Eloyda's New York Blog

The Umbrella Lady, as I know you were all curious about but too polite to find out about, had just come from the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) when she happened upon our group.  She came to the U.S. or North America as she kept referring to it, from Moscow, Russia, 6 years ago when her daughter got married.  She remained here because her husband passed away and so she had nothing to return to.  Her name is Mila (short for something else that she said I didn’t have to try to say) and she called me Loyd (I guess she figured mine was too difficult to pronounce also). Today, she decided to join our group because she overheard us discussing American history and she had just passed the test to become an American citizen.  Meeting her today really meant a lot to me especially since we are here learning about and experiencing how so many immigrants have found a new home here. It is so easy to forget sometimes that new people are still coming to our country trying to belong and to have the same liberties that we so often take for granted.

What is art?  I’m not sure.  What I am sure of is that in order to have a well rounded education a person should develop an appreciation for art and the artist who has created it.  That is precisely why I have chosen to write about one specific experience that I had today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

As my colleagues and I walked through the museum someone was talking about the need to cover her daughters’ eyes when passing certain pieces of artwork.  We also discussed the fact that a lot of modern art wasn’t enjoyable to look at because of its inappropriate nature. 

As we continued through the museum we came across a statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa.  In it, of course, Perseus is naked.  As I walked past this, I noticed a group of young students (all girls) and a young woman sitting next to it.  I was mesmerized by their discussion and had to stop and listen to them.  They were talking about what they saw in the piece of art and what Perseus was holding in his hand and why.  They enthusiastically talked about mythology and answered questions about the piece.  There was no discomfort and they truly appreciated the artist’s work.

As I walked away from them I realized the need for my students to see, discuss and appreciate different pieces of artwork even if I am not able to take them to an art museum.

Our journey today was led by Ken Jackson, a professor at Columbia University and New York historian.  He showed us a city of the past as well as a new city of the present.  He showed us how the changes that have been added to the police department and the local New York government have created a new New York where people are more confident when walking through the streets and how crime in New York gone down dramatically in the last 10 years to make the neighborhoods safer to visit and live.

He spoke to us about the things that make New York unique.  Because New York is so old and so big other cities can use it as an example for how a big city can operate successfully.   New York is one of the densest cities in the world and, unlike the big cities in Colorado; it has build up and retained its population where our cities have grown out.  He talked with us about the way that New Yorkers tolerate diversity and how there has never been a dominant immigrant group anywhere in New York.  He attributes that to the fact that there are very few hate crimes here because of that.  He also talked with us about the fact that because public transportation is used by everyone, the wealthy and the poor, people are more accepting of one another.   He showed us the many hidden treasure that only a true New Yorker would be able to locate.  The experience of the tour was followed by a late lunch in Little Italy.

At Giovanni’s of Arthur Avenue in the real Little Italy in the Bronx, NY Ramano served me a burek.  The ricotta cheese melted together with the spinach inside a flaky croissant-like crust after it was heated in the brick oven at the front of his kitchen.  The burek is an eastern European specialty that is only served sometimes at this location.  It can’t even be found on the menu.  Following this treat I went next door to Morrone Pastry shop and Café where I enjoyed a delicious cup of tiramisu ice cream. 

Because a tour such as this is not always possible, food, or pictures and descriptions of food, is a great way to bring culture into a classroom.   We have always had a “holidays around the world” celebration where we introduce our students to other cultures.  I think that I will extend it this year to include the cultures of students.

If I had to choose but one lesson from today that I could share with my students it would have to be, not to be afraid to dream big.  

EY Zipris began by leading us through a discussion about how the function of museums is to “gather stuff” and put it together in a display in order to tell a story that is to be shared with others.  Those stories are basically the big dreams that regular people like you and I had for the past, present and  the future.  Some of their dreams, in part, became a reality while some became part of another person’s dream.  Still, if it hadn’t been for the brave people who dared to dream big, New York, really, the United States, would not be what it is today.

If you think about it, New York of today was started because of Henry Hudson’s huge dream of one day finding a route to India.   He started with a dream and even if it didn’t turn out exactly as he had hoped or planned, his daring lead to one of the greatest discoveries of all times. That’s what I want my kids to learn. 

