Hello my name is Christina Moawad. I’m a biomedical engineering major and am excited for the next three years here at City College. I have an identical twin sister, two older sisters (one year older then myself) who are also twins and an older brother; so I think it is safe to say I have a big family.  Some think we look exactly alike, but I don’t really think so! I am Egyptian and both my parents were born in Egypt. My siblings and I were born and raised in Long Island, and went to St. Anthony’s High School. I live in a suburban town called Melville, right in the middle of Long Island. I am currently at the Towers and go home some weekends. Although I am not fluent in either, I know Arabic and Spanish.

Some of my hobbies and interests include drawing, painting, basketball and Sudoku puzzles. Throughout high school I worked at an amusement park and have picked up face painting, which is also another thing my twin and I do on the side. I love everything about math and find myself always connecting things with numbers. I enjoy traveling, as I have been to countries like Australia, Italy, Egypt and Haiti.

I look forward to this class as I have always found these topics and statistics fascinating. I love hearing about different cultures, and immigration stories, so I am excited to read everyone’s page.

IMMIGRATION STORY

BLOG POSTS

Tenement Museum Response

         Prior to the Tenement Museum visit, I had no idea what to expect, as I only knew the basics about the time period and area. I can definitely say I left the museum with in depth perception of the realties of immigrating to Manhattan. The most effective part of this visit was that they attached a real story line to the apartment rooms we visited. This made it credible, personal and convincing, rather then just a mediocre tour of an old apartment. When the tour guide mentioned things like, “Imagine Jenny cooking dinner here,” and “Imagine Mr. Levine and his workers sewing here,” it gave me a sense of the everyday, constant adversity. The struggles of living in such a crowded space seemed unbearable. During the tour, I found myself constantly putting myself in the shoes of the people mentioned, wondering exactly how I would feel if I were them. When she mentioned the part about the new labels being created for the clothing, and how it financially affected the Levine family and business, it made the hardship stand out in my mind because it was a specific example. Also, when she passed around photographs of the families, it was thought provoking to match the face with the story.

         I learned a plethora about the time period, as well, from the description of the family. Things like the dress style on the mannequin, table settings and outhouses were easy giveaways of the time period spoken about. If the guide did not give us exact years of reference, I’m sure we could have all guessed around the correct years. The photocopy of census documents also was interesting to see, as the simple formatting was surely something I noticed. I appreciated that the tenement museum visit provided an experience I would not have had from reading a textbook, simply because I was physically there. I have never been to a “museum” in that style before and I enjoyed that it was different. I also liked that we were able to see an unfurnished room in comparison to the furnished rooms. This allowed me to appreciate and account for the time that has gone by, and realize how different things were from our world today.

BOOK REVIEW

Triangle The Fire that Changed America- Book review

By David Von Drehle

“Underpaid” and “overworked,” seemed to be the vast theme of the employees in the shirtwaist factory during the early 1900; hours were long, space was limited and air was anything but pure. David Von Drehle’s novel, Triangle the Fire that changed America gave the reader the unsugar-coated truth about the shirtwaist industry leading up to the largest New York City tragedy before September 11^th, 2001, the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire.  In about 15 minutes, killing 146 of these over labored workers, this fire truly “changed America.”

Located at 27 Washington Place, the workers at the time were
nearly all Jewish immigrants, called “greenhorns,” averaging 84 hours a week at the factory, Monday
through Saturday. The workers slaved on women’s clothing referred to as “shirtwaists,” or simply “blouses,” for $15 a week in wages. At the time, the factory was under the command of two men Max Blank and Isaac Harris, though they shared the same space, and toiled the same business, it was as if they lived in an entirely distinct world from their laborers. There was an overwhelming clash of priorities between the elite business owners and the poor immigrants of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory. The novel provides a vivid memory of the day of this tragedy but also, a loud portrait of the entire age.

David Von Drehle primarily explains the political atmosphere at the time and how the trade unions had been working to organize the Triangle Factory. He goes on the describe how and why people immigrated to New York City, highlighting specific people like Clara Lemlich’s journey from the Ukraine. She was a leader of may uprisings, including the massive strike of the shirtwaist workers in 1909, which included more then 20,000 people. He successfully describes the fusion of the suffrage movement for women with the growing labor movement among women workers.

The author gives a wholesome description of all the major people involved in the tragedy, including stories of the workers who jumped to their death, the owners of the factory, the troubled workers who survived and the people who tried to help others survive on that historic day. David Von Drehle gathered  the historical information of these workers from the “Report of the Joint Relief Committee”(Von Drehle, pg. 298). He was also able to read the one known remaining transcript of the trial of Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, the owners of the Triangle Factory (Von Drehle, pg. 290).

The book also investigates into the governmental actions after the horrific fire as some politicians worked after the fire to promote and increase the safety of workers. Frances Perkins, who worked under Franklin D. Roosevelt, was a eyewitness to the fire. She worked with Tammany Hall’s Al Smith, who grew into a dominant political figure in New York at the time. She carried the legacy of the Triangle fire, later to pass it onto Roosevelt himself as he rooted his “New Deal.” It was Roosevelt who brought the urban liberalism to its full powers as he refined the American government to become a protector of its people (Von Drehle, pg. 259-263). The novel is then concluded with a complete list of the Triangle fire victims.

This novel is not just one of history and information, but it is filled with a personal story line relatable to the reader. I think the author successfully gives the reader an informative and gratifying replay of the time period. One of the strongest outlets of the story is that the author takes the reader deep into the twentieth century, leaving no detail out, but by mesmerizing descriptions, the reader is left in awe. Besides detailing the extreme play by play of the fire, he successfully reestablishes the political fallout and a fascinating, thorough, description of the proceeding trial. I find the most intriguing and lasting imageries are those of the young casualties whose lives were quenched in only a few minutes. I have used this noteworthy technique of imagery in my own writings and teachings of events before and believe it is a great method to use to draw readers into the theme, and become personally involved in the plot. David Von Drehle also includes pictures of the background and building setup in the novel, which is also something I have incorporated before, and was great for the reader to weave both the imagery with the actual photos. One aspect of the novel that may have been more interesting was the predictability of the novel. If Von Drehle began his novel with the intense scene of the fire, it may have been interesting to see the novel work rearward as opposed to his style choice.

The theory identified in this book is most relatable to the concept of corruption. As pictorial and remarkable the book portrays the history, it is hard to remember that these harsh realities were brought by unjust powers, leading to events bound to happen. A part of this theory noteworthy is that situations must get worse before improving, as America, sadly, needing this event to jumpstart reform. Examples of this concept would be the fire itself, the corruption of government and the portrayal of a business owner. The fire caused much distress to families, as they lost loved ones. This corrupt and preventable event was pivotal for better conditions in the future. The fraudulent government polices and powers were uncovered, leading to a new type of progressivism. The inhuman character of business owners was exposed, turning a new page on what it entailed to operate a successful business. These atrocious events caused much mayhem and wretched stories, but in turn, we are able to see the veracity that disastrous situations may bring .