tlp_11_mstone

=Matt Stone's Teacher Lesson Page=

Stone's Primary Sources

Stone TEACHER SIDE

Lesson Plan (Student Side)

 * TItle:**The North End: The Beginning of a New Life


 * State Standards:**
 * USI.15 -** Explain the varying roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments in the United States.


 * Grade Level:** 7th


 * Essential Question:** How has immigration contributed to the narrowing and expansion of American civil ideals?


 * Lesson Question:** How did the Eastern European Jewish immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries use the North End in Boston to help guide their assimilation into American culture?


 * Introduction:** Immigrants came to the United States for a variety of reasons. The city of Boston has played a significant role in the assimilation of immigrants into American culture thus contributing to the expansion of what it means to be an American citizen. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Jewish immigrants, primarily from Eastern Europe, were one of largest ethnic groups settling Boston and its surrounding areas. Specifically, Boston's North End, despite today being known as the home of many Italian immigrants, was once home to many Jewish immigrants especially between the years of 1880-1920. Although the North End provided a very important landing spot for these immigrants, it was only a temporary stop for just as quickly as they came, the Jewish populations left. Your job will be to understand why Jewish immigrants chose to settle in the North End. You will then examine how the Jews used the North End as a starting place for their life in America but then later moved on to a more permanent home in other neighborhoods of the city. Specifically, by investigating and analyzing Jewish immigration cards, you will further understand the situation of these immigrants, and how they came to assimilate into American culture. The entire focus of the lesson will enable you to understand more clearly how immigrants adjusted into life in America and what goals and ideals immigrants sought to make themselves true American citizens.


 * Task:** Based on the primary sources, you will making conclusions about immigrants and their assimilation into American culture. After examining the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) cards/passenger lists, you will investigate the lives of several different Jewish immigrants in Boston by discerning which immigrants were likeliest to develop relationships or become friends and drawing an illustration of where this relationship might have begun.

Analyze a sample HIAS card/passenger list discussing the information provided on the card and how it might determine the circumstance and potential of a Jewish immigrant in Boston. Understand the history of Boston's North End, specifically when Jews were the dominant immigrant group between the years of 1880-1920.
 * Day One:**

__**Boston's North End**__ After Irish immigrants made the North End their home in the 1850s, the area soon "become one of Boston's most important centers of first-generation immigrants" (Sarna 66). By 1895, the North End had become "one of the most cosmopolitan" areas in Boston because of its high numbers of Italians, Portuguese, Poles, Germans, and Russian Jews all living in close proximity (Sarna 66). The two largest ethnic groups in the North End in 1895 were the Italians and the Jews and many saw the overcrowded and multicultural neighborhood as representative of American immigration. Some possible reasons for why the North End became an initial favorable settling place for the Jews were "cheap housing, the closeness of the waterfront," and "the proximity of the Hanover Street business district and of the neighborhoods where many Irish and Italian customers of the Jewish peddlers live" (Wieder 65). By the early 1900s, roughly 1/3rd of the population in the North End was Jewish.

The peak years for Russian Jewish immigration into Boston were between 1880-1917. Most of these Jews came from Lithuania (Wieder 65). Jews fled from their homes "as a direct result of antisemitic laws and acts sanctioned by the state" (Sarna 65). Both "restrictive law and administrative action" caused approximately 90,000 Jews to flee to the United States (Sarna 85). Less than half remained in Massachusetts with one of three immediately departing for New York City after arriving in America (Sarna 66). The typical Russian Jewish male immigrant was likely literate with some sort of skill although his wife and children were generally illiterate. Thus because immigrants traveled as families, they very much intended to stay in America further emphasizing the need to assimilate quickly. Another additional complicating factor was the prejudice of many assimilated Jews against the incoming culturally distinct Russian Jews. Many earlier Jewish immigrants, who by now had adjusted as successful Jewish businessmen, lived in better neighborhoods inside and outside the city including Roxbury, and were not initially willing to help the Russian Jews. Thus the North End became a crucial place for these Russian Jews to settle down and adjust into American culture (Sarna 66).With their background in trade and retail, the Jews turned the North End into one of Boston’s most active shopping districts, filled with Kosher butchers, bakers, delicatessens, clothiers, tailors and food markets.

