Daniel La France

Here's a link to what could be Daniel La France's picture, accompanying his story "The Life Story of an Indian" in Holt's collection. His positive experience in the federal boarding school is atypical--the majority of native students did not fare well.

http://talking-feather.com/essays-art/american-indian-writers/daniel-la-franc-%C2%A0mohawk/

Below is a link to the most notorious federally-sponsored off-reservation boarding school in the country, Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, PA, opened in 1879 and closed in 1914.

http://home.epix.net/~landis/histry.html

About Indian boarding schools, in anticipation of future discussions

Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School 

"“Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School" is a Native American perspective on Indian Boarding Schools. This DVD produced by Rich-Heape Films, Inc. uncovers the dark history of U.S. Government policy which took Indian children from their homes, forced them into boarding schools and enacted a policy of educating them in the ways of Western Society. This DVD gives a voice to the countless Indian children forced through a system designed to strip them of their Native American culture, heritage and traditions. “Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School" has already captured an impressive array of awards." For more, go here: http://www.richheape.com/boarding-school.htm

Crossing the ocean...

After the Tuesday's class where we watched the video about the immigrants who traveled to America, I got very interested in that topic. I have read some articles about the difficulties which the immigrants were experiencing during the trip. I just want to share with you couple things about it.
The experience of those people who traveling to the United States early in the 20th century was pretty much determined by their wealth. The ship had offered 3 classes of cabins: in the first class you had a private cabin, in the second - you had to share with several people, in the third was steerage (large room of single men, women).
According to the What's What (1902), first-class fares ranged from 18-247 pounds, equivalent to $2,000-$30,000 today. Second class was 8 to 16 pounds - $1,000-$2,000 today. And the steerage would be about 5 to 8 pounds, $625 - $1,000 today. In another words, the salary that time was around $900, which was about 185 pounds.
The trip would take somewhere from 5 to 10 days depending on the ship, weather and route.
I have found interesting information:
"The first stop would be in New York's Lower Bay, where a pilot and quarantine officer would come on board. If there were cases of communicable diseases, I believe the patients were removed here and taken to Swinburne Island or Hoffman Island, two man-made islands in the Lower Bay. From there, the ship would dock at a pier in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Hoboken, New Jersey, depending on the steamship line. First- and second-class passengers went through an immigration and customs check at the pier. But third-class, steerage, passengers were put on smaller steamboats and taken to Ellis Island for processing."

Here you can see how the class difference was important.
In your opinion should we make an equality between all people or we should follow the rule: more you pay and the comfortable conditions?

Fiction and Nonfiction in Autobiography

I feel that an idea raised in Weinberg's article connects to a discussion we had in one of our first classes regarding why we study Ethnic Literature in a somewhat separate realm than simply Literature. The idea is that an "author of an autobiography, like a novelist, may design his autobiography to tell more than just his life story."

For Constantine Panunzio's autobiography, the ethnic background of the author and his personal experiences inform the text in a way that a strictly textual analysis could not. As Weinberg states, Panunzio's story on paper seems like a traditional Horatio Alger style success story. However, by understanding that Panunzio lived these experiences himself and that he was active in assisting other immigrants in their transitions to American life, Panunzio's story becomes "a lesson plan [for other immigrants], a carefully designed scenario." This intent certainly shaped how Panunzio chose to tell his story, what he told or omitted, what he embellished or skipped over, or even possibly what he fabricated or borrowed from other experiences. All these choices were made with the goal of creating a "lesson plan" for immigrants with similar origins, and this intended audience would not have fully existed without Panunzio's own involvement in the story he was telling.

The choices about what one puts into an autobiography and what one leaves out can be as important as the text itself. Are these choices as important in a work of fiction? Does an author's ethnic history inform those choices as strongly in a work of fiction?

"The Confessions of a Woman Professor"

I found the story "The Confessions of a Woman Professor" to be particularly interesting because it discusses an issue that is very relevant today. The author of this story discusses how people are surprised by the combination of her femininity and her success as a professor. She opens up the story by telling the reader how much she loved to play with dolls and how even today she loves the sight of toys in shop windows at Christmas time and how to most poeple upon the realization of these qualities of hers are very surprised because she is so successful in her profession. I found this to be very relevant because women, by much of society, are expected to be one way or the other. Either they are successful and dedicated to their education and have little of a social or romantic life because work comes first. Or they are feminine, romantic, gossip loving women with little to no remarkable success in their work, generally depending on a male. The author of the story discusses how this poses an issue for women who want both success and a romantic life because men tend to be threatened by the success of their partners. I was very impressed by the way the author of this story balanced describing her love of her social and work life, not adhering to the above listed gender stereotypes of being one way or another.

