Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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EEEE EPEEEEE E THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF EUROPEAN NATIONS TO AMERICA Before the World War, immigrants to the United States averaged nearly a mil- lion a year. As long ago as 1842 the number reached the 100,000 mark. Following the Civil War, in 1866, the 300,000 mark was reached, and from 1881 to 1905 the annual average was well over 500,000. No nation except the United States has thrown its gates open so wide to welcome into citizenship the peoples of other lands. Immigrants have come to what seemed to many of them a land of promise, bringing their varied customs, traditions, social at- titudes, and racial characteristics, as well as their hopes, ambitions, arts and skills. To unite these different immigrant elements into a harmonious whole has been the greatest problem of the United States for many years. Upon one occasion when President Coolidge spoke to the American Legion he made this significant statement regarding the problem of assimilation: Whether one traces his Americanism back three centuries to the lllayflower or three years to the steerage is not half so import- ant as whether his Americanism of today is real and genuine. No matter on what various crafts we came here, we are all now in the same boat. A like spirit was voiced by President Woodrow Wilson: Some of the best stuff in America has come out of foreign lands, and some of the best stuff in America is in the men who are naturalized citizens of the United States. Those of us who are of Anglo-Saxon descent have reason to be proud of the achievements of our ancestors, yet in the develpoment of our city, of our state, and of our nation, foreign-born citizens have won places of importance and of distinction. From Scotland came Andrew Carnegie, the steel magnate, who gave away-mainly for for educational purposes-over S350,000,0U0, his gifts including 1760 free library buildings. Samuel Gompers, an Englishman by birth, was president of the American Federation of Labor for many years. One of Jugoslavia's gifts to America was lvlichael Pupin, the scientist who invented the tuning-in mechanism which controls every radio. From Denmark came Jacob Riis, a pioneer in social work. Hungary contri- buted ,Ioseph Pulitzer, the New York publisher who did so much for his adopted country. Dr. Alexis Carrel, a surgeon of French birth, and a member of the staff of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York City, won the disa- tinguished Nobel prize for his significant advances in blood-vessel surgery. As a result of his work the lives of innumerable soldiers were saved during the World War. In the building of the Panama Canal, George Goethals did engineering work that ranks among the greatest human achievements. Although a Dutchman, he was named after George Washington because his parents had believed in the things which George Washington advocated and for which he struggled. Edward Bok, another Dutchman, was a noted publisher and philanthropist. Our telephone and telegraphic communications were advanced through the work of E. F. W. Alexanderson, the electrical engineer from Sweden. David Lubin, a llll

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EEEE EEEEE E E man descent. English, Welsh, and Irish are also well represented. While these na- tionalities have the highest percentage, almost every European country is represented by at least one student. In the Orchestra, the German element is overshadowed by the English-the German being twenty-one per cent, the English, twenty-four per cent. The remaining members, as in the Band, are found among various nationalities. A study of the athletic clubs for the past four years shows that in the groups making up the players for the school, outstanding athletes have been Austrian, Slo- vene, and Hungarian. Although the greater percentage of the pupils in the high school is American by generations of descent, those pupils nearer to European ancestry enjoy, through tra- ditions and customs which come to them from their parents, a valuable background of European civilization which. should not be lost. But all these boys and girls even- tually become American. Their training in American schools and American life de- velops the spirit of America and the love of America. The spirit which they share with the students whose ancestors have been in this country for generations, has de- veloped mutual interest, understanding, and appreciation. As a result, an all Ame- rican feeling leads to better appreciation, of the contributions of European nations to American civilization, and a deeper appreciation of American citizenship. