Elizabeth Ibarra is a musician and photographer who lives in Palenville, NY. This interview was conducted over Zoom. Elizabeth is involved with the Hudson Catskill Housing Coalition because of her concerns around gentrification in her town (of which she worries she is a part), which has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. She describes the decision to move from Manhattan to Palenville with her boyfriend four years ago, her deep appreciation for life in a smaller, quieter place, and of putting down roots in Palenville where she's met people who describe themselves as third-generation residents. She talks about the ability to make art within a community that includes her and her boyfriend. She also speaks at length about the gentrification in the area, the spread of AirBnb and the effect on local housing prices, the effect on people who will not be able to afford housing as a result, and her effort to be part of the organizing in the area.
Oral History Summer School student, conducting the interview over zoom. Living in New York City, in Brooklyn. 40 years old.
Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”