Do you think that it is more difficult for a woman to balance a work and romantic life than it is for a man? Why or why not?

Immigration then and now

Once having been fully "Americanized," he explains, he evaluated the environment in which he was to work and conceptualized the role he would play in helping the immigrants adjust to America. The Ital-ian ghetto, he complained, did not resemble America, yet "neither did it resemble Italy." Rather, it was an environment in which "helpless" immigrants were "preyed upon" by some of the nation's "very worst features." 

This quote, I think represents most of the stories we read from "The Life Stories of [Undistinguished] Americans" because at the beginning we see most of them being first generation immigrants that struggle with becoming an "American" and going through the process of adapting to the new culture yet still keeping their own.  And I think this still happens today with immigrants.  It is very hard coming to a new country and having to take in their culture and experience everything anew, then having to kind of mold one's old culture with the new one in order to sort of fit in.  But as it is also referred in the quote above, most immigrants had their own areas, or in this case, ghettoes; in which they kept their old country ways but with an American twist because it wasn't exactly like their own country. I think as it was explained, these ghettoes were like the in-between stages where an immigrant doesn't feel like they are in their old country because they're in America, but at the same time it still has those aspects of the culture from back home. Relating to the present, I feel that immigrants today also try to stick together and care for each other, like many have done throughout these stories.  There was always someone there for them to help them through the tough times.  

Reading all of these stories reminded of the movie "Gangs of New York" which I feel really makes you picture how it was in the late 1800's with new immigrants coming in and older immigrants looking down upon this.  This also still happens today with immigrants because I constantly hear people complaining that the immigrants are taking their jobs because they are willing to take the same jobs for less money so that's why they are more likely to get hired.  And of course they are willing to take hard jobs for little money because little money is still better than what they made back in their own countries like the French Dress Maker or the Swedish Farmer and many others. This is why it's important for us an American culture to understand what immigrants have to go through and to not judge because, after all, they are just trying to survive.

Would you ignore an immigrant that desperately needs your help, or would you walk away and ignore the issue?

"Fictional and autobiographical portrayals of the immigrant experience in the United States give loud, clear voice to a major influ-ence on American life [...] To ignore, or limit the place of, fiction and autobiography in the classroom is to disregard profoundly important documents."

A Woman Professor

From the way the woman was describing her life I could tell she was a white women from a privileged background. Her views were very first wave feministic. She pointed out a lot of the inequalities between men and women and how even though she was more educated than a lot of men she was still not taken seriously. Not by men and not by other women ("'I thought those things were taught by the professors...I mean a man.'" pg 283). This was written at some point before 1906 (since that was when it was first published), which seems a little early for these ideas to have been voice in print. I was left to wonder after reading her story of who she was and what background she came from that allowed her to get where she was in life and with her frame of mind about rights for women.

Were you guys surprised by this as much as I was?

I found this interesting video about women activism around the time Holt's book was published. Maybe he was influenced by events such as this in putting this story in his collection. What do you guys think?

The "Story of A Southern White Woman"

I've read pieces like the "Story of a Negro Peon" before, and have been familiar with the history for a long time, but that doesn't mean it wasn't one of the most upsetting things I've ever read. However, I was arguably more upset after the "Story of A Southern White Woman." The narrator sounds absolutely insane, yet I know that there were plenty who believed what she did and behaved worse - that there are people who hold if not the same beliefs, then something of the same beliefs, even today. Her declarations are so ludacris they are laughable, especially on p 215, when she starts talking about black women as "nearly all lacking in virtue," etc. (These become especially disturbing when compared to the portion of the "Story of a Southern Colored Woman," in which the narrator speaks about her experiences with white men and how "a white man of high standing will systematically set out to entrap a colored girl" (219).) The "Southern White Woman," was so removed from reality she not only thought white people were the ones being wronged, but that it was black women who were the most evil and most to blame! Unfortunately, as messed up as she was - and I am not in any way trying to absolve her of any blame - it seems to me that she was, frankly, to an extent a victim of brainwashing, not doubt compounded with a desire not to acknowledge the truth (i.e. that the white men she knew where raping black women, and that the entire race distinction was an excuse to take advantage of people in order to get more money and have more power, etc.). Unfortunately, as well, I wonder if this woman's mind could ever be changed. She sounds utterly convinced of her beliefs, and seems ready with an excuse to counter any argument.

