiménez Wagenheim, Olga Wagenheim, Olga J. Wagenheim, Olga de Wagenheim)

PERSONAL: Born September 24, 1941, in Camuy, Puerto Rico; daughter of Santos (a farmer) and Victoria (Méndez) Jiménez; married Kalman Wagenheim (a journalist), June 10, 1961; children: David Roberto, Maria Dolores. Ethnicity: "Puerto Rican." Education: Inter-American University, San Juan, Puerto Rico, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1970; State University of New York at Buffalo, M.A., 1971; Rutgers University, Ph.D., 1981. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Roman Catholic ("non-practicing").

ADDRESSES: Home—116 Myrtle Ave., Millburn, NJ 07041. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Rutgers University, Newark Campus, Newark, NJ, adjunct instructor and assistant to director of Equal Opportunity Fund, 1972–73, instructor, 1977–81, assistant professor, 1981–86, associate professor of Latin American and Caribbean history, 1986–2003, professor emerita, 2003–, director of Puerto Rican studies program, 1977–81, 1986–2003. University of Buenos Aires, Fulbright Lecturer, 1991; William Paterson University, distinguished visiting Hispanic scholar, 1991; guest speaker at other colleges and universities, including Columbia University, 1986, Princeton University, 1989, Jersey City State College, 1989, Seton Hall University, 1995, and Essex County College, 1997; guest on radio and television programs in the United States and Argentina. National Puerto Rican Coalition, member of board of governors, 1989–. Hispanic Women's Task Force of New Jersey, vice chair and member of board of directors, 1986–91; Aspira of New Jersey, member of board of trustees, 1988–90; New Jersey Institute for College Teaching and Learning, member of advisory board, 1989–90; Hispanic Women's Resource Centers (of New Jersey), chair of advisory board, 1992; Board of Advocates for New Jersey History, member, 1997–; New Jersey Public Television Network, member of Images/Imagenes Committee, 1997–; Newark Public Library, New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center, organizing committee chair and cofounder, 1999–; consultant to New Jersey Historical Society and La Casa de Don Pedro. Newark Museum, member of board of trustees, 1980–86. Member of editorial board, Centro Journal, 1997–.

MEMBER: Fulbright Association, Oral History Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Inter American Fellowship to pursue graduate studies, 1970–71; Ford Foundation fellow, 1973–76; grants from National Endowment for the Humanities, 1987 and 1994; Distinguished Teacher of the Year, Rutgers-Neward, 1991; awards from Hispanic Women's Task Force of New Jersey and Morris County Organization for Hispanic Affairs, both 1988; Scholarly Achievement Award, Hispanic Association for Higher Education of New Jersey, 1989, for an oral history project; Rutgers Human Dignity Award, Rutgers University, 2000; grants to train students in oral history, Rutgers University, 2001 and 2001.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with husband Kalman Wagenheim) The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History, Praeger (New York, NY), 1973, revised edition, Markus Wiener (Princeton, NJ), 2002.

El Grito de Lares: sus causas y sus hombres, Ediciones Huracan (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico), 1984.

Puerto Rico's Revolt for Independence: El Grito de Lares, Westview (Boulder, CO), 1985, reprinted Markus Wiener (Princeton, NJ), 2000.

Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History, from Pre-Colombian Times to 1900, Markus Wiener (Princeton, NJ), 1998.

Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Hispanic American Horizontal Review, Migration Review, CentroJournal, Horizontes, Revista de Historia, Caribbean Review, and Revista/Review Inter-americana.

SIDELIGHTS: Olga Jiménez de Wagenheim once told CA: "My primary motivation for writing is to share information with my readers, since most of what I write revolves around historical events. I am passionate about history in general, and Caribbean history in particular. Good writers, especially great historians, are my greatest role models.

"I usually write in the mornings and revise in the afternoons. But writing is attempted only after all the research is conducted.

"A love of country, Puerto Rico, and its people and the desire to share my findings with others, especially the Puerto Ricans in the United States, are the sources of my inspiration. In recent years, I have become fascinated with the possibilities offered by oral history interviews as a field of inquiry. I enjoy the exchange between narrator and interviewer.

"I have been very active volunteering at the Newark Public Library, which has been engaged in establishing the New Jersey Hispanic Research and Information Center. Part of my work at the library has included overseeing the creation of the Puerto Rican Community Archives, a project that seeks to rescue the historical legacy of Puerto Rican communities of New Jersey. I also have conducted dozens of oral histories of the Hispanic activists in New Jersey since 1999."