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Before Your Visit

Readings

Reading

Activities

Activities

Primary Sources

Documents

Photographs

Interviews

Reading: “Peopling Pennsylvania”

Have students read the article “Peopling Pennsylvania” for background on immigration trends in Pennsylvania history.

Immigration Timeline Graph

Distribute print-outs of the Timeline of US Immigration or project the timeline for the whole classroom. (Timeline is also available as a PDF without events here, if you wish to have students research and add their own push and pull events: immigration_timeline_noevents)

Discuss:

  • When are the biggest peaks of immigration? What were the push factors during those periods? What were the pull factors?
  • When were the lowest periods of immigration on the timeline? What stopped the flow? Missing push factors? Missing pull factors? Both? When were there push factors, but no pull factors? [Civil War, the Great Depression] When were there pull factors, but no push factors? [World War I, World War II]
  • How does the size of each ethnic group change over time? Which ethnic groups have had more immigrants over the years? Which ethnic groups have fewer immigrants over the years? How have changing push and pull factors caused these changes?
  • Try to find out when some of your ancestors immigrated or migrated to Pennsylvania. Mark when they came on the timeline. What push and pull factors might have influenced their decision?

The Timeline of US Immigration shows big trends, the movement of millions of people! But each one of those millions of immigrants had to make a personal decision to take the risk of leaving home and starting over in a new place. Now we’ll take a look at some of those personal decisions.

Push

Assign students the characters they will assume on the field trip (Museum characters). Ask them to research the character’s homeland at the time he or she immigrated (about 1900).

Discuss:

  • What was happening in politics, economics, and in social and religious life?
  • What do these events suggest about the character’s situation in the “Old Country”?
  • How might they have come to the decision to leave? What “pushed” them away from home?
  • Imagine being the character and think about how he or she might have answered these questions:
      • What problems do you hope to solve by leaving home?
      • Why do you think leaving will help?
      • What problems might your decision create?
      • Who and what would you regret leaving?
      • When did you decide the risk was worth the possible gain?

Push: A Calculated Risk

Distribute Weighing the Risks, Costs, and Benefits of Immigration graphic organizer (PDF file). You may have students work individually, in small groups with other students assigned to the same character, or as a class by drawing the grid below on the chalkboard.

Whenever we make a decision about a big change in our lives, we do a cost-benefit analysis (we probably don’t call it that–we might call it “hemming and hawing”!) Very few changes are all good or all bad. There are always “pros” and “cons” to consider.

The same was true of every voluntary immigrant to the USA. Each one had to weigh both the risks (or costs) and the benefits of staying vs. leaving. Again, assuming your character, write as many “pros” (benefits) and “cons” (risks or costs) you can think of for leaving and for staying home. The first set is given as an example.

Costs/risks Benefits
Staying I don’t have a chance to better myself.

 

 

 Traditions hundreds of years old tell me exactly where I fit.
Leaving I’ll miss my family.

 

 

 I’ll be able to send them money when I get a good job.

Pull: Picking a Destination

Deciding that you are better off leaving home is only half of the decision you would have to make as an immigrant. You would also have to decide where to go!

  • How do you make a decision like that? You will probably think about your goals — economically, socially, politically.
  • Somewhere deep inside they probably went through a thinking process something like this:
Goals Place to achieve goal
Economic  

 

 
Social, religious  

 

 
Political  

 

 

Draw this grid on the chalkboard and ask students for examples of economic, political, social, and religious goals (reasons) their characters might have had in choosing their new homes. Then work on the second column (refer to the Immigration Timeline graph and do a bit of research, if necessary) and ask for suggestions for places they might go in the year 1900.

Discuss and fill in the grid :

  • What kind of place would help you fulfill each of these goals in 1900?
  • Besides America, where could you go? Why choose America over those other places?
  • What did Johnstown have to offer to meet those goals?

Primary sources: Letters from home, Letters from America

Directions: Let’s hear from the immigrants themselves:

  • Read the Letters from Home and Letters from America written between immigrants and their families back home around 1900;
  • Underline clues to push factors in red (or write them in a “Push” column in your notes, if you are working from the Web);
  • Underline clues about pull factors in green (or write them in a “Pull” column in your notes, if you are working from the Web);
  • Search the photographs in the “Scenes from the Old Country” to find visual clues to add to your list;
  • What are some of the different reasons for coming to America?

Activity: Good-Bye Letter to a Friend

Directions: Write a letter to your friend explaining why you’ve decided to leave and move to Johnstown in America. Things to consider in your letter:

  • Explain your reasons for going:
    • Push factors
      • When did you first considered leaving home? Why?
      • What problems do you hope to solve? What problems does your decision create?
      • Who and what do you regret leaving?
      • When did you decide the risk was worth the benefit? How do you know leaving will help?
    • Pull factors
      • What are your goals — economically, socially, politically?
      • What kinds of places will help you fulfill your goals? Besides America, where could you go?
      • What made you choose America over those other places? What do you hope to find in Johnstown?
  • Express the emotions you feel about leaving family, friends, and familiar surroundings;
  • Think about how your friend will feel when he or she hears the news.

PDF Download of this activity: Good-Bye Letter to my Best Friend

Activity: Packing To Go

*Note: Before your museum visit, assign as homework, preferably the day before the JDHC field trip.

Distribute the worksheet “Move It Out packing list (PDF), a packing list for a contemporary move.

Activity introduction

Discuss:

  • Have you ever had to move from one place to another? What were the reasons for the move (both the push and pull)?
  • How did you feel about moving? What were you excited about? What were you worried about? Did your fears come to pass?
  • What things were better than you thought they would be? What things were worse than you thought they would be?
  • What did you enjoy about your new home? What did you miss from your old home?
  • Looking back, did the good things outweigh the bad, or vice versa?

Directions: If you were moving overseas to another country, what would you take with you? If you couldn’t take everything with you, what would you decide to leave behind? What couldn’t you live without? What would you definitely leave behind because it’s not worth the trouble?

Think about these categories as you look around your house: Clothes; hobbies, special interests, school, future, equipment. (For this exercise, assume your parents are not going with you, so don’t count on them to bring anything!)

Bring this list with you tomorrow when we go on our museum visit.

Alternatively, conduct this activity with the whole class using the following graphic organizer on the chalkboard:

  Can’t live without Hope there’s room Definitely leave behind
Clothes      
Hobbies, special interests      
School things      
Furniture, equipment      

Continued on the next day “During your Museum Visit”