Bronwen Solyom discusses her relation to the Obama family through Anne Dunham. She recalls Anne as funny, playful, and as a dedicated mother to Barack Obama. Solyom details Anne's time in Jakarta and can speak to the area's cultural nuances in detail due to her in-depth knowledge of Indonesian culture. She speaks of the art culture, political economy, and governance in Indonesia at the time, reflec ting on Anne's academic work on microloan programs as a critical inquiry. Bronwen fondly recalls Anne's sense of humor and playfulness. She remembers an era in which Anne was her neighbor in Bali, and Barack Obama needed a place to write a book. She recalls his dedicated and focused work ethic amid the beauty of Bali as indicative of his drive, joking that he could one day become president
Bronwen Solyom is a librarian who had a long friendship with Anne Dunham, President Obama's mother. Born in 1944, Solyam is a dual citizen of both Australia and the United States, and she studied at the University of Tasmania, University of Chicago, a nd the University of Hawaii, where she met Anne. Bronwen has worked as a librarian at the University of Tasmania and the University of Hawaii, where she was the curator at the Jean Charlot Collection. She has also worked for the Ford Foundation for the National Library in Indonesia
Note
Interviewed by Dr. Davianna McGregor and Landon Tom on May 10, 2022. This interview is part of the University of Hawai'i: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Bronwen Solyom, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2022