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About The united American : a magazine of good citizenchip. (Portland, Or.) 1923-1927 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1923)
APRIL, 1923 o THE WESTERN AMERICAN The Western American’s Americanization Forum Is Open to Brief Discussion of Americanization, Citizenship, Naturalization, Problems of the Foreign Born in America, and All Personal Narratives and Experiences of Life and Progress in the New World, Which May Prove Helpful to Others Who Have Lacked the Courage to Take up the Fight for Their Own Advancement and Success TN OPENING The Western Amer- guage is different than the lan enough to “get along.” The Norwegian 1 ican Americanization Forum we guage of America, can fully under language was used a great deal even by the young people, with the result that find so many interesting thoughts stand and deal intimately with many of the latter, most of whom are and forms of expression before us these people and their many prob native-born, speak English with as much that we cannot place it all in the lems which is so essential in order of an accent as many who have reached space alloted for this issue. We to properly aid them in their mature years in a foreign country. This fact can not, however, be attributed to therefore believe that we will serve Americanization. any desire to resist the Americanization the forum best by taking up the Foreign born with an ambitious process. It is simply the result of lack matter having the greatest bearing turn of mind should especially find of opportunity for training in correct upon the Americanization subject interest in reading the following speech. As a reaction against these con from the standpoint of helpfulness story of Miss Anderson’s life, not ditions, many of this younger genera tion, conscious of their own handicap, to the foreign born. Along this line the individual narratives of progress made by the foreign born in America necessar ily take first place because of the possible help and aid they may give those who are discouraged over the handicaps and impediments that they have encountered in advanc ing toward the goal of their ambi tion—intelligent citizenship, a place of equality in educational require ments and a station in life, equal I with the average native born American. Among the contributions to our Forum on hand we have one from Miss Anna Helena Anderson who at the present time conducts a I Women’s Home School of English I in the City of Minneapolis. Her I contribution is in two parts. The I first contains the story of her own I life since she came as a child from I Sweden. It is told in a simple f ash- I ion, yet pointing the way to the ■ possible achievement in America Ifor which altogether too few for- I eign people with excellent talents ■ try for. The second contains a re- I view of her experience in the I Americanization work, such as only lone of the people to whom America ■seem so far away and so difficult Ito grasp can tell the story and re- I view the subject. I Native born Americans, or those ■who have never had the experience I of living among people of foreign Ibirth in this country trying vainly Ito retain and establish the old ■country communit’' ^ntact in ■America, may grasp the spirit of |he Americanization movement, but in its application to the for eign born, it is safe to say that only Americans of foreign birth, and of people whose native lan ing particularly some of her obser vations of the handicaps furnished by the foreign language colony and group centers where the foreign born live the foreign country life and customs in continuation, care fully excluding all that which is of the country in which they have made their homes: WAS born in Sweden. At the age of six years, I came to America, my family settling in a small town in south western Minnesota. Although we were in the midst of a Norwegian settlement, with other foreign groups, Danes, Swedes and Germans, around us, our Americanization must have been both rapid and “painless” since I have no recollection of a time when I did not speak English readily, nor did a single incident of the process of acquqiring the new language and customs leave an un pleasant impression upon my mind. As I remember the early period of my life in America, the members of my own family and all our associates took it for granted that the proper thing to do was to adapt themselves to the new environ ment as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. The fact that some of the business men in our little village were Americans no doubt was helpful. The older people of the community spoke English imperfectly or not at all. My own mother has never learned to speak the language, my father spoke it well I hMIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIillllllllllllllllllllllllHIIIl | East Side Mill & Lumber Co. Douglas Fir Cross Arms; Framed Mining Timber; Sash and Doors and General Mill Work Manufacturers of DOUGLAS FIR LUMBER Phone Sellwood 0597 OFFICES AND MILL FOOT OF SPOKANE AV. Portland, Ore. inllllllllllllllllllllllllllllmllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllmllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllltlllll? The Store That Undersells Because It Sells for Cash | All Mail Orders Promptly and Carefully Filled Agents for the Butterick Patterns and Publications niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih- Place Your Orders With The Western American Advertisers—and Tell Them Why