Today in the urban planning activity that we completed, we took the five different city zones (parks and recreation, residential, commercial, institutional and transportation) and built a city.  Unlike in a real city, we were able to move structures around to make our city work. This would be a great way to teach students about the benefits of planning in advance while looking at a city like New York to talk about the advantages of building near water.  I could use this activity to teach my students about the differences between urban and rural settings.  I could also use this to talk about directions, mapping and the importance of different kinds of transportation.

Other dreams that we learned about today were the dreams of automakers to build the cars of the future.  The displays in the museum section “Cars, Culture and The City” showed pictures of cars that were presented at the New York World Fair in 1939.  Many of them didn’t even come close to the vehicles that we have today but I could really envision students, especially boys, becoming excited to create their own cars and then comparing their creations with the pictures  on display at Museum of the City of New York. 

I want my students to dream big in their own lives.  I don’t want them to be afraid of failure.  I want them to realize that their failures can become another’s successes.  I want them to reach for the stars and realize that if they only get to the top of the empire state building that they are still 86 stories (at least that’s how high I got) higher than they would have been if they had never reached at all.

I’m getting ready for New York!

 Joseph Mitchell’s writings in Up in the Old Hotel tell us a lot about New York’s underclass during the early-mid 20th century while reminding me a great deal about the rest of the United States in the 21^st century.  It seems that we have always looked towards urban America, and New York, as a sort of gauge for fashion and finance but also for the treatment of the underclass. 

The story begins at McSorley’s, the oldest saloon in New York, a drowsy place where the owners and patrons are opposed to change and whose motto is “Good ale, raw onions, and no ladies”.  The same customers have been going there for years and the atmosphere never has changed even if the owners have.  For the people who go there every day, it is like their home and the other customers are like their family that they come home to each night.  This place kind of reminds me of some of the places in Pueblo, maybe Gus’ or Eiler’s (p.3-11).

Joe Gould is a fifty-three year old homeless man who looks to be about sixty-five or seventy-five.  He calls himself the “last of the bohemians.”  Unlike the homeless people of today, people talk to him and tell him stories about themselves.  He has a great memory and has been writing down other people’s stories for a long time.  He calls it “An Oral History of Our Time”.  Except for the fact that it is eleven times as long as the bible and that it might not be legible at times, it may be of some value to historians.  He did have one of his stories published in 1929 and there were some pictures of him done about the odd personalities and scenes of New York.  Except for that he was pretty much an unknown.  Another writer once called him “one of the few genuine and original American writers” (p.52–70).

The cave dwellers remind me of some of the homeless people of today.  Some have lived on the streets for years.  They have gotten used to the freedom that goes along with that kind of living.  They eat what and when they can and they live in a cave in the middle of the city.   They don’t have to answer to anyone, get up to go to work.  They may seem ungrateful to the man, the journalist, who wrote an article about them.  He thought he was doing a good thing.  In reality, you can’t help someone unless they want to be helped.  Maybe, they didn’t think they needed help (p. 137-144).

At the end of the book Mitchell revisits Joe Gould and his “oral history.”  I, like many, thought that his oral history could really benefit historians about the people who walked the streets of New York long ago and then I read the rest of his story.  When Joe died the people who were acquainted with him started looking for his book and only one man knew the truth about Joe Gould’s secret. No one could or would ever find any part of the book he had been working on for what seemed like his whole life.  Mitchell knew this but, as he looked through his files on Joe realized how much information he had about him and started remembering his relationship with Joe.  Joe’s life was similar to one that I think we have all heard before.  A kid is born into a wealthy family and has unreasonable expectations put on him.  He has every advantage including a Harvard education and eventually ends up on the street with nothing.  He started out believing that he would become a doctor just like his father and grandfather.  His description of his early life led me to believe that his life was pretty good until he overheard a couple of conversations that led to some major discouragement.  The people around him knew that he wouldn’t amount to much long before he did.  He felt that his father was most disappointed in him and this turned into almost an obsession with his father’s death.  The chapters in his book always focused on that and on a couple other subjects.  His chapters were called “Death of Dr. Clark Storer Gould, The Dread Tomato Habit, Death of My Mother and How I Measured the Heads of Fifteen Hundred Indians in Zero Weather.  He wrote and talked about the same subjects over and over again and seemed obsessed with the love or loveless relationship that he had with his father.  Many people thought him to be a perfectionist and that is why he kept revising the same stories.  Several times while reading his story I wondered about how he ended up where he was and caught myself speculating as to whether he had mental problems such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,  OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) or Asperger Syndrome (a high functioning autistic person).  Today many of the homeless people are also the mentally challenged and like in Joe Gould’s case we don’t do a very good job taking care of them.  The only real difference is that calling them “Bohemians” makes it sound so much more exotic.  Even Joe thought of himself as “not just an ordinary person.  He was Joe Gould – Joe Gould, the poet; Joe Gould the historian; Joe Gould the wild Chippewa Indian dancer; and Joe Gould, the greatest authority in the world on the language of the sea gull.”   