As I said before, there are still people who think this way. My question to you is what do you think might be done to change the minds of people who think like this, and if you think it is even possible?

Story of A Colored White Woman:

I found this story very compelling.  It is definitely in sharp contrast to the stories of the white immigrants that we read in the first half of the book.  Most interesting to me was the statement she made about the immigrants who had the opportunity to return to their own home.  They may have come here and faced discrimination and unfair treatment, but they had the option of taking the money they earned here and returning to their home country.  But the African Americans born here didn't have such choices.  This was their homeland and yet they still were treated so terribly.  The author stated how worried she was about her children's future and the unfair hardships they would face.  Do you feel that African Americans still face more hardships than white immigrants today?

Story of a Southern Colored Woman

While reading this story it made me so upset. In a way I couldn't believe how horribly she was treated but in another I was really happy how she and her husband were accomplished after all these hardships. After every occurrence she told about how white people treated her made me want to punch them too. I think the worst was when the conductor yelled at her for sitting in an area that she was not supposed to sit in. This to me was stupid. How dare that man and the other people in the "electric car" ever think that they had a right to yell at her for sitting in the "wrong" seat. Another thing that got me was when she said "You can go back to your village and enjoy your money. This is my village, my home, yet am I an outcast" (220). It just saddened me that she felt this way. Most of the other stories were about how people came from other countries and could go back but liked it in America or they came here made money and were going back to their country because they liked it better there. This woman was stuck. Stuck in a place where people would prefer her to leave but she couldn't because there was no other country she could go back to. This story was probably the one that hit me the most because you hear all the other ones of their hardships but how they got over them and were making money. She did not have problems in the money department but will never get over the hardships of people being cruel to her.

My question: Do you have a memory where someone hurt you in a way that you will never forget?

Appearances- Gangnam Style

I found it both interesting and upsetting that, in order to increase their chances of success, immigrants had to "melt" into the American masses. So many (if not all) of these stories mention the need to "look" American, or to possess material items to give the appearance of wealth.
That being said, I think that this is still a practice today around the world.
In a not-so-subtle transition, I'd like to address the pop craze that has been galloping around VCU's campus as well as every form of social media.
I'm sure you've all heard of PSY's Gangnam Style.
But aside from the catchy beat and hilarious choreography, what is this video referring to? From what I've found, it is actually about the "putting on of appearances" within Korean culture. It is the youth-semi-hipster-but-materialistic type of posing that inspired the song. It is the extreme of buying fashionable clothes, ordering the smallest size of expensive coffee but asking for it in the largest cup, the subduing of eccentricities beyond what is considered fashionable—all in order to "appear" as this ideal. The imitation of the fashionable Gangnam district.

"For those not knowing, Gangnam has a lot of style, almost all of it condensed into a street called Garosu-Gil, a mini Rodeo Drive of international clothing stores and Korean boutiques. Some of the clothes you can find elsewhere, but lots you cannot. Limited run, in-house designs by local artisans create an exclusive air. There is virtually no tourist element, except for Koreans who go there as (I gather) tourists in their own city, fancy for the day. Everywhere else in Seoul on the streets all you see is Hyundai, Daewoo, Kia. In Gangnam on Garosu-Gil it's Mercedes, BMW, Jaguar. Beautiful people drink coffee in sidewalk cafes crossing their legs like it's an art, adjusting double windsor knots, checking large-screen Samsung phones. There are impromptu fashion shoots in the winding backstreets and alleys, a model on a stoop, a photographer, a person with a clipboard. "

 http://seattletimes.com/html/matsononmusic/2018975926_gangnam_style_what_does_it_mea.html



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0


What other ways is this idea of maintaining appearances a major part of today's society?

The Negro Peon and the Prison Industrial Complex

Reading the "Story of the Negro Peon" outraged me, but I found it unsurprising. I know that such things happened after the Civil War and, unfortunately, something similar still occurs today. Because the narrator of this lifelet is a poor black man, he has few rights, and due to a lack of literacy, he is tricked into signing away what small rights and goods he possesses. People take advantage of him and he is essentially placed back into slavery. This happens today as privatized prisons strive to fill their cells, mostly with poor black men with little education, and make profits. They are still used for cheap or free labor and the recidivism rate is rising. They are trapped in the system with few options, just like the negro peon in The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans.

