Differences in physical and mental ability have been at issue among various cultures throughout human history.  Entire fields of study, and the related paradigms and schools of thought, have been dedicated to understanding different levels of able-bodiedness and mental capacity found in our country, as well as the application of awareness, resources, and programming to ensure equity among populations containing individuals with special needs.  The written record of physical disability goes back to ancient India with the writing of the sacred poem, the Rig-Veda, between 3500-1800 BCE. The poem recounts the story of a warrior named Queen Vishpla, who, after losing her leg in battle, was fitted with a prosthetic iron leg, and returned to battle.  Following subsequent advocacy for the hearing impaired in 17th Century Italy and 18th Century Germany and France, and the blind in 19th Century France (http://www.disabilityhistory.org/timeline_new.html), the United States saw a number of improvements in disability advocacy, care, and resources.  In 1860, the Braille system of a raised point alphabet was introduced to the United States, becoming the English language standard in 1916.  In 1872, Alexander Graham Bell opened a school for teachers and the hearing impaired in Boston, Massachusetts.  During the Civil War (1861-1865), the Union Army saw 30,000 amputations among its ranks.  With the huge numbers of physical injuries resulting from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, biotechnical science finally managed to make significant gains in the survival rate among injured soldiers.  With advances in medical interventions and the invention of antibiotics, the survival rate among soldiers suffering from war-related spinal cord injuries rose from 2% to 85% .  Also, the Smith-Fess Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1920 sparked an improved government response to the needs of injured veterans.  In 1961, our government passed a new building standard titled A117.1, which began the movement to make buildings more accessible for those with physical limitations.  The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504 called for federal funding for the education of children with disabilities, and independent living resources for adults.  The late 1970s through late 1980s saw a general movement toward less government involvement in disability-related issues, but the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 signaled the federal government’s return to formal advocacy on the behalf of people with disabilities.  Accompanying the act were measures that would ensure civil rights, provide resources, and manage government expenditures on care and research (www.udeducation.org).

In the United States of the 17th and 18th centuries, the approach to caring for the those with mental illness was appalling. Individuals were often thought to be possessed by demons, and were subsequently abused and treated like animals.  It was common for treatment to be carried out by untrained personnel, and it was often inhumane.  It was not unusual for mental health institutions to physically restrain patients using such devices as straight-jackets and heavy arm and leg chains.  In 1908, Clifford Beers, a Yale graduate and former mental patient, wrote an autobiographical account  of his experience with the mental health system called A Mind that Found Itself. The book sparked reform in the mental health care industry,  and emphases were placed on improving attitudes toward mental illness and those who suffered from it, improving services for the mentally ill, and preventing mental illness.  By 1920, several states passed laws that helped lead to the formation of the National Association of Mental Health, or NAMH.  In 1979, the NAMH became the National Mental Health Association, or NMHA.  The following year, the NMHA saw legislation pass the Mental Health Systems Act, which allowed individuals with mental illness to spend less time in hospitals and more time in their homes.  In 1990, the NMHA helped develop the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with mental illness from discrimination in employment, public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and state and local government services.  The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 barred insurance companies and large self-insured employers from placing limits on employee mental health benefits.  Finally, in 2006, the NMHA became Mental Health America, an organization dedicated to “helping the millions of Americans affected by mental illnesses achieve mental and physical wellness, as well as expanding its outreach efforts to ensure all Americans are better equipped to manage the day-to-day stressors of life and ultimately ‘bring wellness home’ (www.mentalhealthamerica.net).

