ASSIGNMENTS - FILM 3
ASSIGNMENTS - FILM 3
Film 3: The destination of dreams
“… We are reaching America tomorrow. We could not sleep. We were up several times during the night to see the shining lights from the big city that appeared like flashing stars on the horizon. When the sun rose, someone shouted suddenly—I can see land.”
– Letter from Christine Sørensen-Jensen.
Between 1850 and 1920, 350,000 Danes experienced what Christine describes in the letter, seeing America appear on the horizon for the first time from the ship. The long and tough journey had finally reached its destination. But now new challenges began. First, you had to be allowed to enter the country. Then you had to find a place to settle where you could start working to reach your dreams.
Assignments - film 3
These assignments are about the challenges the immigrants encountered when they landed in America. What did it require to enter the country? Who was sent back and why? And what did they do when they had finally been let into the country?
These assignments are about the challenges the immigrants encountered when they landed in America. What did it require to enter the country? Who was sent back and why? And what did they do when they had finally been let into the country?
Assignment 1: Land in Sight
Christine Sorensen-Jensen arrived with her father in New York on a beautiful summer morning in 1882. It was overwhelming to see the big metropolis from New York harbor, which is crowded with people and ships.
For the many Danes who landed here, it was a bit of a culture shock. Many had never been outside their own little village and now they stood in one of the world’s largest and most modern cities. The first impressions must have been overwhelming.
1. Watch this video with footage from New York in around 1910:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxWvTCI154E
2. Pretend you’re a newly arrived immigrant. Design and make postcard that you will send to your family back in Denmark. Find inspiration by searching for “postcard New York 1900.” Write to your family and describe your first impression of the city. Search for "stamps USA 1900" to find a historically accurate stamp for your postcard.
3. Discuss the postcard as a historical source. What can they tell us about people and history? Why were they used?
4. 4. Watch this video of a modern cruise ship entering New York City: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y6qwPB9WNU
5. Imagine you are on board and have left your life and your family in Denmark forever. Write down 10 words describing your feelings as you sail into the city.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxWvTCI154E
2. Pretend you’re a newly arrived immigrant. Design and make postcard that you will send to your family back in Denmark. Find inspiration by searching for “postcard New York 1900.” Write to your family and describe your first impression of the city. Search for "stamps USA 1900" to find a historically accurate stamp for your postcard.
3. Discuss the postcard as a historical source. What can they tell us about people and history? Why were they used?
4. 4. Watch this video of a modern cruise ship entering New York City: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y6qwPB9WNU
5. Imagine you are on board and have left your life and your family in Denmark forever. Write down 10 words describing your feelings as you sail into the city.
Copyright
A street in New York around 1900.
A street in New York around 1900.
Assignment 2: Quarantine
Before the hopeful Danish immigrants could set foot on American soil, their fate began to be controlled by outside forces even as the ship sailed towards New York. Passengers with typhoid, yellow fever, measles, cholera or other diseases were sent into quarantine on Hoffmann Island.
1. Research each of the four abovementioned diseases. What are the symptoms of each? Do the diseases still exist today, and if so, where in the world can they be found?
2. Based on what you found, discuss which diseases you think passengers were most at risk of catching on the ocean voyage? Explain your answers.
3. Find Hoffmann Island on Google Maps. What does it look like on the island today? Is it possible to see New York City from there?
4. Imagine that you are a journalist in 1856 allowed to visit Hoffman Island. Record a radio interview with a young immigrant on the island suffering from cholera and waiting to be sent back to Denmark. What would you ask him/her? How would he/she respond to your questions?
2. Based on what you found, discuss which diseases you think passengers were most at risk of catching on the ocean voyage? Explain your answers.
3. Find Hoffmann Island on Google Maps. What does it look like on the island today? Is it possible to see New York City from there?
4. Imagine that you are a journalist in 1856 allowed to visit Hoffman Island. Record a radio interview with a young immigrant on the island suffering from cholera and waiting to be sent back to Denmark. What would you ask him/her? How would he/she respond to your questions?