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POPULATION IN JOHNSTOWN, ACCORDING TO THE 1930 CENSUS Foreign-Born Nalifvf Ilfhiias Foreign-Born 1Valiw' ll'hi1'1f.v lVhite: By of Foreign or lI hi11'5 By of Foreign or Counlry of Birlh Mixed Paren- Country of Birlh Mixed Paren- fage, hy Coun- Iayr, hy Conn-- lry of Birth fry of Birth of Parents of Parents England ,....... 527 1315 Hungary ..,,,,,.i.,. 485 851 Scotland ...,....,,,,......... 118 300 Yugoslavia ...,.. 868 H50 Wales ,.........,..., ,.,.,,.. 2 14 622 Russia ........,.... 259 428 Northern Ireland 64 350 Lithuania .,....,, 32 29 Irish Free State... 106 846 Latvia ,............ 11 15 Norway .,,,,..,........,,,.. 6 13 Finland ,....,.... ll 7 Sweden .,,i,,,,,,...ii,.,,,. 30 77 Rumania .,..... 13 17 Denmark ,.,.i,....,,...... 18 24 Greece ....,... 109 91 Netherlands ......... 3 9 Italy .................. ...... 1 465 23-1-1 Belgium .,,,.,.......... 3 5 Spain ............... ...... 91 21 Switzerland . ,,,,.., 17 55 Palestine Sz Syria 103 239 France ,,,,,,,,,,,,,.,,,,, 16 108 Turkey ..,,...,.....,....... 4 ,,,,,.,i,. , Germany ........ 759 3458 Canada ........,............ 32 89 Poland .,,...,,.....,,.,.. 1105 2296 All other ,.,,... 55 123 Czechoslovakia 2245 4290 -- ---- Austria ......,.......,.,.... 709 1591 Total ,.,............,...,.... 9,478 21,060 Per cent native white ....,.....,...,,,...... .,,,.,.....,,,.,,,, ..,..,.,,, 8 3 .2 Per cent foreign-born white .....,... ,,.,....,, 1 4.1 Per cent negro ......,.,............................. .......... 2 .2 1101

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EEEE EEEEEEE E Pole by birth, was active in establishing our parcel post system. Among statesmen, stands the reformer, Carl Schurz. A native of Germany, he won citizenship and nation wide recognition as a leader within seven years after he came to the United States, and through his long, active and influential life fought for the highest ideals of American life. In art, among great sculptors who have given America their best Work are an Irishman, Augustus Saint Gaudens, a Canadian, Phimister Proctor, a German, Lee Lawrie, and an Austrian, Earl Bitter. Among Well-known painters of foreign birth, may be mentioned Thomas lVIoran, from England, Albert Bierstadt from Germany, and Jonas Lie from Norway. The graphic arts, including etcnings, prints, engravings, and typography are represented by such men as Timothy Cole from England, Rudolph Ruzicka from Czechoslovakia, and Gustave Bauman from Germany. Master craftsmen in wood, metal, glass, porcelain, textiles, laces, and needle- work Who came from other countries include such famous men as Duncan Phyfe, a Scotchman, I. Kirchmayer, an Austrian, and Adam Dabrowski, a Pole. The list of musicians includes many great singers and instrumentalists from all parts of the world. Most loved of these is the remarkable woman, lVIadame Schuman Heink, Austrian by birth, whose unswerving loyalty, as well as her matchless voice, has made her the idol of the American people. The French critic, Henry Prunieres, after evaluating the great orchestras of Europe, declared the American symphonies to be finer than any of those of Europe. The American orchestras can be the finest, he argued, because the brasses from Germany, the strings from Italy, Austria, Hun- gary, Poland and Russia, the Woodwinds from Italy and France, are all brought here to be added to instrumentalists trained in America. The contributions of the immigrant to the material life of our nation can scarce- ly be measured in terms of money or gain, the cultural contributions are not suscep- tible of measurement. If these cultural contributions could be evaluated even ap- proximately, such evaluation would make for better understanding, not only between our native and foreign-born citizens, but for better understanding in building up friendly feelings for the homelands of Europe from which millions of our citizens have come. Perhaps no one has expressed more sincerely or more beautifully the idea of the contributions of people coming into our country, than did Franklin K. Lane, himself a naturalized citizen of Canadian birth. The passage occurs in a speech made when he was Secretary of the Interior in President Wilson's cabinet: f'America is a land of but one people, gathered from many countries. Some came for love of money and some for love of freedom. Whatever the lure that brought us, each has his gift. Irish lad, and Scot, Englishman and Dutch, Italian, Greek, and French, Span- iard, Slav, Teuton, Norse, Negro-All have come bearing gifts and have laid them on the Altar of America. l12l