In May, the Lawrence History Center was awarded a $3,000 grant from the Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund, a fund of the Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF).* We used the grant funds to hold a summer program entitled, “What Is Your History?”
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Led by LHC archivist, Jennifer Williams, the session was enthusiastically and voluntarily attended by 15 high school-aged students from the Greater Lawrence Technical School and YouthBuild Lawrence. The purpose of the program was not only for participants to learn about the history of Lawrence, but also for them to make a personal connection to that history.
The 5 week program included lectures and discussion about the history of the city, including important positive events in Lawrence that affected the entire country, as well as the history of immigration. Images, primary source documents, and oral history quotes from the Lawrence History Center collection supported discussions that centered on all aspects of Lawrence's evolution over the past one-hundred and sixty years. Discrimination, living and working conditions, and the adjustment of immigrants to the city were all thoroughly explored.
Tours of the Essex Company Complex, including objects in our main archive building and the blacksmith and the carpenter’s shops, spurred impromptu discussions of how objects tell important and intimate stories -- stories that can be very powerful when telling personal, family, and community history. The students also read the article about Lawrence entitled, City of Damned, that appeared in March of 2012 in Boston Magazine, and were engaged through video in the response of people in city who felt the story was an unprompted slam against the city they live in. One such video was created by Roberto Germán called, City of Promise:
The students were very affected by the article and the reaction to it by their community. They expressed a desire to change the image of the city and discussed their pride about the good things that are taking place here. A dialogue also ensued about how to combat the racism and negativity in media reports.
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Through this program students gained valuable knowledge about themselves, their families, their culture, and the city in which they live. For their culminating project, using LHC materials found in subject boxes, photographs, newspaper articles, and oral histories, students created posters that creatively expressed their interpretations and feelings regarding this knowledge. None of the students had ever worked with primary resources before, but they delved enthusiastically into the project. The students interviewed family and friends that they felt would help them to understand their history and its connection to the city and took pictures of important people, places, and objects in their lives. Many were surprised at the stories their parents told of the hardship involved with coming to the United States, but also by the help they received from other immigrants once they came to Lawrence.
On Saturday, August 17th, the participants presented their posters in front of family, friends, teachers, and Lawrence History Center staff in the Essex Company stable. They discussed what their posters meant to them as well as what they learned during the program. The subjects varied widely, from the history of dance to how the Hispanic community has slowly been accepted in the city. Posters included photographs they had taken and copies of Lawrence History Center materials. The creative process left students extremely proud of their posters and the fact that they were able to tell important personal stories through them. The depth of the knowledge they gained during the program was evident, as was their pride in their city and culture.
The program was a great success for everyone involved, and we are gratified by the appreciation and enthusiasm for what they had learned shown by the students. Their posters will be on display at the Lawrence History Center for the next month. We encourage everyone to come and see the results of the hard work the participants put into this program.
Thank you Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund! We look forward to holding similar programs in the future.
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* The Betty Beland Greater Lawrence Summer Fund (BBGLSF) was started in 1990 by Betty Beland, Administrator of the Stevens Foundations in North Andover. In January of 2001, ECCF was asked and agreed to take over the fund. The goal for the fund is to raise as much money as possible to serve as many local kids during the school summer vacation months as possible. Lawrence is a chronically poor city with one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. These conditions put kids at risk of turning to negative behaviors. It is vital to keep our youth engaged, learning, inspired and off street corners.
About ECCF: The mission of the Essex County Community Foundation is to promote local philanthropy to strengthen the nonprofit organizations of Essex County, MA. ECCF is a catalyst for philanthropy, manager of charitable funds for both donors and nonprofits, a grant maker, teacher and advisor to nonprofits and their boards and a bridge between donors and organizations matching those who want to give with those in need. Learn more at www.eccf.org