BROOKLYNTHENANDNOW.COM
ISSUE NO. 15
BROOKLYN THEN & NOW
Immigrants In The Early 20th Century THE TREE OF HEAVEN
DIFFICULTY OF IMMIGRANT LIFE
WORDS OF THE PAST
How did a "magical" tree that grew out of cement influence popular culture?
How was life was straitening for immigrants coming through the gates of Ellis Island and into Brooklyn?
Learn the words used by the people of Brooklyn in the early 20th century.
1900-1920
Alexandra Dowling- B Block
June 4, 2017
IMMIGRANTS IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY Brooklyn: Then & Now |ISSUE NO. 15 |June, 2017
Words Of The Past Caper A playful dance or skipping movement
Cockade A bunch of ribbons worn on a hat, sometimes as a badge
Derby A bowler hat
Dicky A shirt front made from stiffly starched muslin
Equipage A horse-drawn carriage with servants
Miggies Small speckled marbles made of clay
Potsy A game of hopscotch played with a crushed piece of metal
Ragamuffin When children went around wearing costumes and penny masks on thanksgiving for candy
Rag Picker A person who collects items like rags, glass, and metal to sell
Spats Shoe covers that kept ankles warm and snow, mud and water off.
Difficulty Of Immigrant Life Ellis Island, a small isle in the harbor of both New York and New Jersey is known to have let through its gates around 12 million immigrants. Ellis Island serviced as an immigrant station from 1892 until a fire in 1897, before being run again in 1900 until its gates were closed in 1954. Immigrants coming to America came for a number of reasons, some of them being seeking for prosperities, to escape prosecution of religion, race, or politics, but were only met with hard work, small tenement homes, and absence of enviable jobs. The first two decades of the 20th century were a difficult time for immigrants who were for the most part in poverty with difficult jobs, could hardly afford food, and many collected waste items like paper, metal, and rags to sell for extra money.
Poverty And Work In the first two decades of the 20th century in Brooklyn, poverty and burdensome labor were around each and every corner. Almost every single immigrant that traveled to America found that they had hardly any money, and that the jobs were terrible and payed little. Immigrants were easy to take advantage of because they would work for any pay as long as there was some, also most couldn’t read English, making taking advantage of their work very simple. Also, immigrants commonly got all the unwanted jobs such as construction, servants work, mining, and building of the first subway tunnels in New York. These jobs were 1
June 4, 2017 dangerous, so Americans at the time found it appropriate to give the terrible occupations to the newcomers. Lastly, few immigrant children made it through school because they had to get work papers that’d allow them to help out their families. This meant that they couldn’t return to school, couldn’t get any diplomas that’d guarantee them better jobs. During these times, there was a common Italian phrase, "I came to America because I heard the streets were paved with gold. When I got here, found out three things: First, the streets weren't paved with gold; second, they
The Tree Of Heaven During the early 1900’s, the very invasive ailanthus altissima was known to grow up through the cracks in pavement throughout Brooklyn. In 1943, Betty Smith published a book, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, using the “tree of heaven” as a metaphor for the young Mary Frances Nolan who
learned to thrive although in the difficult environment of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In her novel, Betty Smith wrote “It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement.” The tree was also said to have “liked poor people,” as it only grew in places that were soon to become tenement districts.
weren't paved at all: and third, I was expected to pave them." This was known
by almost all of the immigrants that found themselves in the U.S. because they were promised great things, but found this a myth, and also found themselves doing grueling work to turn the U.S. into the dream it was advertised as. The bad jobs and lack of income had a huge toll on those immigrants.
A look at what the inside of
Hunger For Immigrant And Poor
some tenement houses would’ve looked like at the time.
Many immigrants found necessities like food too expensive, and fresh food was a luxury a lot couldn’t afford. Food wasn’t always easy to obtain, and many foods that today mean little to us, such as an orange were difficult to obtain living on an immigrant's salary. For those with little money, the main part of their diet was bread, a substance lacking in many nutrients needed. One of the reasons poor families like immigrants relied so heavily on bread was that it was affordable. Bread companies often waited till bread went stale or got old, then by way of wagons shipped the bread off to immigrant neighborhoods, such as Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the bread was then sold cheap so that it wouldn’t go to waste. Contrary to today, during the early 20th century, food such as fruits were often considered a luxury that most couldn’t afford. Immigrants were lucky if they were even fed enough, but being fed flavorful, fresh food was rarely to be expected by immigrants. Whilst all this occurred, most people around were very ignorant, as a teacher portrayed in the book A Tree
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June 4, 2017 Grows In Brooklyn said, “‘Hunger is not beautiful. It is also unnecessary. We have well-organized charities. No one needs to be hungry.’” This woman showed how citizens of America at the time didn’t understand that people starved as a result of the way they were treated and paid.
The Rag-Pickers Of Brooklyn
An old map by W. Williams showing Williamsburg and it’s relation to NYC and the Hudson River.
Finally, many people of Brooklyn who’d come from immigrant families were known as “rag pickers.” Because a lot of families didn’t want their kids to leave school so they’d have a better future, many kids became known as rag-pickers, and collected items useless to many, like broken glass, small amounts of metal such as tin foil, and old cloths or clothing. While many different ethnicities were known to be “chiffonnier,” as the French said, almost all rag pickers of of Brooklyn were Italian immigrants unable to find more suitable work. Rag pickers were so desperate for survival and money, that they would collect bones to sell from dead animals, and collect cloths that’d been related to disease like smallpox. Grow NYC stated that, “This contributed to the cramped, uncomfortable and often unsanitary conditions found in the slums and antiimmigration sentiment in NYC at that time.” when regarding the rag pickers
of New York City, particularly Brooklyn. This shows how the collection of scraps in one’s house made living difficult, even if necessary for them to make a living. Being a rag picker was an embarrassing and awkward job to have, but crucial for the survival of some.
A rag picker carries his bags of collected items on a hand pulled wagon that few others like him could afford.
In final analysis, immigrant people living in Brooklyn during the first two decades of the twentieth century must have lived a troublesome life. Many things made this so, including the poverty everywhere, lack of good, sustainable jobs, and the fact that many were forced to go into being rag pickers just to earn money that’d keep them and their families alive. While the United States has come a long way since the times of Ellis Island, you can’t help but wonder looking into our society, has much changed about the way that immigrants are treated? Sources Irish - Joining the Workforce - Immigration...- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress. Web. 04 June 2017. IMMIGRANTS IN 1900's NEW YORK CITY - Ellis Island. Web. 04 June 2017. Working Class Foods. Web. 04 June 2017. "Immigration | Exodus: Movement of the People." Exodus Movement of the People. Web. 04 June 2017. Morris), Suzanne Spellen (aka Montrose. "Walkabout: Brooklyn, Through Rag and Bone." Brownstoner. 07 Aug. 2014. Web. 04 June 2017. Parker, Clifton B. "European Immigrants to America in Early 20th Century Assimilated Successfully, Stanford Economist Says." Stanford University. 07 Aug. 2014. Web. 04 June 2017. Smith, Betty. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. HarperCollins, 2006. Print.
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