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History, Heritage, and Hearsay: a Children's Guide to Ethnic South and Southwest Philadelphia

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History, Heritage, and Hearsay: a Children's Guide to Ethnic South and Southwest Philadelphia DOCUMENT RESUME ED 209 140 SO 013 690 AUTHOR D'Amico, Joseph J.; Newcombe, Ellen TITLE History, Heritage, and Hearsay: A Children's Guide to Ethnic South and Southwest Philadelphia. INSTITUTION Research for Better Schools, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. SPONS AGENCY Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (ED), Washington, D.C. Ethnic Heritage Studies Program. PUB DATE 81 GRANT G008004740 NOTE 146p.: For a related document, see SO 013 689. EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Blacks; Elementary Education; *Ethnic Groups; *,Ethnic Studies; Italian Americans; Jews; Learning Activities; *Local History; *Multicultural Education; Oral History: Polish Americans; Reading Materials; Resource Materials IDENTIFIERS Ethnic Heritage Studies Program; Irish Americans; *Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) ABSTRACT This guide for elementary students will help them learn about five of South and Southwest Philadelphia's ethnicgroups and examine their own ethnic heritage. These groupsare: Afro Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans, and Polish knericans. The guide has different sections. "Hearsay" sections contain Aort stories based on facts and interviews.By reading these stories students learn a little about the aistory and heritage of eacb ethnic group. "History at a Glance" sections contain brief historical descriptions of each, ethnic group. "History". sections tell about the culture'of each ethnic group. Students learn about what makes each ethnic group unique and special. "Learning Activities" help students find out more about theirown ethnic group, neighborhood, and family. Students keep a diary, makeposters, play the ethnic name baseball game, trace the ethnic history of their neighborhood, conduct oral history interviews, and cook ethnic food. (Author/BM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be 'made from the original document. *********************************************************************** US. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION 'PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER IERICI This document has been reproduced as ManitiV.ehlefiliv4 received horn the person or organtratron .L1"PT ongmatuv - lili n X Moor changes have been made to improve 17 reProduchon quality «gm. ° Points of view or opituons stated in the docu TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES tkal. trent do not necessardy represent &WM ME INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)" possuon or policy CD HISTORY, HERITAGE, AND HEARSAY C) r\JA Children's Guide to Ethnic South and Southwest Philadelphia Joseph J. D'Amico Ellen Newcombe with Tommye W. Casey and Vernetta Mitchell Ethnic Heritage Studies Project Research for Better Schools, Inc. 444 North ThirdStreet Philadelphia. Pennsylvania 19123 ti 1981 N Cover design by Patricia and Phillip Newton Layout Design by Judith K. M. Barbour This publication was prepared with funding from the Ethnic Heritage Studies Program. U.S. Depanment of Education. Grant No. G008004740. Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv Introduction 1 Me, Myself, and I: Making Identity Collages 3 Proud to Be Black 7 A Day at a Time: Keeping a Diary 15 The Philadelphia Afro-Americans 19 Thinking Positively: Making Ethnic Posters 39 Remembering Poppy 43 Routes: Tracing Your Family's Travels 49 The Philadelphia Italian-Americans 53 The Image of a Neighborhood: It All Depends 67 It's Great to Be Irish! 71 What's in a Name? The Ethnic Identity of Nanns. 75 The Philadelphia Irish-Americans 79 Teil It Like It Was: Oral HistoriesPart I 95 Letters from the Past 99 Tell It Like It Was: Oral HistoriesPart II 103 The Philadelphia Jewish-Americans 107 All the News: Ethnic and Neighborhood Newspapers 125 What's So Special About the Polish? 129 What's Cooking: An Ethnic Feast 133 The Philadelphia Polish-Americans 137 History, Heritage, and Hearsay: Other Ethnic Groups in Your Neighborhood 153 4 iii Acknowledgments Many people helped us put History, Heritage, and Hearsay together. We wish to thank them all, especially the members of our advisory panel. Mitchell J. Adler, School District of Philadelphia Vernon Anastasio, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Elijah Anderson, University of Pennsylvania Martin S. Barol, United Communities of Southeast Philadelphia Edward K. Brown, School District of Philadelphia Edmund J. Forte, Order of the Sons of Italy in America Murry Friedman, American Jewish Comthittee Natalie Giammanco, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School William Green, School District of Philadelphia Lary Groth, Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations Shannon Haines, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Clarence C. Hoover, School District of Philadelphia Emilio Matticoli, School District of Philadelphia Michael Molinari, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Edward Plocha, City of Philadelphia Barbara Z. Presseisen. Research for Better Schools, Inc. Martin Raffel, American Jewish Committee Malinda Reed, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Sal