Featured Personality With Anne Sullivan as her teacher and mentor, Helen Keller was a one-woman cadre for the advocacy for, and promotion of, making the United States an equitable place for people with disabilities to live.  When a disease took away Keller’s sight and vision  18  months after she was born, she was left without the ability to see, hear, or speak.  As a child she developed a crude sign language that she used with the young daughter of her family’s cook.  After young Helen demonstrated patterns of unruly and sometimes violent behavior toward her friend and at home, her mother sought professional help for her.  Upon Alexander Graham Bell’s recommendation, Mrs. Keller went to the Perkins Institute for  the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequently hired Anne Sullivan, a recent graduate of the school.  Sullivan returned with the Kellers to their home in Alabama, where she began to work on finger signs with a curious but often defiant Helen.  When Sullivan began working with Helen away from the main house in a cottage on the Keller’s property, she and Helen experienced a breakthrough in communication.  On one particular day, Helen learned 30 words.  Beginning in 1890, Helen attended a number of schools to improve her speech so that other people could understand her.  It was during this 25 year period that she began to draw the attention of influential people, including author Samuel Langhorne Clemens — more commonly known as Mark Twain.  With Anne Sullivan working as an interpreter, Helen mastered such methods of communication as touch-lip reading, Braille, speech, typing, and finger spelling.  In 1904, Helen graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College, then began to use her contacts as well as her communication skills to lecture to others around the United States about her experiences.  She also talked about social and political issues such as women’s suffrage, pacifism, and birth control.  In addition, Helen testified before Congress on how to help improve the welfare of blind people, and helped found Helen Keller International in 1915 and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1920.  Anne Sullivan died in 1936, but Helen remained rooted to her cause.  In fact, between 1946 and 1957, she traveled to 35 countries on five continents as a lecturer.  In her lifetime, she earned such distinctions as the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and election to the Women’s Hall of Fame.  Helen Keller died in her sleep in 1968 at the age of 87, leaving behind a legacy of social activism that few can rival (www.biography.com).

Asian Indian culture hails as one of the world’s oldest civilizations, originating near the Indus River around 2500 BCE.  Immigrants from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh — commonly referred to as Asian Indians — first arrived in the United States during the mid-19th Century in search of economic opportunity.  Approximately 2000 Indian immigrants had settled in western states such as Oregon, Washington, and California by the end of the 19th Century.  They could be found working in agriculture, construction, the lumber/logging industry, and railroad building, as well as working as traders and owners of shops and bunkhouses.  By 1920, Asian Indians owned over 120,000 acres of land in California.  Since very few Indian women had immigrated to the United States during this time, a number of Indian men married Mexican women to start families . The early 20th Century was a tumultuous time for Indian Americans.  While an increasing number of Indian Americans attended universities and became involved in the movement to liberate India from British rule, a disturbing climate of anti-Indian sentiment, supported by government sanctions and labor unions, began to develop in the western United States.  Despite such formidable obstacles, Indians continued to enter the United States in increasing waves after 1947.  By the mid- to late 1960s, large numbers of educated, professional men and women, along with their families, established themselves primarily in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.  Impressively, Indian-Americans, while successfully assimilating into the U.S.’s predominantly Western culture, typically manage to maintain their Indian heritage (www.everyculture.com).

Nearly 3.5 million Americans can trace their roots to an Arab country according to estimates (www.aaiusa.org).  Arab Americans originally came from the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East and North Africa.  Spanish explorers brought slaves from the Arab world to North America as early as the 15th Century (www.arabamericanmuseum.org), but during a period called the Great Migration, the first wave of Arab immigrants arrived in the United States between 1875 and 1920 (www.pbs.org).  Most Arab immigrants during the Great Migration were men from modern day Syria who planned to improve the economic status of their families by either establishing wealth in the United States then returning to their countries of origin, or staying in the United States to build wealth.  In fact, nearly 90 percent of early immigrant men began as peddlers (historywired.si.edu).  By 1924, there were more than 200,000 Arab Americans living in the United States (www.arabamericanmuseum.org). As with other immigrant groups, Arab Americans faced discrimination at the hands of people born in the U.S., as well as by the government itself.  In fact, the Great Migration was brought to a halt due to a series of anti-immigration laws passed by Congress in 1917, 1921, and 1924 (www.arabamericanmuseum.org). With decreased immigration and an increasing number of conflicts in Arab countries, the 1920s saw successful peddlers staying in the United States, growing their businesses, and opening shops. This led to many Arab American families  successfully integrating themselves into mainstream American life and preserving their cultural heritage at the same time (historywired.si.edu).  Contrary to popular belief, only 12 percent of the world’s Arab population are Muslim, making the majority of Arab Americans followers of Christianity.  Regardless of religion, however, foreign policy and public ignorance have had caused a negative bias toward people of Arabic descent in the United States, with the 1970s marking the emergence of the stereotyping of Arab Americans in popular culture.  During the Gulf War of the 1990s, the FBI targeted many activists and politicians of Arab descent.  Finally, the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 spurred a great deal of discrimination and unfair treatment of Arab Americans that unfortunately continues to this day (www.pbs.org).  Fortunately, Arab Americans are highly involved in the many social dialogues that aim to recognize and promote cultural heritage and points of commonality among the numerous racial and ethnic groups found in the United States.

