Memories of Migration Episode Four: School

Queens Public Library Podcasts

In this fourth episode, we’ve gathered memories from school. While deciding on themes for each episode, we remembered the many stories in our archives of navigating public and private schools in Queens. We began to reflect on the political, economic, religious, and social forces that shape what and how we learn. We thought about classrooms and textbooks, student activities, school funding, and the government’s role in education. We recall the long history of U.S. legislation tying together schooling and migration. This includes the now-repealed Naturalization Act of 1906 mandating English language proficiency for naturalized citizenship, the Immigration Act of 1990 shifting preference to formally credentialed visa applicants, and, more recently, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, or DACA, requiring formal education for eligibility. With the collections of personal histories in this episode, we consider how the movement of people impacts how we learn. Learn more about Queens Memory at http://queensmemory.org.