Scope and Content
The Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project Collection (also called the Ethnic Schools Project) represents 22 ethnic groups: Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, Czechoslovakian, Dutch, Ethiopian, German-Russian, two different Greek communities, Hebrew, Hungarian, Hupa Indian, Islamic, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lebanese, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Urban Caribbean/Hispanic.
The collection consists of field notes, interviews, curriculum materials, sound recordings, photographs, and one videorecording resulting from a survey conducted by the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress in 1982 which documented 23 ethnic schools in the United States. Fieldwork was conducted at various locations including: Armenian school in Watertown, Massachusetts; Cambodian school in Houston, Texas; Chinese school in San Antonio, Texas; Czech school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dutch school in Pella, Iowa; German-Russian school in Strasburg, North Dakota; Greek school in Birmingham, Alabama; Greek school in Buffalo, New York; Hebrew school in Nashville, Tennessee; Hungarian school in New Brunswick, New Jersey; Hupa language school in Hoopa Valley, California; Islamic school in Seattle, Washington; Japanese school in Los Angeles, California; Korean school in Silver Spring, Maryland; Latvian school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Lebanese school in Birmingham, Alabama; Polish school in Chicago, Illinois; Portuguese school in Taunton, Massachusetts; Turkish school in New York, N.Y.; Ukrainian school in Woonsocket, Rhode Island; and the East Harlem Music School in New York, N.Y.
Approximately 200 individuals were interviewed. On the average a fieldworker interviewed nine informants, though four groups do not list the number of their informants. The interviews were to focus on the school's history, financing, administrative concerns, curriculum, teachers, parents, and children.
Fieldworkers took photographs and slides of the schools and collected curriculum materials. While the bulk of this material was made up of textbooks, other items were included, such as: flash cards, calendars, workbooks, mimeographed sheets from homemade notebooks, and an 80-slide carousel with accompanying tape cassette. Miscellaneous photos were also donated by five schools ranging from a few class photos to a 3-ring notebook full of black and white as well as color photos from the Hungarian school.