Featured Personality Of the many musical artists who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Frank Zappa is considered by many to be among the most creative and prolific.  He was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1940 to chemist and mathematician Vincent Zappa (who was Arab and Greek in ancestry) and Rose Marie Colimore (who was Italian and French in ancestry).  At one point during his childhood, his family lived next to a chemical warfare arsenal in California, and it is likely that this physical proximity to the facility, along with his father’s occupation, had a great

influence on the lyrics of many of his songs — songs that often focused on topics such as germs, germ warfare, and the defense industry.  Zappa’s early musical influences were Edgard Verese and various doo-wop and blues performers of the 1950s, as well as classical music (which he composed at one point).  He taught himself to play the snare drum, then began playing guitar — the instrument with which he displayed tremendous talent and for which he is known best.  While living in Los Angeles in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Zappa composed soundtracks for various low-budget films, and wrote and produced music for local artists.  In 1965, he helped form the group The Mothers, which was later renamed the Mothers of Invention.  With the 1966 Mothers of Invention release of the double album Freak Out, Zappa established himself as “a radical new voice in rock music” (www.lyricsfreak.com).  His compositions consisted of lyrics that satirized mainstream culture, and music that often featured eclectic instrumental arrangements, abrupt time signature changes, and diverse musical elements.  After a period in the 1970s of working alternately as a solo artist and with the Mothers of Invention, Zappa settled in as a solo artist in the 1980s.  While his pursuits continued to include music and film, Zappa also became an advocate for free speech and expression, testifying before U.S. Senate Commerce, Technology, and Transportation committee to speak out against the actions of the Parents Music Resource Center — an organization that brought the issue of artistic censorship to the forefront of political debate in the mid 1980s.  Zappa also was a proponent of citizens becoming actively involved in politics, famously encouraging his fans to register to vote on his album covers, and arranging for the placement of registration booths at his concerts in 1988.  After being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in 1990, Zappa continued to compose music, with an emphasis on classical music that led him to perform in Europe as late as 1992 (www.lyricsfreak.com).  Zappa died on December 4th, 1993, leaving his wife, four children, and a rich legacy of musical genius.

Issue Number 3, Volume 2

March 2012

Despite being statistically longer lived than men and in possession of the ability to bear children, women have long been subject to unfair treatment by a male-dominated society.  Fortunately, the historical record contains a significant amount of evidence of the many important roles women have played throughout American history.  In numerous Native American cultures, women functioned as “builders, warriors, farmers, and craftswomen” (www.indians.org), performing such vital tasks as building dwellings, making tools and weapons, harvesting crops, making pottery, baskets, and blankets, and healing.  When Europeans arrived in North America, it was notable Native American women such as Pocahontas, Mary Musgrove Matthews Bosomworth, and Sacajawea aided in European exploration of the New World and the development of positive relationships between Native Americans and European settlers (rootsweb.ancestry.com).  At first, when European women came to the North American colonies, they were assigned rudimentary tasks such as cooking, cleaning, tending to livestock, and bearing and raising children.  Then, as time went on and people began to realize that women and men were walking a common path in the New World, many women came into their own and earned recognition for their accomplishments.  Here are some of the more noteworthy women in U.S. history along with their accomplishments:

