When Glenn Geisheimer, Webmaster,
posted the 400th Old Newark memory on October 9, 2003, 73 of them were mine.
I had, in effect, been a partner with Glenn in helping the growth of the website
since its inception in May 1998.
What we -- the many contributors
to the Old Newark website -- had tried to do was to re-create Newark life as it
once was, drawing mainly from our own life experiences and other Newark
happenings during our lifetime that we found meaningful.
Recently, I was made aware of an
accomplishment of the Old Newark website that neither Glenn nor I had earlier
anticipated.
Old Newark as US History Project
The Old Newark website had served
as a classroom project in US History, as well ... not in Newark ... net even in
New Jersey ... but in San Diego, California.
It seems that an accomplished
teacher of United States History (Dina Naiman) for high school juniors at
Patrick Henry High School in San Diego was familiar with the Old Newark website
from past visits to my entries on that site.
In the spring of 2003, when she
was giving out US History assignments that her 16 & 17 year old students could
do outside the classroom for extra credit, she included, as one option, the list
of my Old Newark memories.
She told her students who selected
an Old Newark website option that they could examine all the entries and turn in
a handwritten report on any one "Memory" that they found of personal interest
from among the then more than 50 Old Newark memories that I had posted.
She told her class that any
student who chose one of my Newark memories was to handwrite a report that
reflected their opinions, observations, and reactions to the Memory, and to turn
it in as a letter addressed to the Memory's author.
Four Chose Newark Topics
Many of her students chose easier
assignments, but four selected and reported on entries from the Old Newark
website for their extra-credit reports.
The US History teacher kept those
four letters from her students on the Old Newark memories, written in May 2003.
In the first week of 2004, after she had retired, she mailed them to me as
promised earlier.
Which of my 50+ memories intrigued
these 16 & 17 year old US History students?
Here are the four topics that they
chose:
- Montgomery Street (old Third Ward) in the 1920s
- Burlesque at the Empire Theatre
- Looking Back at Newark During Prohibition Era
- Third Ward's Most Newsworthy Event: A Crime-Boss Funeral
Selected Excerpts from Student Letters
Montgomery Street
"I enjoyed the way you described your surroundings from a child's point of
view...I learned that things were a lot cheaper, people seemed a little more
united in your neighborhood...also that in the 1920s schools contained black and
white students but the neighborhoods didn't. Your recollection helped me
to connect with my own life because it reminded me of the hardships I was once
surrounded by as a child."
Letter ->
Page 1,
Page 2 -- Dominece
Taylor
Burlesque at the Empire Theatre
"I learned a lot of different
things about the first half of the 20th century...I found the way you described
the women interesting. They seemed beautiful and desirable even though
they were "shapely" and not the skinny, boney, and fake girls that are popular
today...The mother's excitement caught me off guard. I guess back in
(that) day I thought people would be more ashamed of their daughters if they
were that kind of dancer in that kind of show...It seems that going to the
Burlesque is as degrading as the women go to a strip club now.
"Thank you for writing all of your
memories down. I would of talked to my grandmother (Born 1899 Died 2001)
about all of her memories. Without memories there's no history..."
Letter
-- Angela Pastor
Newark During Prohibition
"I chose this one because it was
mentioned in a chapter in my history book...In this essay, I learned that the
government passed the 18th amendment, an era called "Prohibition" which made the
selling of alcohol a violation of federal law. People believed alcoholism
was one of the main reasons that led to domestic abuse and was also a sin.
The government tried to solve the problem but instead they caused a major
problem in Newark and made Newark the bootleg capital of the United
States...What interested me most was how the government didn't work hard enough
to enforce the laws and the incorporation of the police who got money from the
bootleggers...The law was made to help people solve problems but it didn't and
instead it caused more trouble and problem. The government didn't realize
it until thirteen years later when they repealed the law.
Letter ->
Page 1, Page 2,
Page 3 -- Lan T. Tran
Newark Crime-Boss Funeral (Zwillman)
"I chose "Crime Boss Funeral"
because I like stories about mobsters and gangsters ... I found this essay full
of a lot of interesting things, for example he committed suicide the day before
his own funeral ... Was his funeral planned already because not a lot of people
can plan a funeral in one day. I also found it interesting that the coffin
was bronze. Was that of some significance or was that his favorite metal?
... This essay added to my understanding that gangsters can kill and turn around
and give food to the needy and baskets on Jewish holidays. I always
thought mobsters were ruthless let alone giving food out and stuff like that."
Letter ->
Page 1,
Page 2 -- Steven
Regalado
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