Soon after the arrival of the Russian Jews, the North End became a center for Jewish cultural life from ladies sewing circles to baseball teams (Sarna 67). Being as many Jews attempted to maintain their orthodox faith, the synagogue became an important part of Jewish culture in their new home in America, both as a means to preserve their former way of life, and begin their new life. The Baldwin Place Synagogue became the most well known synagogue in the North End because of its efforts to bridge the gap between the old world and the new world for these Jewish immigrants.

The Baldwin Place Synagogue was started in 1890 after a group of young men purchased a former Baptist church at the end of Baldwin Place, an alley off Salem Street. After renovating the interior and building a sanctuary, the synagogue was open and "stood at the center of Boston Orthodoxy" (Sarna 187). The temple held "all manner of social events... including public lectures, Zionist forums, lodge meetings, technical school classes, American and Jewish holiday celebrations, and even a Hebrew School for girls" (Sarna 187). The synagogue thus played a key role in maintaining the Jewish cultural and religious heritage while allowing integration by the Jewish immigrants into American culture.
 * Examine the role of the Baldwin Place Synagogue in Boston's North End to assimilate immigrants into American culture.**

(Insert photo from 1916-1917) The Baldwin Place Synagogue was home to a school established by the women of a much larger congregation in Boston called Temple Beth Israel. The purpose of the school was "to educate Jewish immigrant children in Reform practices and help them adjust to American life" (Dwyer-Ryan 65). With the support of the larger and more established Temple Israel of Boston, the school employed a superintendent and six teachers who hoped the education might "become a medium for moral uplift in a much needed district" (Dwyer-Ryan 65). In 1910 the school's first year there were sixty-four students, and by 1917 there were one hundred and ten (Dwyer-Ryan 65).

Baldwin Place School Children Handout

 * NOTE: **Your teacher will provide a printed copy of this handout.

The story of the synagogue itself interestingly parallels that of Jewish immigrants in the North End. After many "better off members" migrated to the suburb of Roxbury, a new synagogue was built in Roxbury as a daughter congregation of the Baldwin Place Synagogue (Sarna 195). Over time many Jews began leaving the North End for more middle-class neighborhoods after their financial and cultural situation was more established. 1890 North End Bromley Map showing the location of the Baldwin Place Synagogue Exterior view of the Baldwin Place Synagogue Interior view of the Baldwin Place Synagogue

By the 1920's, many Jews began to move out of the North End "when it proved financially possible to do so" (Sarna 67). Although an effective stepping stone to life in America, the North End was only a temporary stop for the Jews who were eager to move outside of the city of Boston and settle into more "normal" American culture. Over time, the children of many of these first generation Jews through education and exposure to American culture began to move out of the North End and into other neighborhoods outside of Boston (Wieder 68). As assimilated immigrants, Jews no longer needed to rely on tenement style housing (Wieder 35) and peddling for employment (Wieder 26) that the North End offered to newly arrived immigrant.With the general exodus out of the North End, the Jewish population in Boston's North End quickly faded after 1920.

Below you will see an example of a sample HIAS card of an immigrant entering America. What things can we learn from this card about the immigrant? How might we use this card to make conclusions about the immigrant's adjustment into American culture.

For homework this evening, students will write one paragraph detailing the possible challenges immigrants faced upon arrival in America.

Bibliography The Jews of Boston- Jonathan Sarna, Ellen Smith, Scott-Martin Kosofksy The North End: A Brief History of Boston's Oldeset Neighborhood, Alex Goldfield Becoming American Jews: Temple Israel of Boston, Meaghan Dwyer-Ryan, Susan L. Porter, Lisa Fagin Davis The Early Jewish Community of Boston's North End, Arnold Wieder In small groups, analyze HIAS cards/transcribed passenger lists comparing them to the sample HIAS card demonstrated the previous day. Choose an immigrant to research and record this information on the worksheet provided and then on the summarize the information on a large post it note which you will post at your designated spot in the classroom. You will get a chance to view these passenger lists on the computer for a few minutes while the other groups get started on the assignment. Download worksheet After analyzing your own group's immigrant, discern which immigrants might have developed relationships or even become friends after moving to America. Based on the information in your own group's immigrant, compare your immigrant to the immigrant of other groups by examing the summaries of each immigrant posted around the classroom. On the basis of the information provided, decide which ones were likely to become friends and develop relationships. Be sure to use supporting details to guide your conclusions.
 * Day Two:**