Here's an article about it if you're interested:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-w-whitehead/prison-privatization_b_1414467.html

We discussed why we wrote our family history papers and I think that part of the impetus in knowing our past is to improve the future. It has been said that those who do not learn their history are doomed to repeat it. We have a responsibility to learn from the atrocities of the past and use this knowledge to correct the wrongs in modern day.

What troubling aspects of these stories persist today? What can we do about these issues? Conversely, do you think we're not responsible to make the world better for marginalized groups? Why?

The 1911 Triangle Factory Fire

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/

 " NEAR CLOSING TIME ON MARCH 25, 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Waist Factory in New York City. Within 18 minutes, 146 people were dead as a result of the fire."

With photographs and illustrations here:
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/primary/photosIllustrations/index.html

Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island ( Eddison, 1903)

Henry Louis Gates: Genealogy and African American History

A will to survive in America

Throughout the stories, the main topic of interest was to be successful and to live in luxury. One way to achieve this life was through money. Even though the wages that characters earned in the story was unimaginable to our current cost of living. They seemed to be able to continue to live and continue to fight to achieve their dream. There were orphans, beggars, and foreigners in the story and all had little or no support emotionally or economically, expect their will to fight to achieve their dream. The odds were against them in every way as they were a minority, but they were still able to achieve their dream. As I was reading these stories I was consumed by a questions, “why is homelessness so prevalent in America?” to be more specific why in Richmond? The condition to work now is greater than what was before, and the government even supports homeless and unemployed. I understand there might be emotional instability, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. People from other countries come to America for opportunities to find jobs and education and there are people who achieve their dreams.

What is the American Dream?

While reading each of the stories, a common thread running throughout them all was money. They all came to America for a chance at a better living. While some of the stories do mention religion, I don't think that was the main reason for them coming to America. I found that interesting since we grew up learning that immigrants migrated to achieve religious freedom and a fair government. That the land of America was for those who wanted to be free and be equals. Instead they came here looking for gold and a higher class of life. I guess my question in regards to that is do you think that schools today should focus more on that side of history? And that they should teach stories like these of immigrants who came here for money? Or is that sending a message of greed?

How far would you go?

A common topic in the stories was money.  The stories told of how much they made in the old country, how much they saved to come to America, how much it cost them to get here, how much they spent here, and how much they managed to save.  A story that stuck out to me was the “Story on an Italian Bootblack.”  Our narrator “Joe” tells us of his life as a beggar.  How him and his “brothers” would follow people around, get in there way, and play tricks on them.  Joe and his brother ran away to start new.  They started as beggars, then became fisherman, carried coal to the fires, collected rags and bottles, worked on the street, cleaned, polished, and then opened their own bootblack.  You read the struggles they went through to get money, have it taken away, and then having to start all over.  How many times will/can a person start over to become an honest person with money?  Or is it too hard to keep picking yourself up that it’s just be easier to fall back and play tricks?

Story of a Lithuanian

I personally found the story of the Lithuanian Chicago Stockyard worker by the name of Antanas Kaztauskis to be rather awe inspiring towards the kind of life that he and his family led before the old shoemaker made his impact on the boy.  While it was brief in length, I got a strong sense of the kind of difficulties that came along when an undistinguished young man living under an oppressive foreign regime strives to chase a fleeting hope towards the United States.  The most interesting dialogue that I encountered was definitely the discussion with the shoemaker who kept referring to the Russians as "man-wolves", a title that is both abstract in image and honest to the brutality of their general attitude.  The only question that I can think to ask a fellow reader is the following: Do you think the American Dream is as elusive as it is commonly portrayed?

The Reoccuring Theme of the Land of "Milk and Honey"

Many of the immigrant stories told in “The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans” came over to America with the impression that life would be much “greener on the other side.” The Italian BootBlack Rocco Corresca mentions America being described to him as the “far off country where everybody is rich.” The same connection can be made with the Chinese immigrants of Angel Island. The anticipation, the prize, the goal is a “better life.” The immigrants had preconcieved notions about how this country would be without really knowing what hardships laid before them. In the process of a search for a better life on the western hemisphere, treasured people and memories are lost. Many immigrants lost family members such as the Polish girl Sadie Frowne. Some are seperated from their families and can no longer return to a life they once knew. It seems as though the trade off for such pertinent life memories and important life factors such as family and tradition are traded for material things. Although life is much easier when we have resources and means, can that really make a person happier? My question is, is the American Dream of more income, finer things in life, and essentially more freedom a fair trade off with leaving loved ones behind?