• Anne Hutchinson (social reform, 17th Century) — fought and died for religious freedom in Boston*
• Anne Bradstreet (literature, 17th Century) — one of America’s first poets*
• Abigail Adams (politics, writing, 18th Century) — husband and mother of John Adams and John Quincy Adams, respectively; wrote letters that influenced John’s political decisions*
• Phillis Wheatley (literature, 17th and 18th centuries) — first African American poet to be recognized and published*
• Lucretia Mott (social reform and women’s rights, 19th Century) — used house as a station on the Underground Railroad, advocated for women’s rights*
• Dorthea Dix (social reform, 19th Century) — advocated for reform for (mental) asylums, poorhouses, and prisons; served at Superintendent of Female Nurses during Civil War*
• Harriet Beecher Stowe (literature and  social reform, 19th Century) — wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel that protested against slavery*
• Susan B. Anthony (social reform, 19th Century) — abolitionist, advocated for women’s suffrage*
• Harriet Tubman (social reform, 19th Century) — former slave turned abolitionist, conductor on Underground Railroad*
• Elizabeth Blackwell (medicine, 19th and 20th centuries) — first woman physician in United States*
• Jane Addams (social reform, 19th an 20th centuries) — Nobel Prize-winning founder of  Hull House in Chicago for underprivileged, advocated for women’s rights*
• Helen Keller (social reform, 19th and 20th centuries) — overcame blindness and deafness and became an outspoken advocate for the rights of people with disabilities*
• Eleanor Roosevelt (social reform, 20th Century) — wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, advocated for racial equality*
• Amelia Earhart (aviation, 20th Century) — first woman to cross Atlantic Ocean in an airplane**
• Rosa Parks (social reform, 20th Century) — refused to give up seat on bus in Montgomery, Alabama, thus helping to launch the Civil Rights movement*
• Katherine Graham (journalism, 20th Century) — president and publisher of Washington Post newspaper*
• Shirley Chisholm (politics, 20th Century) — first African American woman elected to Congress*
• Sandra Day O’Connor (law, 20th Century) — first woman nominated to U.S. Supreme Court*
• Barbara Walters (television journalism, 20th Century) — first woman to anchor televison nightly news*
• Toni Morrison (literature, 20th Century) — Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author*
• Janet Guthrie (auto racing) — first woman to qualify for Indy 500**
• Sally Ride (aeronautics, 20th Century) — first woman in space
• Oprah Winfrey (entertainment, 20th Century) — highly influential billionaire actress, philanthropist, and host of The Oprah Winfrey Show; widely regarded as the most powerful woman in entertainment
• Madeleine Albright (politics, 20th Century) — first woman appointed Secretary of State**

* information obtained through www.u-s-history.com
** information obtained through www.history.com

Featured Personality Twenty-seven years ago when I was in 7th grade, I read The Clan of the Cave Bear, the first book in Jean M. Auel’s celebrated Earth’s Children series.  As of Monday, February 20th 2012, I completed The Land of Painted Caves, the final book of the series.  Reading the six novels — The Clan of the Cave Bear, The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, The Shelters of Stone, and The Land of Painted Caves — was a tremendous undertaking for me, but perhaps not as great an undertaking as writing them was for Ms. Auel.  A forty year-old wife, mother of five, and MBA-level businesswoman, Auel left the business world and decided to devote her energies to writing a novel in the historical fiction genre in 1977.  The series, which has sold over 45 million-plus copies, chronicles the life and adventures of a Cro-Magnon woman in prehistoric Europe.  One of the prevalent themes in the series is the perspective of regarding Earth as a nurturing mother, and all of Earth’s creatures as “Her Children”, as the main characters frequently make reference to “The Earth Mother” throughout the series.  Auel’s original draft of the six books was written over a four month period that consisted of 12 to 16 hour days of sustained writing — a period which she refers to as “one single burst of creative energy” (www.copperfieldinterview.com).  Prior to writing, however, Auel needed to immerse herself in the process of learning about prehistoric Europe.  By doing so, she insured that the setting of the books would possess a high degree of realism not only in regards to the physical environment, but also in regards to the prevailing sociological and psychological attitudes she believed could be found in the cultures and societies she planned to write about.  Auel conducted extensive anthropological, archeological, and paleontological research, which included not only huge amounts of reading, but also stone tool-making, processing animal skins by natural means, making cordage, and digging roots (www.copperfieldinterview.com).    For me, my readership of Jean M. Auel’s Earth’s Children series symbolizes a great sense of completion and closure in my life, and serves as a reminder of the great power and influence that women have had throughout human history.

Issue Number 2, Volume II

February 2012

The month of February marks the observance of Black History Month.  The experience of African Americans in the New World traditionally began with the arrival of African people with Spanish explorers in the 15th Century,  and continued with the arrival of African slaves in Jamestown, Virginia in 1619 (www.history.com).  However, some archeological research suggests that African sailors and traders had arrived in the Central and South America as early as 98 B.C.E. (www.nathanielturner.com).  In the 16th Century, the practice of enslaving African people by British, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch traders resulted in the advent of triangle trade — the interdependent relationship between rum, the sugar that was used to make it, and the African people who were taken from their homelands and enslaved for the purpose of growing and harvesting the sugar.  Slavery became an institution that helped chart the course for economic and social development in the United States for the next three and a half centuries.

