ROHA Digital Learning Center
ROHA Military History
ROHA Rutgers History
ROHA Educational Resources
ROHA Women's History
Like ROHA on Facebook
ROHA Digital Learning Center
ROHA Military History
ROHA Rutgers History
ROHA Educational Resources
ROHA Women's History
Like ROHA on Facebook
previous arrow
next arrow
PlayPause

Rutgers Oral History Archives

  • Date: July 13, 2020
  • Place: Tampa, FL
  • Interviewers:
    • Ezekiel Medina
  • Recommended Citation: Martinez, Christina. Oral History Interview, July 13, 2020, by Ezekiel Medina, Page #, Rutgers Oral History Archives. Online: Insert URL (Last Accessed: Insert Date).
  • Permission:

    Permission to quote from this transcript must be obtained from the Rutgers Oral History Archives. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

donors small

Oral History Interview
Click here to view video interview or press play below


Interview Summary:

Christina Martinez is a Navy Reserve nurse from Tampa, Florida who was deployed to New York City during the Covid-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. She recalls her initial arrival in New York City, where she witnessed the empty streets amidst the city-wide lockdown. Martinez served as a nurse treating patients with Covid-19 at the Jacob J. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, where the Army Corps of Engineers had set up a field hospital. Despite the hectic nature of her work environment, Martinez talks about being able to provide comfort to her patients and how her bilingual skills enabled her to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients. She recounts her role in reuniting two sisters who were each receiving treatment at the field hospital. Her group of nurses, dubbed EMF-19, acted as a support system for each other in a self-described sisterhood. Additionally, Martinez stresses that Covid-19 is real and that education is an important tool to help combat the spread of the virus, with positive attitudes being something everyone can try to maintain.

Targum Cover 11 22 1963a

 

"HERE IS A BULLETIN...": Memories of the Day Camelot Died

 

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.

Images from that day and the events that followed remain etched in our collective consciousness—the open-top Presidential limo traveling down the people-lined streets of Dallas; President Lyndon Baines Johnson taking the oath of office on Air Force One beside a shaken First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy; John, Jr. saluting his father's passing casket at the funeral in DC.

Those who lived through that traumatic period can recall both their initial shock and the nuances of their reactions.

In "HERE IS A BULLETIN...": Memories of the Day Camelot Died, ROHA presents a sampling of stories related to the Kennedy tragedy, a touchstone event for multiple generations.

The Rutgers Targum (campus newspaper) cover from its November 22, 1963 issue. (Image courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.)

 

Voices of Veterans Banner 1

Voices of Veterans

 

Voices of Veterans is an online exhibit showcasing passages from oral history interviews of veterans who served in the Second World War and in wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan. ROHA created this exhibit in commemoration of Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, 1941.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT MORE ONLINE EXHIBITS 

 

 

Resources

Information