The Life Story of a Farmer's Wife

While I was reading this story I felt very sorry for the wife, her husband kept her from doing some of the things she loved the most because it would “take away from her loving him” and he needed her to keep up with her chores and taking care of the children. She had an advanced enough education that she could teach but instead she stayed home and kept up with the farm and the house. She seemed to read my mind when she said “I must admit that there is very little time for the higher life for myself, but my soul cries out for it, and my heart is not in my homely duties; they are done in a mechanical abstracted way, not worthy of a woman of high ambitions; but my ambitions are along other lines”. This particular passage reminded me somewhat of Addie Bundren from “As I Lay Dying” who knew her duty as a wife was to have children and her duty as a woman was to live life and die without any regards to her own desires or feelings. This particular farmer’s wife doesn’t seem quite as depressed as Addie because she does still have her own dreams and aspirations, she just doesn’t follow them, where Addie lived her life ready to die. When I read stories like these I feel sorry for the women because they seem to live loveless lives and they devote all their time to taking care of other people and never themselves. I think most mothers do usually take care of their families before themselves but at least now we are allowed to have our own lives separate from our families. If you’ve read “As I Lay Dying” do you see any other connections between this farmer’s wife and Addie Bundren?

The Pros of being a White Immigrant

As I read these stories, most of the people in the first handful of chapters were immigrants from Europe. Of course they had a hardship of getting jobs because of the language barrier, but once they got over that, they started making what was considered a lot of money. They talked about how they got naturalized within five years and how they can vote for politicians. However, other immigrants were treated completely different, like the Chinese. African Americans that were born in America had to fight for the right to vote. None of these immigrants made any comments on racial problems or they never talked about the poor.

Do you think any of these immigrants saw these problems in America or did they ignore it because they were there just to make money?

capitalism comrad

The first two stories gave different perspectives of coming to America but one of the many similarities they shared was when they first arrived, they started spending money in a way that they were not accustomed to. The first thing the friends of the man does is make him buy a fancy suit. He needs to look rich despite the fact he isn't. When the girl is trying to live cheap, she still feels the need to buy nice tea, even though she knows she can get cheaper tea. It doesn't take long for either of them to become accustomed to the capitalistic life style of America. Is this because this is a part of the "American Dream" and it is what they want, or is this all an attempt to fit into a class structure?

American Money

When I was younger and learning history, I had always been taught that people had immigrated to America for freedom. My teachers painted the "old countries" as hostile places lacking religious and social freedom. Granted, judging by the stories, many of them did, especially the Lituanian and Greek storytellers. But it seems like the rest came over for the sake of money. These people had heard that America was a land of gold, and they wanted in, or their families pushed them to come. But most of them described their old lives as happy and simple. Once they arrived in America, they had to work long hours for low wages, especially their first few months.

In their writings, most of them took great pains to outline their financial situations, even going so far as to list receipts for food. The last line of the Swedish farmer's story struck me: "The Swedes who live in America like the old country girls because they know how to save money." They based their marriage choices on frugality, it seems.

Do you think the immigrant's fixation on money was a good thing? Or did they lose some of their original values in pursuit of the American dream?

Life Stories and Appearance

What struck me the most about these stories is the emphasis on appearance that a lot of them have, which isn't surprising because of the importance that race played in this part of our history.  The first two stories focused a lot more on this, and I think that both of them have a theme of trying to appear to be something that they weren't.  The man from Lithuania was advised to buy nice clothes first in order to get a job, and also makes a point to say that his eventual wife was the best dressed woman in the district.  The second story about the Polish girl talks about how she always put money aside to buy clothes even though a lot of the other women scolded her for doing so, but she still does it in hopes of getting to higher society.  The story of the Swede stuck out to me as well since his story was the most positive one, and even in the introduction he is described as a "fine specimen of the large, strong, energetic, blonde Norseman."  Compared to the other stories, this man seems to have had a much easier time because of his appearance and probably didn't have to rely so much on clothes.  The phrase "unconsciously americanized" also stood out to me, showing that a conclusion could be that the people who had an easier time adjusting to American ways didn't even have much of a desire to return to their homeland.  As a sidenote, I think it's interesting that the French dressmaker's story was probably the most focused on fashion, but she acknowledged that America may be a good place to work in but it is not where she wants to live.

I think that, in today's society, clothes have more of an affect on how people perceive you than what race you are.  So I guess my question to you guys is, what do you think was more influential regarding how easily new arrivals meshed with American culture/became successful: their race or the time it took an individual to look the part, whether they were "faking it" with one nice set of clothes or had the money to create a wardrobe of higher status?