For homework this evening, please read the provided secondary source and write a paragraph listing the specific ways mentioned in the reading that Jewish immigrants might have encountered each other in Boston's North End. The secondary source is pages 146-154 of Alex Goldfield's book, //The North End, a Very Short History.//

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
SS Carpathiah Departing Liverpool, England 6 March 1913 Departing Queenstown, Ireland 7 March 1913 Arriving Boston, Massachusetts 17 March 1913

@http://www.immigrantships.net/v6/1900v6/carpathia19130317_01.html

Selected Passenger Data
Download Selected Passenger lists (PDF)

Design a roadmap profile of a sample Jewish immigrant entering the United States between 1880-1920..Based on the details of the sample immigrant, determine if the immigrant would have had the opportunity to assimilate successfully into American culture. Be sure to include information from your homework assignment last night to describe ways in which immigrants were given opportunities to meet and develop relationships with each other. Perform this activity in the form of a diary entry from the perspective of the immigrant. Now with the roadmap of your immigrant completed, create an illustration showing your immigrant meeting up with his or her new "friend" or "acquaintance." Your picture must include a realistic setting for such a meeting and depict as closely as possible, the physical descriptions of the immigrant based on the information from the passenger transcript. Download worksheet
 * Day Three:**


 * Conclusion:** Consider all that you have learned the past few days. What challenges did immigrants face in adjusting into American culture? What ways did locations like the North End help immigrants adjust into America? What characteristics did the "average" American possess? Hopefully the courage that these immigrants showed to come to America and begin their new life here will be an encouragement to you to continue striving to become better citizens of our country and the values it represents.


 * Assessments:** You will be graded on your homework, your responses and conclusions on your day two worksheet, and your roadmap and illustration/cartoon from day three.

Assessment Rubric


 * You will be able to.... || Strong (23-25) || Good (20-22) || Adequate (18-19) || Inadequate (15-17) || Weighting ||
 * Identify the primary challenges immigrants faced to assimilate into American culture || Students can identify and describe with supporting details three main challenges immigrants faced upon arrival in America || Students can identify and describe with supporting details two main challenges immigrants faced upon arrival in America || Students can identify and describe with supporting details one main challenge immigrants faced upon arrival in America || Students are unable to identify and describe with supporting details a challenge immigrants faced upon arrival in America || 25% ||
 * Understand what ways immigrants assimilated into American culture || Students can give three examples of how immigrants assimilated into American culture || Students can give two examples of how immigrants assimilated into American culture || Students can give one example of how immigrants assimilated into American culture || Students are unable to give one example of how immigrants assimilated into American culture || 25% ||
 * Describe the main characteristics of Jewish immigrants who entered Boston between 1880-1920 || Students can make three conclusions based on a thorough evaluation of the immigrant's characteristics listed in the passenger description || Students can make two conclusions based on a thorough evaluation of the immigrant's characteristics listed in the passenger description || Students can make one conclusion based on a thorough evaluation of the immigrant's characteristics listed in the passenger description || Students are unable to make a conclusion based on a thorough evaluation of the immigrant's characteristics listed in the passenger description || 25% ||
 * Create an accurate physical portrayal of the immigrants and their establishment of relationships among other immigrants || Students present an accurate physical portrayal of the immigrant and drawing of the context based on information in the primary sources || Students present a mostly accurate physical portrayal of the immigrant and drawing of the context based on information in the primary sources || Students present a portrayal of the immigrant and drawing of the context with some details based on information in the primary sources || Students fail to portray the immigrant and the context accurately in any way || 25% ||


 * Resources:** Primary sources: Photographs, HIAS cards