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Mr. Jacovitz describes being Jewish in Cambria City
When you come to the Heritage Discovery Center you will see videotaped oral histories of Johnstown residents talking about their immigrant parents a
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Mr. and Mrs. Cybert remember growing up Polish
When you come to the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center you will see videotaped oral histories of Johnstown residents talking about their immigrant pare
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Mr. Beerman describes the Jewish community
When you come to the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center you will see videotaped oral histories of Johnstown residents talking about their immigrant parents
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Ms. Banda remembers growing up in a Slavic community
When you come to the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center you will see videotaped oral histories of Johnstown residents talking about their immigran
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The businesses, institutions, and houses “Downtown,” symbolized “America” to new immigrants.
Cambria Hospital
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Families are the first communities to which everyone belongs. Children learn to speak their native language within their families (not surprisingly called their “mother tongue”!) Religion
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In Johnstown, Cambria City was a buffer zone between the “Old Country” and “America” for many immigrants.
Click on the images below to view a larger image. To help you see as m
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A Sense of Belonging
Before coming to America, most immigrants didn’t think of themselves has being “ethnic.” They spoke the same language as everyone else, ate the same foods, went
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In the 2000 census, people all over the United States reported where most of their ancestors came from. Below are the percentages for the United States and just for Pennsylvania. Example: 15 out of
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2.2 Culture: Proud of who we are
A group’s shared memories, experiences, language, traditions, heroes, and beliefs bind them together in a culture. Culture is the glue that keeps communities tog
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What happens when all these cultures come together in Pennsylvania?
After they’ve been in their new place for a while, most immigrants begin to feel like they were part of two communities: their
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Hopes and Dreams of Immigrants
When you come to the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center you will see videotaped oral histories of Johnstown residents talking about their immigrant parents and grandpar
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Take on a role
When you come to the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center you will assume the role of one of the eight fictional people below as you go through the exhibit. They represent the thousands
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Why immigrant ancestors came
When you come to the Johnstown Heritage Discovery Center you will see videotaped oral histories of Johnstown residents reminescing about their immigrant parents and grandp
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First stop in America
To handle the crush of new immigrants, who began arriving in record numbers from 1890 to 1914, the U.S. Immigration Service built Ellis Island in New York harbor. A state-of-the-
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What immigrants left behind
These photographs were taken around 1900 in various countries in eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Most immigrants who entered the United States between 1890 and 1914 c
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Immigrants Write to Families Back Home
Even after getting settled, most migrants had strong ties with “home” — whether across the ocean or across the Mason-Dixon line. Letters passed
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Letters from the “Old Country”
Even after getting settled, most migrants had strong ties “back home” — whether across the ocean or across the Mason-Dixon line. Letters pa
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Part 1: Push and Pull
Everyone came from somewhere else
Everyone’s ancestors come to Pennsylvania from somewhere else! Your ancestors may have moved here from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America
