What’s the story in Pennsylvania?
Let’s get started. My ancestors immigrated from Ireland, Alsace, and Germany, arriving in Philadelphia before making their way to more rural parts of the state.
My mother’s family followed jobs in paper mills and tanneries to the highlands of Elk County, where they ate barbecued ham sandwiches and venison Christmas sausages year-round.
My father’s family arrived in the lush river valleys of Lycoming County from York, carrying on the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of pork and sauerkraut, fist-sized dumplings, and shoo-fly pie to bring good luck into the new year.
In Harrisburg, state Rep. Jared Solomon (D-Philadelphia) introduced a bill that would require state-led social studies curriculum to be created and shared around students’ Pennsylvania stories. He presented and explained the bill’s intent in a phone call with PA Local.
“I think this is a true Pennsylvania immigrant story,” he began. “My great-grandparents fled religious persecution when they fled a pogrom in Ukraine, settled in Northeast Philadelphia, started a business, and raised a family…and a Jewish family from Ukraine. It was considered to be very diverse.
“Pennsylvania has become so much more diverse, and I think they will be shocked and pleased to see that,” he added. Mr. Solomon says his district (the same part of Philadelphia where his great-grandparents settled) is the most diverse in the state Legislature, with large numbers of residents from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Brazil.
Solomon said the bill, which was recently reintroduced to the state House Appropriations Committee, is timed to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, with Pennsylvania and Philadelphia playing leading roles. He said it would happen. (The Legislature has only five days left in its scheduled session.) But the policy, which puts immigration issues so front and center, has also surfaced during the election cycle.
The Penn State Data Center at Penn State Harrisburg notes that the “diversity index” (the probability that two selected individuals are of different races or ethnicities) varies widely across counties. Philadelphia County, the highest, has a rate of about 70.5%, while Bedford County, the lowest, has a rate of 8.9%. Diversity increased in every county between 2010 and 2020, with Pennsylvania’s overall diversity index increasing from 35.3% to 44.0% during this period, the center said. The largest increases were seen in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Cumberland counties.
Solomon’s bill, co-sponsored by Cumberland County Republican state Rep. Barbara Graeme, would task the state Department of Education to develop guidelines for the “What’s Your Pennsylvania Story?” It has become. school curriculum.
Grime did not respond to PA Local’s request for a story about Pennsylvania, but sent the following statement: “In commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, we should consider teaching guidelines in social studies to tell the story of how our republic was formed and how our country was formed.” ” The journey of our ancestors to the present day has influenced our national culture. ”
According to Pennsbury Manor, William Penn’s colony, Pennsylvania was the most diverse colony in British North America before the outbreak of the American Revolution, and in addition to its British population, it had Lenape Indians, Dutch This included people, Swedish settlers, other Europeans, and enslaved Africans. . Penn’s “sacred experiment” in religious tolerance also attracted Mennonites and Amish fleeing European persecution and division starting in the late 1600s.
By the 1800s, Philadelphia was the fourth largest immigrant port in the United States. Frederick M. Miller writes in his essay titled “Philadelphia: A City of Immigrants”: “In the eight years from 1847 to 1854, more than 120,000 immigrants arrived in Philadelphia…In 1853 alone, that total (19,211) exceeded the total in 2018.”Decade of the 1820s forever.”
The nonprofit American Immigration Council is an organization whose purpose is to explain to the public “how our immigration system works and the positive role that immigrants can play in society.” Many would not have been eligible under today’s immigration laws,” he said, adding: “Until the late 19th century… there were virtually no laws to break.”
Graeme and Solomon’s bill would have students investigate how their families got here and how those journeys have since shaped the Commonwealth’s food culture, economy, and faith communities. I will follow it.
Solomon is eager to embrace multiculturalism and envisions student stories as a springboard for further research. “For example, ‘What is Brazilian music?’ Food? Who are the authors you would like to research in class?”
“I don’t know if the district will really operate like this,” he said, imagining field trips “from Elk County to Chester County,” “Philadelphia to Monroe County,” and Zoom sessions for students between area codes. I hope,” he added.
Although the text of the bill makes no mention of Pennsylvania’s original Indian tribe, the Lenape, Solomon said the goal is to focus on all possible demographics.
The bill is scheduled to be repealed at the end of the 2026-2027 school year. Solomon acknowledges there have been few slam dunks in Harrisburg lately, but he expects help.
“The best thing about Pennsylvania is the people,” he said.
90.5 WESA is partnered with Spotlight PA, a reader-funded, collaborative newsroom that produces responsible journalism across Pennsylvania. For more information, visit spotlightpa.org.
