Commonwealth Speakers:The Immigrant Experience
Myrna and Claire, the Barry Sisters, (seen here performing in 1960) were among the most popular performers in the Catskills, even appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show. While performing perfectly in English, they are best known for their Yiddish repertoire.
Germany to Pennsylvania: An 18th-Century Odyssey
Stereotypes abound regarding 18th-century German immigrants to Pennsylvania,
including the notion that most came for freedom of religion or that the immigrant
journeys were always long and perilous. But the stereotypes are often wrong. James
Beidler uses the immigrants' own writings to examine their true motivations for
leaving Germany, the typical journey, and the new opportunities they found in
Pennsylvania. Even after the romantic stereotypes are stripped away, the real stories
of the immigrant crossings are just as compelling.
Projection screen required.
James M. Beidler, Genealogical Author and Columnist, Lebanon
Welsh and Welsh American cultural communities may not be as visible as other ethnic groups, but that is the way of the Welsh. The Welsh carry on their traditions quietly, without much fuss or attention, yet the Welsh and Welsh Americans have been a consistent and important presence in Pennsylvania since William Penn. Beth Phillips Brown explores the stories and traditions that continue to live in Welsh American communities across Pennsylvania as well as the changes and challenges facing them.
Slide projector, screen, and CD/cassette player required.
Beth Phillips Brown, Poet, Storyteller, and Independent Scholar, Media
Pennsylvania's history is full of fascinating people, intriguing characters, and off-beat eccentrics who helped shape Pennsylvania's history and development. Some are familiar names, some all but forgotten. Alan Irvine introduces the woman who raced Jules Verne and became the world's first investigative reporter, the railroad engineer who saved the Gettysburg Address, the schoolteacher who wanted to be a spy, and more.
Alan Irvine, Professional Storyteller and Visiting Professor of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh
Irish Women in AmericaIrish immigrant women were unique. Unlike other female immigrants, they outnumbered their male counterparts. Moreover, they often emigrated alone, unaccompanied by family. They formed the first great "immigration chain," in which the already arrived brought their relatives over. Once in America, Irish women's lives, futures, and sense of themselves changed dramatically, but their traditional Irish values endured, to be expressed in new and surprising ways. Nancy Walsh examines how these collective and individual stories reveal much about Irish women and about the American experience.
Nancy Walsh, Columnist for the Irish Edition, Instructor in Irish History and Culture, Continuing Education Program, Temple University, Philadelphia
The Borscht Belt: A Million Jews at PlayFor much of the 20th century, summer brought about a million Jews from Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey to vacations in the hotels, kuchaleins, and bungalow colonies of the Catskill Mountains. There, they swam in Neversink River, were entertained by comedians, and ate legendary meals.The "borscht belt" became the model for other popular tourist spots like Miami Beach and Las Vegas. In this slide-illustrated presentation, Irwin Richman, the son of Borscht Belt resort owners, brings this world back to life.
Slide projector with remote control and screen required.
Irwin Richman, Ph.D., Professor of American Studies and History Emeritus,
PSU - Harrisburg
From private familial sharing of regional goods to such public celebrations as Columbus Day, the Italian American ethnic tradition of the last 100 years grew primarily out of southern Italian folklife. In this slide-illustrated talk, Joan Saverino examines why and how Italians settled in Pennsylvania and explores the work, family, community, and ritual lives of Italian immigrants in Pennsylvania.
Slide projector and screen required.
Joan Saverino, Ph.D., Educator, Historical Society of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia
From their inception, Hollywood films displayed prejudicial and self-censored treatment of immigrants. Amiram Amitai focuses on two particular immigrant ethnic groups, Jews and Italians, and the films that depict their struggles to gain an economic, social, and cultural foothold in the new land; their pursuit of the American Dream; and the erosion of their traditional values and ethnic identity. Using excerpts from such films as The Jazz Singer, Hester Street, and The Godfather II , he demonstrates how religious, ethnic, cultural, and economic biases, and the changing nature of the film industry, all contributed to the initially short-sighted film reflection of the immigrant experience compared to the more realistic film portrayals of the 1970s.
TV and VCR required.
Amiram Amitai, Adjunct Professor of Film, Gratz College, Temple and Drexel
Universities, Philadelphia
Though often overlooked, the Welsh Quakers were an important immigrant group in early Pennsylvania whose stories contain much to inspire and hearten in difficult times. Storyteller Beth Phillips Brown, the Foulke family's bard for their 300th anniversary reunion in Valley Forge, builds on records left by Edward Foulke, as well as on research in Welsh, British,Quaker, and American history and her in-depth knowledge of Wales and Welsh culture, to bring to life Edward and Elinor Foulke's journey to America and the Welsh stories they brought with them.
Beth Phillips Brown, Poet, Storyteller, and Independent Scholar, Media
The Scots-Irish in PennsylvaniaA distinctive group who migrated from the borders of Scotland to the north of Ireland and then to the backcountry of Pennsylvania, the Scots-Irish have only recently come to be understood and appreciated for their contributions to the history and culture of Pennsylvania. In this thought-provoking presentation, Peter Seibert discusses the history of the Scots-Irish and traces their impact on architecture, customs, and religion into the present.
Slide projector and screen required.
Peter Swift Seibert, President, Heritage Center Museum of Lancaster Count
Paul Zbiek offers a suitably complex answer to the question, "Who are Pennsylvanians?" Using maps, charts, and photos, he examines Pennsylvania's cultural and geographic history in order to present a composite of the Commonwealth's contemporary human diversity that takes into account regionalism, folk and vernacular cultures, race and ethnicity, linguistics, religion, and lifestyle. Greater attention can be given to the particular region in which the presentation is made.
Slide projector and screen required.
Paul J. Zbiek, Ph.D., Professor of History, King's College, Wilkes-Barre
The Industrial Revolution brought a wave of European immigrants to the City of Steel, followed years later by a migration of African Americans from the South. Dave Crawley, who has conducted hundreds of interviews with their descendants, shares videotaped stories of legendary Hill District photographer Teenie Harris, a Cambodian woman and son who escaped the Killing Fields to succeed in a strange new land, a Squirrel Hill cantor who was saved from the Holocaust by Schindler's List, and musical remembrances of the "old country" preserved by such groups as the Tamburitzins.
TV and VCR required.
Dave Crawley, "KD Country" Feature Reporter, KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh
In light of the events of September 11, who is coming to Pennsylvania, and where are they settling? Who gets excluded from entering the country? Who gets deported? How do people become U.S. citizens, and who is eligible for public benefits? Fernando Chang-Muy examines current migration patterns to the Commonwealth, drawing parallels to earlier waves of migration from Germany, England, and Ireland. Weaving in an explanation of federal laws and policies, he discusses their impact on real people in Pennsylvania today, and especially on those fleeing prosecution.
Overhead projector and screen required.
Fernando Chang-Muy, J.D., Adjunct Professor of Law, University of
Pennsylvania School of Law, Philadelphia
Ireland's Great Famine of 1845-1852 was a demographic disaster greater than any seen in Western Europe in centuries, and it sent a flood of Irish emigrants fleeing to America. The new Irish Americans would change American domestic and foreign politics, American cities, and American culture in the most profound ways. Bernard Hagerty uses song, contemporary poetry, and eyewitness accounts to explain the causes and course of the Famine and to show what the trip to America was like for millions of Irish men and women and what awaited them in the New World.
TV, VCR, and CD/cassette player required.
Bernard Hagerty, Ph.D., Lecturer, Dept. of History, University of Pittsburgh
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