The European immigrants had spread out on the tiny land of Manhattan, the better-off living in uptown and Lower East Side being the symbol of the poor yet serving also as the place where traditional culture thrived. Seeing as how uptown visitors came to the Lower East Side to intake either their own traditional foods or try new cuisines, I wonder what would have happened to the culinary map of Manhattan had there been no transportations available between the uptown and the downtown. Without carriages and even subways later on, would food still have traveled the same way as the present day?

While reading about the Rogarshevsky family and the amount of people that were detained on Ellis Island, I wonder if there was any other type of cultural mixing that occurred in passing Ellis Island?  For example, I know that often times names changed which definitely can affect families. What else changed due to detainment and interaction with immigrants from other countries? Maybe words in languages? Or styles of clothing?

Trying to preserve their defining feature of identity – food – Italians were the victims of myriad prejudices and ostracism. They were willing to compromise everything for food. Considering that they had such a zealous attachment to food, how do you think they felt when they saw their food become part of American cuisine? (Since the food wasn’t prepared from the desired ingredients, like the pizza and pastas). Is inclusion of other’s people food a gesture of acceptance? How do you thing we would treat a group today who have radically different food?

The Italians treated food with reverence. How much can we tell of the society’s values from their treatment of food? ( The amount of food that is wasted in New York can feed an entire community).

“O’ Pickels”

Where did the concept of a pickle originate from? ( I happen to have finished a homemade pickle and conversation about how great they are right before I returned to read the paragraph that discussed them so I needed to ask a question on them)

Americanization:

When was there a seemingly conscious effort on Americanization? Did they believe in cultural superiority, only want to make immigrants familiar with American ways, believe that there was an practical advantage of following American culture in America, or some other reason? It appears there was much effort spend on this process, but what was the ideology behind it?

The treatment and conditions that immigrants were forced to endure in coming to America were definitely brutal and were certain to dishearten these people. At the time, immigration was extremely healthy for America and was a crucial part of expansion and production. Immigrants could be seen as an asset to America. So, why were the conditions so bad? The amount of work a single, healthy immigrant worker could put in was extremely valuable. A horde of them could accomplish massive feats. Wouldn’t it be in the best interests of Americans (more specifically, the businesses who employed a large number of these immigrants) to have at least semi-decent conditions for these workers so that they would be in shape and ready to go to work and, by extension, earn those Americans a lot of money? Of course, humanely, the conditions should have been better from the get-go but I would think that, even back then, Americans would’ve been especially concerned in protecting their investments.

The readings depict the journey of some of the main immigrant groups in America during the time. What I found interesting was how the wealthier middle class immigrants, unlike the peasant immigrants, needed to give up their own culture in order to be viewed as middle class by their fellow middle class Americans (or those who have already assimilated). What would those who connect strongly to their ethnic culture but had to maintain their middle class lifestyles had to say/felt about their situation?

Samantha Chiu

When immigrants first heard of America, it was looked upon as a great land of opportunity. Individuals often envisioned America as a safehaven or a land that would welcome newcomers with open arms as they began new chapters in their lives. However, as immigrants passed through Ellis Island, in various instances, it was only a matter of moments before their American dream had crumbled before their eyes as they faced the possibility of detention or deportation. Do you think the fear of deportation prompted immigrants to find security by living in their own communities when they came to America?

Consider the details of the detainee dormitories – “a strictly no-frills operation…the bunks enclosed in pens that resembled oversized birdcages” and details of the dining hall – “the immigrants ate in shifts, a thousand at a time.” Why did America treat these newcomers like animals? Do you think these initial experiences at Ellis Island would prejudice their view of America as a hospitable country? Did their fears amplify prejudicial attitudes about other communities?