Some historians estimate that as many as 15 million slaves were imported from the African continent from the 15th through 19th centuries (www.exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu).  They were taken from areas that are the present-day countries of Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Angola.  Once they were taken away from their homelands, slaves underwent a process of breaking (also called “seasoning”), which was a highly effective divide and conquer tactic perpetuated by slavers that prepared slaves for their function as an unpaid labor force.  It is important to keep in mind that within the geographical diversity of the slave industry’s catchment area was great ethnic diversity. This meant that along with being separated from his or her home and family, the slave was separated from his or her language, religion, and culture.  The slave was grouped with other slaves who often didn’t share the same cultural background, given an alien name, and was subjected to severe physical beatings.  These conditions accompanied a journey in the cramped, filthy, and smelly environment of a ship that lasted for  several weeks.  Once the surviving slaves arrived in the New World, they were forced into back-breaking labor without being compensated, and were exposed to all sorts of abuse at the hands of slaveowners.  It was through the determined actions of African Americans such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, and White people who opposed slavery such as John Quincy Adams and John Brown — as well as many unnamed individuals — that African Americans began to see the light at the end of slavery’s proverbial tunnel.

After President Abraham Lincoln formally emancipated slaves in 1863, African Americans were still faced with the disenfranchisement and marginalization associated with racism.  During Reconstruction (1865-1877), numerous strategies were practiced by Americans who planned to use racism to their advantage.  These strategies included the passive aggression found in Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes, and the overt violence found in assault, battery, and lynching.  These strategies were neither supported nor condemned by law, which made it extremely difficult for African Americans to seek relief from the injustices they were exposed to.   It wasn’t until the Civil Rights movement began in the mid-1950s that African Americans succeeded in gaining not only the support of the legal system, but also the interest of the national and international community.  From bus boycotts to sit-ins, from sermons to civil disobedience, African Americans began to unite for a common cause, and thus empower themselves to create positive and lasting change in America’s social climate.  Giants of the Civil Rights movement included Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Justice Thurgood Marshall, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), Muhammed Ali, and the Little Rock Nine.  These and many other individuals found legal ways of fighting racial injustice and furthering the cause of racial equality in the United States.

Following the Civil Rights era, African Americans began to take advantage of the social and economic opportunities previously unavailable to them, and this trend continues to this day.  The United States now sees African Americans being:

- proactive in furthering education by attending college;

- active as entrepreneurs and business people;

- given positions of power and influence in the entertainment industry;

- elected and appointed to various government positions at the local, state,  and federal levels — including the office    of   President of the United States of  America.

Unfortunately, racism continues to exert its influence on the social conscience of the United States, but progress toward equality has been made and continues to be made.

Featured Personality Talk show host.  Actor.  Producer.  Billionaire.  Philanthropist.  Entrepreneur.  It is likely that if one were asked to name one person who personifies all the listed titles and occupations, the name Oprah Winfrey would come to mind.  Since she burst on the national scene in 1986 as the host of WLS Chicago’s syndicated Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah Winfrey has become one of the most highly regarded and influencial people of the 20th Century, and is considered by many to be the most powerful woman in the entertainment industry.  Winfrey has received many awards and recognitions during her career, including the International Radio and Television Society’s “Broadcaster of the Year” award, one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century”, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, an Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe Award nomination,and numerous Daytime Emmy Awards.  She is a partner of the Oxygen Network, founder and namesake of the Oprah Winfrey Network, publisher of two magazines, the producer of many motion pictures, musicals, and television programs, and the author of five books.  In addition, Winfrey was instrumental in getting a bill passed that set up a national database for convicted child abusers, is a staunch advocate for civil rights women’s and children’s rights in particular, and is regarded as one of the most generous philanthropists in the world, having donated many millions of dollars to various charities and causes (www.achievement.org).

Issue Number 1, Volume II

January 2012

The influence of European cultures on the North American continent — and the world as a whole — is undeniable.  The population of what is now the United States, by Europeans, was accomplished through immigration, and all European ethnic groups can presently be found in the United States.  European emigration to the U.S. can be broken down into two periods:  one of exploration and colonialization between the late 15th to the late 18th centuries, and one of mass immigration between the early 19th and mid-20th centuries during which immigrants escaped poor living conditions in Europe .

