|
|
|
|
|
|
National Parks of New York Harbor
Curriculum Materials
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NPS PHOTO | At the NPNH Education Center, students learn basic drama skills to bring immigrant oral histories to life. |
|
See Lesson Plans and Teacher Guides for pre-visit and post-visit activities designed for all of our curriculum-based programs.
Our program To Be Somebody in America (photo, left) introduces students to fascinating oral histories by Ellis Island immigrants, below. Students read two of these oral histories at school. When they come to the NPNH Education Center, they learn basic drama skills. Student groups then transform the oral histories into short dramatic performances, which they act out on stage. The oral histories below have been edited to aid reading comprehension. Each oral history also includes a graphic organizer.
COUNTRY of ORIGIN
|
IMMIGRANT
|
YEAR
|
IMMIGRATION STORY
|
AUSTRIA
|
|
1940
|
Jewish girl escapes the Holocaust, only to be detained at Ellis Island because she is deaf
|
BARBADOS
|
|
1921
|
Black immigrant faces poverty, prejudice in the U.S.
|
CHINA (Hong Kong)
|
|
1951
|
Suspected of being a “paper son,” interrogated at Ellis Island for two months
|
CROATIA (formerly part of
Yugoslavia)
|
|
1950
|
Illegally enters U.S. by bicycling from Argentina with a friend
|
GERMANY
|
|
1930,
1933
|
Twice enters U.S. illegally, once as stowaway escaping Nazi officials
|
IRELAND
|
|
1925
|
Good description of Irish Civil War and processing through Ellis Island
|
IRELAND
|
|
1925
|
Denied a job in the U.S. because of his religion
|
ITALY
|
|
1922
|
Spends a year at Ellis Island’s hospital for treatment of her trachoma
|
ITALY
|
|
1921
|
Illiterate brother denied entry to U.S.
|
LEBANON
|
|
1913
|
Mother and children escape from father to U.S.
|
RUSSIA
(born in Romania)
|
|
1922
|
Knowledge of English forces him into a parental role for Yiddish-speaking parents
|
SWEDEN
|
|
1924
|
“Feeble-minded” sister denied entry to U.S.
|
TURKEY
(immigrant is ethnically Greek)
|
(NOTE: This is required reading for all on-site programs.)
|
1921
|
Underage girl enters U.S. to study to become a doctor, but unscrupulous family members force her to make a hard decision
|
UKRAINE
(formerly part of both Russia and Poland)
|
|
1921
|
Jewish family escapes pogroms, revolution only to be detained at Ellis Island. Later becomes movie actress.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Did You Know?
In the line of fire! Cannon at Castle Williams of Governors Island National Monument face Battery Park in Lower Manhattan... and continually surprise commuters on the Staten Island ferry! Governors Island is one of 23 unique destinations within the National Parks of New York Harbor.
more...
|
|
|
|
Last Updated: May 06, 2009 at 08:53 EST |