Mitchell’s words draw a picture of the homeless, the gypsies, the elderly, the eccentric, the old Italians, the American. We could probably find many of the characters and places in his book right here in Pueblo, Colorado.  Their names are different but their stories are very familiar. They are proud, set in their ways and comfortable with their routine.  The flophouses of the early 20^th century are the homeless shelters and soup kitchens of today.  The Joe Goulds of today beg at the side of the road instead of seeking out only their friends.  Who knows, maybe one of them is working on the “Oral history of Pueblo”.

Russell Shorto’s book The Island at the Center of the World  illustrates how the Dutch settlement in New Netherland laid the foundation for New York City and how that, in turn, helped to shape the diverse culture in America. 

By blending the Dutch and English ideals of the perfect society into the old world already created by the indigenous people of the area a “New World” was created.  While the English introduced elegance, aristocracy and law, the Dutch gave the new world free-trade, personal space and equality.  The “Indians,” however, gave experience and learned too late the importance of money and position in every culture.

In 1608 Englishman Henry Hudson, on route to find a northern passage to Asia, arrived in Amsterdam instead claiming that area for the Dutch (p. 24-25). During the next twenty years people from all over the world would settle in the area.  Meanwhile, in nearby Manhattan Island, Peter Minuit was purchasing that area from the Indians for twenty-four dollars.  This area was claimed for the Dutch and because of their close proximity to one another the decisions made in each location would greatly affect the other.   The purchase of that land was the first of many decisions to change the relations with the Indians in the area as well as the relations between the English and The Dutch.  While the Indians were naïve in thinking that the purchase was a sort of rental agreement or a way of securing a loyalty from Minuit and the Dutch, the English were claiming that the Indians had no ownership of the land and so therefore could not sell it.  Although the Dutch believed that the Indians, and all people, should be treated equally and that all people are basically the same, this action went against that.  The Indians had no idea at the time that the land on which they had always wandered freely would someday be under English rule.  

The Dutch belief that all men share the same potential for success and failure is evident in the US Constitution and although the exact words in the constitution are different they still hold the same meaning as the 1579 de facto constitution written by the Dutch Republic guaranteeing that each person shall remain free, especially in his religion and that no one shall be persecuted or investigated because of their religion (p. 96) 

At the time free trade between the Indians and the both the Dutch and the English was thriving.  Natural resources including the forests, mountains and the waterways, in the area were plentiful and fur trades were lucrative for all parties concerned, including those from other countries.  Trading posts were set up there as a convenient way for everyone to make deals.  “Business was conducted in at least six languages; Dutch guilders, beaver skins, Indian wampum and cows” (p. 65).  The land and its many assets was newly discovered and became a center for trade much like it is still today.

The people who settled in the area fell into routine that suited their new lifestyle.  The new communities that they formed seemed to work for the most part even if the English and Dutch colonies represented the extreme conservative and liberal wings of the seventeenth –century social spectrum. (p. 85) Things were definitely not ideal but people did make lives for themselves.  They established communities and relationships that became the standard for them.  Because of them we still value, even treasure, our homes and our personal spaces.   Much like today, they seemed to agree to live with together even if they didn’t agree on every social or political view. 