Exploration and Establishment (Late 15th – Early 18th Centuries)

Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ landing in 1492 in the present day Bahamas marked the beginning of a period during which explorers from Spain, England, Netherlands, and France voyaged to the New World seeking wealth for themselves and their countries.  During the 16th Century, a host of Spanish explorers, including Ponce de Leon, Cabeza de Vaca, Francisco Coronado, and Hernando de Soto, explored southern and western regions of North America.  They found gold and silver, and are credited with founding St. Augustine (Florida), the first permanent European settlement in North America (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

During the 1600s, England underwent a boom in population and technological advancement. To accommodate her growing population, create new markets for her products, and find a travel route that led to the riches of the Far East, England famously settled Jamestown in what is now Virginia in 1607.  For reasons ranging from economic opportunities to religious freedom, English settlers also established colonies in modern day Massachusetts and Pennsylvania over the next century.  England also took over what is now New York from the Netherlands (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

Dutch explorers from the Netherlands arrived in the New World during the 17th Century, as well.   In search of a passageway to India, they hired English sailor Henry Hudson in 1609 to find a westward route to India (www.nps.gov).  Once they realized the potential riches to be found in North America, the Dutch sought to establish trading posts on the continent, and primarily settled in modern day New York, founding the town of New Netherland and port of New Amsterdam (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).  Peter Stuyvesant is probably the most well-known figure of the New Netherland period.  As director general of the town, he is credited with overtaking a Swedish fur trading colony at Delaware Bay (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk), leading campaigns against local Native American tribes, and creating the laws and regulations that helped establish New Netherland’s and New Amsterdam’s prominence in the mid-17th Century (www.nps.gov).

Beginning with the Jacques Cartier’s exploratory voyage in 1534 and continuing with explorers such as Champlain, Marquette, and Joliet, French people played an important role in North America during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.  The French generally maintained  positive relationships with Native Americans, and established themselves as fur traders and missionaries in regions such as southeastern Canada, the Great Lakes, and the Ohio Valley (www.historyworld.net).

A Better Life (Mid 19th – Early 20th Centuries)

By the mid-1800s, the United States had established itself as a nation that had a lot to offer people from other countries.  The western frontier was expanding, and the Industrial Revolution was in its early stages.  As a result, people from all across Europe left often disadvantaged situations, and flocked to the U.S. for her unclaimed lands, financial opportunities, and promise of prosperity.  Because of advances in agricultural technology and the near doubling of the British population between 1750 and 1800, the number of people who emigrated to the United States from England’s port at Liverpool numbered 200,000 by 1842.  A large number of English immigrants settled in New England and worked in the booming textile industry (spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

An influx of Irish immigrants occurred between 1846 and 1854, largely due to a potato famine that killed nearly 1 million people in Ireland, and thence caused many thousands to come to the United States in search of better living conditions.  By the end of 1854, nearly 2 million Irish people had moved to the United States, settling primarily in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.  Many of them lived as farmers, or found work on railroads and in industrial occupations such as coal mining.  Irish Americans were largely responsible for the formation of labor unions in the U.S. (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

With North America still largely under British rule, Great Britain began to encourage German protestants to settle in America in the early 1700s.  This initial wave of a couple thousand Germans established villages along the bank of the Mohawk River in New York.  Among them was John Peter Zengler, future publisher of the New York Weekly Journal. German people went on to establish themselves in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia — whereas in the latter, many found work mining iron ore.  By the 1860s, over 1 million people had emigrated from Germany, and had settled in cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

In the French and Indian War (1754-1759), French settlers, aided by their Native American allies, fought against British settlers.  France was eventually defeated, but French people continued to be a presence in North America with a claim on the territory of Louisiana, which practically doubled the size of the United States when it was purchased by the U.S. in 1806.  20,000 French people emigrated to the United States following a failed revolution in France in 1848, and were represented well enough in the U.S. to form an entire military company for the Union during the Civil War.  The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) further stimulated French immigration, and between 1820 and 1900, more than 353,000 French people emigrated to America, settling mainly in cities such as New York, Chicago, and New Orleans.  In addition, another 134,000 French-Candadians settled in in New England during the mid- to late 19th Century (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

The first Russians arrived in North America in 1747, working as fur traders in Alaska.  There was no major influx of Russian immigrants until the assassination of Czar Alexander II in 1881, and the subsequent persecution of Russian Jews in their own country.  Research suggests that more than half of these immigrants settled into New York and Pennsylvania, finding work in mines and factories, with some contributing to the fields of science and industry as engineers, biologists, and inventors.  Between 1820 and 1920, over 3.25 million Russian people emigrated to the United States. (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).

