Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association
presents a free teacher workshop on:
Eastern European Immigration to the Connecticut River Valley
Free Afternoon Workshop for Teachers Addresses Mass. Frameworks
Earn 3 PDPs
Free Teacher Materials
Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 1:00-3:30 pm (snow date 2/29/24)
The Polish Center of Discovery and Learning, 33 South St., Chicopee, MA
**** Refreshments will be served! ****
The face of the Connecticut River Valley drastically changed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with a wave of immigrants. Most of these ‘strangers’ came from Eastern Europe. We will explore what drove them to emigrate, what drew them here, and discuss ways to help students understand the immigrant experience. Grades K-12.
Participants will tour the Polish Center, attend a talk by local historian and retired teacher Stephen R. Jendrysik, and break into small groups withDeerfield Teachers’ Center staff to create ideas for lessons using PVMA’s American Centuries websitehttp://www.americancenturies.mass.edu/
For more information, please contact Helena Alves by Tues., Feb.13 at The Deerfield Teachers’ Center, 413-774-7476, ext. 280 or teacherscenter@deerfieldmuseum.org
This event is part of PVMA’s project, “New Roots in River Banks: Contributions of Polish and Other Eastern European Immigrants to the Connecticut River Valley.” It is sponsored in part by a grant from Mass Humanities’ “Expand Massachusetts Stories” for projects that collect, interpret and/or share narratives about the Commonwealth, with an emphasis on the voices and experiences that have gone unrecognized, or have been excluded from public conversation.
Image Credits: Top- Immigrants at Ellis Island, nypl.getarchive.net; Map – Courtesy of Family Search Library; Center- Postcard of rural Poland, c. 1917; Center Bottom – Workers at the Russell Cutlery, Turners Falls, c. 1890; PVMA collection.
To support the teaching of American History, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association’s Deerfield Teachers’ Center offers a rich and varied professional development program for K-12 teachers; Traveling History Kits for loan; field trips; and in-school History Labs. For information about the Deerfield Teachers’ Center offerings, click here.
For information about school programs and group tours, click here.
The programs at the Deerfield Teachers’ Center use award winning websites developed by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, with online educational materials created in collaboration with classroom teachers—making our collection and educational resources accessible to educators nation-wide.
