Detail, Ben Shahn, Bookshop: Hebrew Books, Holy Day Books © Estate of Ben Shahn/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY Click the image for more information.

Description:

Students stage a talk show and role-play guests who immigrated to American and migrated to the urban North.

Grade level: 8th grade

Activity:

A talk show was presented at the end of a unit on immigration and migration in the United States see Preparation and Resources. It lasted an entire 50-minute class period. Students role-played immigrants from each period of U.S. immigration, and portrayed family members who have migrated from one region of the U.S. to another, and one student portrayed the host who interviewed these guests.

The talk show format is based on the Late Night Show with David Letterman and the Jay Leno television programs. The host began with a monologue and then the guests appeared one or two at a time and answered questions from the host. There were two commercial breaks during the talk show which were historical in theme and tied in to a couple of the topics that were featured in the talk show.

Talk Show Sequence outline of steps:

Talk show host interviews guests about the Great Migration (click the image for a larger version).

1. Introduction by the host including the title of the show. He welcomed the audience and gave a brief summary of the show.

2. Host's monologue. The host remarked about the current national composition of the United States and how immigration over the past two centuries has affected it. Also, he pointed to the flag collage as a symbol of the diversity in our local communities. He concluded by mentioning that the
   The Face of My Community Flag Collage project
   will be featured in a later part of the show.

3. First Guest, represented the first wave of mass immigration, 1840-1890. The first guest is German and as part of her conversation she related some of the reasons why immigrants came to the United States in this time period. In addition, the guest told what it was like to arrive and be processed at Castle Garden Immigration Receiving Center, New York.

4. Second Guest, represented the second wave of mass immigration, 1890-1930. The second guest came from Italy, in southern Europe. She came to the United States as a result of her husband coming first, securing a job and residence, and then sending for her. She told of her journey to the U.S. and how she felt upon seeing the Statue of Liberty.

   Immigration Specialists commercial for talk show (click the image for a larger version).

5. Commercial. Three students played early residents who worked with new arrivals. "Bennett, Brown, and Murff" were based on immigration specialists in Castle Garden Center in New York. They provided escort service from the boat docks to the Center, legal advice, and assisted with jobs and housing. They had ties to New York City political bosses, and sometimes took advantage of their clients.

6. Third Guest. This guest represented the third wave of mass immigration. (1930-1960). She escaped a brutal Communist government in Hungary and was a witness to the severe Russian crackdown of the Hungarian revolt in 1956.

7. Fourth Guest. This guest represented the fourth wave of mass immigration. (1960-2000). The Immigration Law of 1965 made it easier to come to the United States from her native country of India. She had computer and other technology skills. She considered herself to belong to the middle class and lived in a nice suburban neighborhood.

8. Commercial #2. Immigration officials from Ellis Island displayed a drawing of the new immigration facility, which opened in 1892, and described some of its features.

9. Fifth and Sixth Guests. These guests represented the Great Migration of World War I and the Depression (1914-1940), and World War II and post war Eras (1941-1960). These guests explained what led African Americans to migrate to the industrial North. Finally, both guests used the flag mosaic to illustrate the influence of the Great Migration and other immigration on the shaping of their communities.

10. Host's closing remarks. His remarks summarized the statements made by the guests. In addition, he reinforced the positive aspects of a diverse community symbolized by the flag collage backdrop. He remarked that the richness and diversity of the people and their traditions are the result of the movement of people and ideas that resulted from the Great Migration and immigration from overseas throughout American history.