With the overcrowded conditions found in Europe in the late 19th Century, approximately 655,000 Italians emigrated to the United States between 1890 and 1900.  Between 1900 and 1910, 2.1 million Italian immigrants arrived in the U.S., mostly finding jobs as unskilled laborers in cities such as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.  Because of the involvement of a very small number of Italian immigrants in illegal mob activity, Italian Americans were unfairly stereotyped as criminals in the early 1900s.  Conversely, many Italian Americans became driving forces in labor unions, politics, and modern sciences (www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk).  Also during the early 20th Century and in contrast to the 19th Century, many immigrants came from Poland and the Balkan region of Europe (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu).

Featured Personality If one were asked to name the smartest person in history, there’s a good chance that the response would be “Albert Einstein”.  Einstein was the very picture of profound intelligence, and his legacy in theoretical physics endures to this day.  Albert Einstein was born in Württenberg, Germany on March 14, 1879 (www.nobelprize.org).  Einstein reportedly was a quiet child who didn’t talk much until he was 3 years old.  He then developed into a rather quiet child who became fascinated by a geometry book at the age of twelve.  He reportedly was an unexceptional student who quit high school while his family lived in Italy, and often skipped lectures while attending the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland.  As a student at at FIT, he did, however, work hard in the laboratory, graduating in 1900 and proceding to work in a patent office.  In 1905, he obtained his doctorate degree, publishing four papers in which he proposed a particle (quantum) theory of light, the existence of atoms, the connection between electromagnetism and ordinary motion, or the principle of relativity, and his famous E=mc² formula that proposed mass and energy as being two parts of the same thing (www.aip.org).  Einstein went on to serve as a professor of theoretical physics at various universities in Europe, but because of the developing anti-Semetic climate developing in Germany, moved to the United States in 1933, serving as Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton University, and becoming a U.S. citizen in 1940.  Einstein earned scores of appointments, honors, distinctions, and awards throughout his life, perhaps the greatest achievement being the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 (www.nobelprize.org).

Issue Number 3, Volume I

December 2011

Winter Solstice The observance of the winter solstice — the day on which daylight hours and solar elevation are at their minimum and night time hours are at their maximum, and commonly referred to as the first day of winter or the shortest day of the year — can trace its roots to European cultures of the Neolithic Age.  The end of the growing season and lengthening periods of darkness presented a challenge for people, for the cold weather required them to rely on stored food and whatever animals they could catch.  The day of the winter solstice represented rebirth and the promise of longer days to come.  North American cultures such as the Pueblo and Hopi tribes celebrated the winter solstice by praying, feasting, and/or stargazing.  There are also a number of atheistic celebrations of the winter solstice in the United States (www.religioustolerance.org).  Winter solstice will fall on December 21st this year.

December Holidays A number of world religions observe holidays that fall in the month of December.  Some are quite old, and others are newer practices based on old traditions.  Here are some of these holidays/observances that can be found in modern day American culture:

• Christmas — Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.  Celebrations often draw upon traditions that can be found in ancient German and Roman cultures.  After going through degrees of recognition varying from being outlawed by Puritans in early 17th Century Boston to the full-on celebration found in the widely recognized Victorian tradition, Christmas was declared a federal holiday in 1870, and is considered not only a religious holiday to many Christians, but a cultural and commercial phenomenon as well (www.history.org).
• Hanukkah — Hanukkah falls on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, and is actually considered one of the lesser Jewish holidays.  However, due to its proximity to Christmas, it has become increasingly popularized in the United States, and even shares similarities with Christmas with its atmosphere of gift-giving, lighted candles, and festivities (www.joi.org).  Hanukkah means “rededication”, and is a commemoration of the historical event in which a group of Jews called the Maccabees recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem from Syrian-Greeks in the 2nd century B.C.E. (www.chabad.org).
• Kwanzaa — As a group, African Americans hold the distinction of being perhaps the only racial group in which the vast majority cannot trace their pre-U.S. ancestral roots to a town or even a country.  With respect to this status, Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of African Studies at California State University, Long Beach.  In the Swahili language, Observed between December 26th and January 1st, Kwanzaa means “first fruits”, a saying the has its origins in first harvest celebrations.  At its core, Kwanzaa focuses on reaffirmation of bonds between people; respect and reverence for creation; honoring ancestors; commitment to applying African concepts and ideals to the present; and celebrating the good that is found in family, community, and life in general.  Like Christmas and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa is characterized by bright lights, gift-giving, and a festive atmosphere (www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org).
• Muharram — Muharram is the first month on the Islamic calendar, and marks the beginning of the Islamic New Year.  It is a time of mourning and peace, and recognizes the life and achievements of Husayn ibn Ali, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammed — Islam’s most important historical figure.  The Day of Ashura is the most sacred day in the month of Muarram, and is a day marked by fasting (Sunni), commemoration (Shi’a), and charity toward the less fortunate (www.timeanddate.com).
• Bodhi Day/Rohatsu — Observed on December 8th or the Sunday immediately preceeding, Bohdi Day is considered the birth day of Buddhism.  Buddhist tradition recalls it as the day in 596 B.C.E. that Buddha achieved enlightenment after sitting under a tree and meditating for eight days (www.religioustolerance.org).

