Field Trip Reflection

From Haven to Home:

The purpose of this exhibit was to learn about the Jews, and how important they were. We were to learn about their culture and the amazing things some of them had done.  In the exhibit I learned many things. I learned that underneath the Touro Synagogue is an underground railroad for Jews. Another thing I found interesting was in one of George Washingtons letters, he promised the Jewish Congregation of New Port, Rohde Island  that the federal government “shall give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.  I also learned that American Jewry  divided over the issue of slavery. Those in the North generally opposed it. In the South, Jews sided with their fellow white citizens. Jews nation wide mobilized to ask  president Lincoln to intervene slavery. Some other things I learned were that The first Jews sat in Congress in 1841. Oscar Strauss became the first Jew in the United States Cabinet in 1906. Another thing I learned was that 9,000 Jews fought in the Civil War for the Union and that 3,000 fought for confederacy. I thought the most interesting thing was learning about the letter George Washington wrote. 

Children of Immigrants:

One of the photographs I liked was called “ Boy from Albania is fingerprinted upon arrival.” This picture is about a boy from Albania and is getting his finger printed. In this picture there were his parents behind him, and a man holding his finger helping his finger get stamped. In this picture the little boy looked scared, and sad, he looked like he had no idea what was going on. I chose this picture because I thought that it showed a lot from the boys emotion throught the picture. To me the look on the boy's face showed me that the boy was very confused. It looked like he didn’t know what was going on, which made him look scared.  

A quote I found interesting by Tamara Parnick, Poland said, “America has everything we need: technology, goods. At least one person from  every nation lives here. People immigrate to America because they know its a land of freedom and a better life. I see America as a land of opportunities. 

I chose this quote, becuse it gave me a picture that immigration is different to everyone. Everyone has their own experience, and in this quote it showed what her experience was with immigration, and what it meant to her. From this quote I have realized some of the different meanings of immigration. I chose this quote because of what it told me, and how it reached out to me and other people in the museum.  

In the museum we read personal essays, and one of the personal essays I read was called “ The Untold Story of a Chinese - American. This essay is about a boys father and  how his family immigrated from Vietnam, and coming to America. This essay told me that being an immigrant can be hard, but in the end it works out fine. Immigrants have to go through a lot even though it might not seem like it, but through out the many essays written, it shows how immigrants had some very rough times coming to America. This is why I chose this essay, I like the essay becasue of what the story had told us about what immigration is all about.