– some are new customers, many are regulars, and still others have been coming to the shop for twice the number of years I’ve been alive. The conversations take place over or in front of the counter, in the course of slicing lox, filleting a herring, sharing a piece of babka, or talking on the phone. Frequently the stories revolve around family histories and immigrant journeys; It is not uncommon for a tear to be shed in the shop. As the immigrant experience is central to the existence of Russ & Daughters, I enjoy listening to these stories as much as I do sharing our own.
Ellis Island
My great-grandfather, Joel Russ, arrived in New York in 1908. A poor, uneducated Eastern European adolescent, he had no other family in the new country except for a sister who had preceded him. Joel first set to work by selling strings of dried Polish mushrooms that he would hang over his shoulders. Every day he would walk from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge to sell his wares. (Look in the windows of Russ & Daughters today, and you will still find these strings of Polish mushrooms. They are not only a delicacy similar to truffles, and the most important ingredient for mushroom barley soup, but they are a reminder of our roots.) From his feet, Joel graduated to a herring barrel and then to a pushcart on Orchard Street. Six years later, in 1914, Joel Russ opened up a tiny store. The original name was slightly different and it was around the corner from where we are now, but it was from this start that a 100-year-old legacy unfolded, a business that has supported four generations of the Russ family in this country and nourished many thousands of others.
I think of my great grandfather often. It’s hard not to. After all, his gold framed portrait hangs high over the store and from his stately perch his eyes follow me like Mona Lisa’s. I think of what he left behind and what he created. In his successes and struggles lies the thread of a common American story. Lest I digress too far, these musings are, in fact, a long-winded means to introduce you to an extraordinary new book and invite you to a special event.
Becoming Americans
On Thursday, December 3rd, join me at the Tenement Museum for Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing. America’s epic story with over 400 years of writing-from 17th-century Jamestown to contemporary Brooklyn by first-generation immigrants. With Ilan Stavans and Pete Hamill.
This new book chronicles the long history of US immigration through the voices of those who made the journey. Legendary New York journalist Pete Hamill joins the book’s editor, Ilan Stavans, to talk about the immigrant narrative in American fiction, prose and poetry.
“The writers in Becoming Americans have the miraculous gift of fresh eyes, able to see America for the first time, and to describe the new world they see. Their stories are our treasured legacy,” Maxine Hong Kingston praised.
A recipient of the National Jewish Book Award and a professor of Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College, Ilan Stavans is the author of many texts including The Hispanic Condition. On a personal note, Ilan happens to be one of my favorite professors when I was a student at Amherst. Pete Hamill, a former editor and reporter for the New York Post, is the author of the memoirs Downtown and My Manhattan, among other work
The evening is sponsored by the Orchard Street Contemporaries, a group of young professionals committed to advancing the mission of the Tenement Museum by connecting the immigrant history of the LES to the vibrancy of the neighborhood today through social events, networking and museum programming. The group, of which I am delighted to be a member, provides a forum for exploration of our nation’s immigrant heritage and what that means for us now.
And, if additional enticement is needed, food and refreshments will be served, including hors d’oeuvres from Russ & Daughters!
This event is free and open to the public. No RSVP is necessary. But, for our under-40 Lox Populi readers who are interested in finding out more about the Orchard Street Contemporaries, please RSVP to: pmattera@tenement.org
With hopes to see you there!
- Niki Russ Federman
Becoming Americans: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing | With Ilan Stavans and Pete Hamill Thursday, December 3 at 6:30 PM | Tenement Museum Shop | 108 Orchard St. NYC F/J/M/Z to Delancey | 212-982-8420 | events@tenement.org | Free