Featured Personality The name Jane Addams is synonymous with community service, determination, and equality, and December 10th is Jane Addams Day in Illinois.  Inspired by a trip to Europe during which she saw first hand the extreme poverty found in parts of London (www.webster.edu), England, in Addams established Hull House in 1889 as a center for education, civic and social awareness, and philanthropic enterprises for underserved women and children of Chicago (www.uic.edu).  Among other distinctions, she was a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the first female winner of the Nobel Peace Prize (aauw-il.org).

Issue No. 2, Volume I

November 2011

Native Americans

The sheer number of Native American cultures is vast and ancient, making it nearly impossible to create a succinct historical account. The most popular scientific theory regarding the origins of Native Americans (also referred to as American Indians) states that bands of big game hunters emigrated to the North American continent from eastern Asia around 10,000 BCE via a land bridge that connected northeastern Asia to what is now known as Alaska. From there, some of the travelers moved south toward the Great Plains, eventually spreading toward the east coast and into the Great Basin, Southwest, and northern Mexico. These people became the ancestors to all of today’s Native Americans (www.cabrillo.edu). Modern day Native Americans trace their more recent ancestral roots to six North American groups: California, Eastern Woodland, Inuit, Northwest Coastal, Plains, and Southwest (librarythinkquest.org), and can further be placed into hundreds of separate and unique tribal cultures. Counter to the land bridge theory, some scientists believe that some early Americans arrived in North America by boat; however, evidence to support this theory is not as plentiful (news.nationalgeographic.com).

Among the many contributions that Native American peoples have made to modern day society are many foods such as corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes, and chocolate; raising turkeys and honeybees for food; cash crops such as cotton and rubber; the consumption of plants rich in vitamin C for wellness; representative government; and helping make gold and fur important parts of the economy (http://www.scholastic.com).

Latin Americans
According to the Ramstein Air Base website (www.ramstein.af.mil), the term “Hispanic” refers to people whose ancestry can be traced to the Iberian peninsula — the location of Spain and Portugal — while the term “Latino” the Spanish-conquered/colonized territories that are now Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Central America, and South America. “Hispanic” is a classification term that was added to the 1970 U.S. census questionnaire, is still used today, and is believed by some to be less descriptive and authentic than “Latino”; consequently, many believe that “Latino” is the better term because it considers the country one’s family comes from. This being said and due to the large diversity found within the Hispanic/Latino groups, it is widely considered that the best to address the heritage of a person who is Hispanic/Latino ancestry by their country of origin, but for purposes of this newsletter, the term “Latino” will be used from time to time.

Latin American history can be traced to the 16th Century with the Spanish claiming of New Mexico in 1540 and the subsequent establishment of the St. Augustine fort in what is now Florida in 1565 (usa.usembassy.de). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, out of a total population of around 308 million citizens, over 50 million are classified as Hispanic or Latino (2010.census.gov). Such data obviously suggests that Latino influence in the U.S. is significant. Notable Latin Americans include U.S. astronaut Ellen Ochoa, United Farm Workers founders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Walter Alverez, Nobel Prize-winning physician Severo Ochoa, journalist Geraldo Rivera, singer Christina Aguilera, former U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor (personal.psu.edu).

Featured Personality
Look to the stars! John Bennett Herrington is a former U.S. Navy officer and former NASA astronaut.  A member of the Chickasaw tribe of Oklahoma (www.nrcprograms.org), Herrington holds the distinction of being the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in space.

During a successful career as a commander in the U.S. Navy, Herrington was selected by NASA in 1996. After completing two years of training and evaluation and serving on the Astronaut Support Personnel team that prepared space shuttles during pre- and post-flight activities, Herrington was a member of the crew that flew the space shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station during a mission in 2002 (www.jsc.nasa.gov).