l-r:Terri J. Goldich, Curator; Billie M. Levy, Donor; Kena Sosa, Researcher. Seated:  Mrs. Eva Greenwood, Interviewee

Ms. Kena Sosa of Grand Prairie, Texas, was the 4th recipient  of a Billie M. Levy Travel and Research Grant awarded  by the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection.  Ms. Sosa  is a  school librarian and teacher, with a BA in English and an MA in bilingual education with emphasis on teaching the gifted and talented.   Her topic of research is the experience of Jewish children  who escaped Nazi persecution to England and other countries by  means of the Kindertransport program.  The Northeast  Children’s Literature Collection holds works on this topic which Ms.  Sosa used to gather information on the experiences of the children  faced with new sights,  sounds, language, and in some cases, new  families.  Ms. Sosa also interviewed two women who were  transported to  England as part of Kindertransport to create oral histories  documenting their experiences. (NOTE: Mrs. Greenwood’s interview begins  in the middle of a sentence.)

Click  here for the transcript interview of Mrs. Eva Greenwood, or:

Here for the  transcript of Mrs. Rita G. Kaplan. 

Ms.  Sosa has published on a wide variety of topics ranging  from biracial children’s  literature to netiquette for kids.  She  hopes
to use the results of her research to write a children’s book about the  Kindertransport experience.   Ms. Sosa  presented the results  of her research on April 21, 2011, at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.

–Terri J. Goldich