Two things seemed to really change that new society.  First, two men’s needs for status and revenge brought forth distrust, hate and discrimination.  It started when an Indian decided to seek revenge for the killing of his relative.  The sheriff at the time, Kieft, who already advocated for the extermination of the Indians, had a reason to retaliate.  He said that the natives had shown that they could never be trusted; extermination was the only solution (p. 121).  And, even if the colonists were against a war against the Indians, Kieft ordered the West India Company soldier to attack Indian villages (p.123).  In return, the Indians retaliated “Budding communities on Long Island were decimated.  Small groups of Indians made sudden strikes on the outlying farms on Manhattan… (p.127)

That was only the beginning of the differences between the two countries in the new world but in their home countries as well.  Their differing philosophies about the politics of a nation sent them in different directions with differing views.  Those viewpoints are still with us today.  We see them in our political parties all the time. 

       1664 The original European colony centered on Manhattan came to an end when England took it over, renaming it New York after James, the Duke of York and folding it into its other American colonies. (p.3)  The ownership changed hands but the general beliefs of the people living there remained the same.

To say that David McCullough’s The Great Bridge shows advanced technology is an understatement.  The story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in the late-19th century is simply amazing. 

In 1869, when the Bridge Company first began meeting about building the Brooklyn Bridge, there was nothing else as big anywhere in the world.  And, with today’s technology it might not be a big deal but, when you think about the many things that we have today that simply were not available at that time it is that much more remarkable.   Things like the light bulb and power drills, loaders and cranes, motors of any kind weren’t even invented yet.  The fact that something this huge was build in the 19^th century is amazing but, what truly astounds me is that they built it to last over 100 years and not only be in good shape but also be able to support 21^st century traffic every day.

They called John Roebling a “man of iron” because he was poised and confident and everyone listened to him when he spoke but when they started construction he must have been scared to death.  He was so thoughtful about the way he planned everything from beginning to end.  The fact that he was so well prepared and experienced is what made him so credible.  And, when he passed away, his son, Washington Roebling, was also experienced enough to take over for his dad because of his dad foresight.  There were so many “firsts” in building this bridge, beginning with Henry Murphy’s and William Kingsley’s legislation for real estate and stock options in the area and the way that the used Julius Adams to get Roebling to underbid his work by more than one million dollars (p. 119).  Back room deals and underhanded thinking were nothing new but at this magnitude I think they probably were. 

The caissons build as foundations on each side of the East River (Brooklyn and New York side) were the size of four tennis courts and weighed three thousand ton (p. 220).  The men pushed them to the bottom of the river.  First, they had to be pushed down at a pretty even, balanced rate in order for the compressed air to stay inside.  This reminds me of a glass going into the water and how it will fill with air, if you tip it to the side water will go inside and the air will escape.  The fact that these men did this while losing and then pumping in compressed air is amazing.  Once it was at the bottom they had to maintain that equilibrium in order to keep the air inside.  They then had to go inside to the bottom and remove the sand, rock and sediment in order for it to settle firmly at the bottom.  They had to find ways to deal with the sudden intake of water when the tide was high and also with breathing in the compressed air.  Their work hours had to be adjusted to their bodies’ tolerance of the conditions at the bottom of the caisson.  They had several different shifts of men doing the work.  There were about 264 men inside the caisson each day and about 100 working at the top to keep the gas lights going for the people working down below and to get rid of everything that was being brought out from the bottom.  In total 2,500 different individuals worked in the Brooklyn caisson from start to finish (p. 208). 

Although the work seemed to go smoothly, there were several drawbacks including problems with breathing, fires and an explosion that looked much like a volcano but caused form the inconsistent weights in the columns of water in the shafts (p.212).   Roebling was able to solve these problems and made adjustments to them so that they would not have the same problems when they did the New York side.  He also made many improvements aesthetically on the New York side.

While working on the New York side there were not only many other advances in engineering but also in medicine.  Due to the exposure to the compressed air many of the men, including Washington Roebling, working on the caissons became ill.  They called it “caisson disease” or the “the bends”.  It is caused by effect of abnormally high atmospheric pressure on the circulatory system.  It caused leg pains, paralysis, swollen joints and agonizing stomach cramps (p. 308-309).  The doctor who studied this was Andrew Smith.  He at first found that limiting exposure to the compressed air would prevent this and recommended that the men work shorter shifts in order to prevent this.  He later observed that when the men went back into the compressed air their symptoms would improve.  Many of the men were able to do just that but not all of the men were able.  This led to Smith’s invention of a facility that was constructed to hold compressed air and could be readily accessible above ground.  When the men finished their work in the caisson they would be able to sit or lie in the room so that there wasn’t any sudden removal from the compressed air.  This is the same sort of thing that is used today.  It is called a “hospital lock” and if it had been invented earlier the men working on the Brooklyn Bridge, including Roebling, may have been saved from so much pain and suffering (p.322).

