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FAMILY HISTORY THEATRE
Family Life During the Great
Depression
Read about the experiences of
Jews who lived during the Great Depression, and listen
to some anecdotal stories told about family life by some of
those who lived those difficult times.
PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS
From the Lower East Side to
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Late in the nineteenth
century in New York City, a transformation had begun in
earnest. No longer would the immigrant have to live in one of
the many crowded, dilapidated tenements on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan. Advances in bridge building and improvements in
the transportation system provided the immigrant with options
not available to them before. What would occur over the next
couple of decades would change the face of Jewish
demographics, and at least for a short period of time, give the
immigrant a chance to pay a lower rent and live in a more healthy and bucolic
environment. Many moved eastward to Brooklyn, which at that time was not very
developed. One of the first areas to receive an influx of new residents was what
would be called Brownsville...
Coney Island Notebook: The Early
Days and How We Got There
The Coney Island that many
of us New Yorkers have known and grown to love in our youth
is, without a doubt, one of the world’s most famous seaside
attractions. An island less than five miles long and half a
mile wide, it has drawn millions upon millions of visitors
seeking rest and relaxation for as long as anyone of us can
remember. Who can ever forget Steeplechase Park, the Cyclone
roller coaster, the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump? Of
course, Coney Island did not start out this way…
It
Was the Best of Times...
Flora Ness proudly took her Oath of Allegiance in February
1939 and became a U.S. citizen. Later that year she went with
her family to the New York's World's Fair, whose theme was
"Building the World of Tomorrow." The World's Fair souvenir
matchbook read "Dawn of a New Day." Little did she realize
that in September of that year, the Germans would invade
Poland, the country of her birth, and that two years later,
she would lose the remainder of her family who stayed behind
in Jedwabne, Poland to the terrible pogrom that befell it...
How We Worked
(also see the companion exhibition with the
same name, under "Life in Eastern Europe")
Our family members spent a good deal of their lives working
and sacrificing so they and the other members of their
family could enjoy a good life. Though they did spend so much
time at work, we often lack photographs of them in their workplace.
In the early years, it could certainly be because not as many
people owned cameras or did not think of taking such
photographs. Whatever the case, these photographs are important images,
especially when we discuss our family history, as they snapshots in time that give us an
glimpse into our family member's "other" identity, i.e. other
than a father, mother, husband or wife. Hopefully these
photographs will remind us of the struggle that many of our
"breadwinners"
had to endure for so many years, so that their families and
descendants could enjoy a better life with greater
opportunities than they had, and we must be very
thankful to them and grateful for their love and strong worth
ethic.
MEMORIES OF MY FAMILY
Zayde, by Elaine Rosenberg
Miller
A story
about
about the power of memory, childhood, and post-Holocaust Jews
in transition.
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