Immigrant City: Then and Now

by Erin K. Gray

The Somerville Museum presents an exhibit, “Immigrant City: Then and Now,” examining lives and stories of immigrants who have travelled to Somerville through Dec. 2.

Jeimy Lopez (left) with Marlene Vargas and Marlene’s little sister. The two girls participated in the program’s photography classes.

As part of the exhibit program, the museum will sponsor a panel discussion Nov. 29 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. called “Just Off the Boat.”

The discussion will combine  a panel of Somerville youth and elders with something in common—all are the children of non-English speaking immigrant parents. Please join us for a ‘real time’ discussion of then and now from the youth perspective.

“The more you get these stories out there the more understanding there can be between cultures in our city,” said Warren Goldstein-Geilb, the executive director of The Welcome Project, the major sponsor of the exhibit.

The Welcome Project, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of providing immigrants with programs and services, partnered with Tufts University, in addition to other groups, in sponsoring the exhibit, he said.

One program featured in the exhibit, ran by Tufts Sophomore Elizabeth D. Herman, was a summer photo project for youth between the ages of 11 and 14 that examined the stories of immigrant families in Somerville. All youth participating in the project came from these families.

“It was geared towards teen empowerment while at the same time giving the youth an opportunity to tell their family stories,” said Herman.

Herman said she was impressed by focus these teens’ parents had on their education.
“The parents really care what their children are doing, and that’s why I think the immigrant population is so vibrant in Somerville,” she said.

Yilana Coradin, mother of 13-year-old photography student Celia Coradin, and resident of the Clarendon Towers, said she knew the struggles of being from the first generation of immigrants to this country.
“As the first generation I got in trouble in school. I used to go home and get information from my parents who had a different way of seeing things,” she said.

Coradin was accompanied by neighbor and friend Karen Glover, who is the president of the tenants organization at Claredon Hill Towers, said the towers house a very diverse multi-cultural population.
“This was a wonderful experience as a friend and neighbor. It was so great to see Celia blossom, and the we got a lot of feedback from the neighbors,” she said.

Coradin said her family struggled with language barriors.

“My father would save his checks every week. He kept them until someone finally explained that after a certain amount of time the checks become null and void. My father lost a lot of money he worked very hard for,” said Coradin, an English instructor in a program sponsored by The Welcome Project.

“A big thing that kept coming up in this project was language,” Herman said.

“When immigrants first started migrating to this country there was no such thing as ESL classes. Now the problem has shifted. We can’t accommodate for all the different languages,” she said.

Another group of students, part of an eighth grade civics class at the recently closed Cummings school, participated in an interview project looking at people currently living in Somerville who had immigrated from another country. Most students were interviewing members of their own family, Goldstein-Geilb said.

“My mom had a hard time when she first came here,” said one student, Peter Gutiervez. “She started off with no friends and couldn’t speak English. Programs that taught English helped her a lot.”
In addition to learning and sharing the stories of their families, students participating in both the interview project and the summer photo program were learning how to use skills not normally offered in a classroom setting.

“We wanted to encourage teaching with primary sources and to enhance learning about national or broader trends by focusing on what is local, as well,” said eighth grade teacher Cady Landra.
“This was different because you got to interact with other people instead of learning through text,” said Guitervez.

“I wanted to discover the variety of people we have here in the city,” said photography student, Marlene Vargaz.

The Welcome Project has determined that nearly a third of Somerville residents were born outside the United States, Goldstein-Geilb said.

“Although the city has transformed over time, Somerville has always been a gateway city,” said Herman.

More information is available at the museum’s Web site: somervillemuseum.org.

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This is a good article but it was better the first time I read it -- on www.thesomervillenews.com.