The longest suspension bridge in the world was the next great advancement in technology.  It spanned across over one mile across the East River.  It was suspended there by four cables with each of them holding over 3,000 tons.  Each cable was made by spinning 5,434 wires together.   They statistics are astounding and they go on from there.  John Roebling engineered this bridge at a time when nothing else quite like it had been made.  His son took over for him as chief engineer on the project that lasted 14 years total.  Let’s not forget the work and knowledge of his daughter-in-law, Emily.  After all, we all know that behind every good man is a great woman.

Before I start the summary of our Chicago trip I want to say thank you to all of you, Jonathan, Matt and Scott, for this wonderful experience.  I learned a great deal about myself, history, and about people. 

Soaring above the clouds

This was my first visit to Illinois or Wisconsin.  As a matter of fact, I had never been on an airplane or travelled anywhere east of Kansas.  Even the room all to myself in Springfield was new to me.  I am never all by myself.  I have a husband, two kids, my mom and dad, 6 sisters and 4 brothers.  It was a very strange feeling being by myself but I adjusted.  And although I stumbled at times, once I was able to blog, I think I did okay.  I know that I learned a lot.  I think that anything I can do to help relate to my students’ backgrounds and heritage is an advantage for me as an educator.  Even though not all of the information that we received was relevant for an average second grader, sometimes you get a student that can and wants to handle more.  Also, I am qualified to teach up to 6^th grade and so the resources will be nice if I should make a change.

From our first presenter at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library to our last tour with Mr. Adelman I was engaged.  The knowledge of and passion for history that our presents shared made Chicago come alive for me.  It really made me think about the way that I teach history.  Because I teach 2^nd grade, I am always afraid to teach too much.  What I learned is this:  If I make it exciting and share lots of good information and give them good experiences then everyone will retain something.  Also, I could use primary documents and let them handle artifacts in order to provide the hands-on activities that are often left out when teaching social studies in the primary grades.  I will be doing my required lesson on the world’s fair but there are many other ways that I will use the information that I gained.  Some ideas that I have are comparisons of forms of transportation (ie. subways, the el vs. 4-wheelers, horses), cities vs. rural areas and “history heads” with A. Lincoln and G. Washington. 

 I was pleasantly surprised by the kindness of the people around.  It started in the airport with Kellie Jo guiding me so I would know what to do and ended with Scott and the nice Southwest employee who helped me when I carelessly lost my airplane ticket.  I am very grateful that there are people like them in this world.  I don’t think I encountered anyone who was not willing to help out or at least lend a smile.  I was also really amazed at the diversity in Chicago.  The different cultures is what I think made it most impressive.  The term “melting pot” can definitely be used to describe this city.  I’m not naïve enough to think that racism or prejudices don’t exist here but I loved the way that people live in such harmony together. 

This was a great trip.  It was well planned and every day we learned new information.  Our presenters were articulate and knowledgeable.  Thank you again.

Today we had the opportunity to spend the morning on a labor movement tour with William Adelman, an expert on Chicago and its labor history.  Although it was raining hard at times he stood out there and presented facts and personal stories about the Haymarket events.  He shared with us so much information that I would have needed a tape recorder to document all of it.  It as obvious that he went to great lengths to prepare for us. 

Haymarket Memorial at the spot speeches were given 5/4/1886

Following our visit to the cemetery where several people involved in Haymarket were buried, we had lunch at the Healthy Food Lithuanian Restaurant.  Although the food was not something I would choose to have again, the hospitality and warmth of the women who fed us was something I wish I could experience everytime I eat out.

Best Service in Chicago

Following our meal we took a long ride to see a gate, a very important gate that had thousand of men walked under everyday to get to the stockyards where they worked.    As I took a picture, with the stench of the steak packing house in the air and the railroad tracks passing so closely, I could imagine the dread that fillled the men who worked there each day. 

Men leaving work at Pullman

Pullman Factory todayPullman Administrative Building today