Russo, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Robert Simon, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Audrey R. Stein, Learning Plus, Inc. Melanie Turnage, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Monsignor David E. Walls, Archdiocese of Philadelphia Gwen Wright, The Association for Jewish Children of Philadelphia We are also grateful to the following individuals for their advice and help in the production of this guide: Moses Aptecker Dennis J. Clark, Samuel S Fels Fund Caroline Go lab, University of Pennsylvania Mary Kay Laird, Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations Anthony Lombardo John Malley Sister Marie Del Soldo, F.M.S C, St. Paul's Roman Catholic School Barbara Smey Richman, Research for Better Schools. Inc. Elizabeth Rischar, Marconi Senior Ci liens Center Paula Sapienza, South Pluladelplu mewl Chronicle Mr. and Mrs. l'iuli Mrs Theresa Strano. St Paul's Roman Catholic School iv Introduction History, Heritage, and Hearsay is a book for you to read and use. It will help you find out more about South and Southwest Philadelphia and five of their ethnic groups: Afro-Americans Irish-Americans Italian-Americans Jewish-Americans Polish-Americans i Each of these ethnic groups has a unique history and heritage. History, Heritage, and Hearsay will help you find out more about their histories and heritages as well as about the many contributions each group has made to our city. History, Heritage, and Hearsay will help you find out more about South and Southwest Philadelphia, too. You will learn why each of these neighborhoods is special. You'll also find out how the ethnic groups living there today continue to give those neighborhoods their own special flair. Best of all, History,'Heritage, and Hearsay will help you find out more about yourself and your own ethnic heritage. It will help you learn more about your neighborhood and city, too. After reading this book and doing some of the activities it suggests, you will understand how your ethnic heritage, your neighborhood, and your city all work together to influence your life. This book has different sections. Hearsay sections are short stories based on facts and interviews. Each helps you learn a litt!e about the history and heritage of an ethnic group. History at a Glance sections are brief historical descriptions of an ethnic group. History sections are more detailed descriptions of each ethnic group's experiences. Heritage sections tell about the culture of each ethnicgroup. You'll find out about many of the things that make each ethnic group unique and special. Learning Activities help you learn about yourself. They help you find out more about your own.ethnicgroup, neighborhood, and family, too. Each learning activity has I 6 things for you to doHEREand things for you to doIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. When you finish working withHistory. Heritage, and Hearsay,you will: know more about your own ethnic group know mere about other ethnic groups know more about your neighborhood know more about Other neighborhoods understand people from other ethnic groups and neighborhoods better want to learn more about all the ethnic groups and neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Before you begin, think about this: What is an ethnic group? What is your ethnic group? Do you belong to more than one ethnic group? 7 2 Me, Myself, and I: Making Identity Collages Everyone has at least three identities. We all have a personal identity. Our personal identity is made up of all the things about us that make us special, different from anyone else. We all have an ethnic identity. Some of us may have more than one ethnic identity. Our ethnic identity is made up of all the things we share with others in our ethnic group or groups. These things make us similar to everyone in the ethnic group, but different from those in other ethnic groups. Finally, we all have a human identity. Our human identity is made up of all the things about us that make us similar to every other human. i Do wehave anyother THINK identities? ABOUT Can we have more than one THIS ethnic identity? E ICollect things for identity collages. I. Collect things that show IN THE each of your identities. Collect NEIGHBOR- things that show your personal HOOD identity. Collect things that show your ethnic and human identities, too. Collect magazine pictures, newspaper clippings, personal photos. Collect anything that shows your identities. 2. Make three folders. one for each identity. Put the things you collect tui each identity into a separate folder. 3 Do some things show more THINK than one identity? ABOUT THIS Make identity collages. 1. Ask someone to make three shadow profiles of your head. HERE Tape paper to the wall. Stand between the paper and a light. Stand so your head casts a shadow on the paper: Have someone trace your shadow. Have her or him do it three times. 2. Paste your clippings, photos, and pictures inside the outlines. Make collages. Make one collage for each of your identities. 3. Display everyone's collages. Is anyone else's personal THINK identity collage similar to ABOUT yours? THIS Is anyone else's ethnic identity collage similar to yours? Is anyone else's very much different from yours? How, are human identity collages, similar? How are they different? 9 4 I Do these alone or with others.
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