The Jewish Home for Children
Wed., May 18, 09:58 AM
Recently I’ve been assisting on a really enjoyable project. As I’ve explained elsewhere, Husband grew up in an orphanage. Although I’m sure it wasn’t unique, it certainly was different from the usual local or county orphanages. One of the children from the Home has been writing his memories of that time, and I’ve been proofreading.
This has been enjoyable to me on several levels. First of all, I love to proofread, for the material itself as well as the technical aspects of producing a correct, comprehensible manuscript. But these chapters also provide insight into a man who seldom talks about his inner feelings. There are no parents or siblings to ask what made him what he is. As I often say, mindreading costs extra; he says he won’t pay.
However, someone has told the author that his book would not be interesting to anyone except those who were there in the Home, or perhaps to their families. I tend to disagree. I think these memories can give us a perspective of life in the United States during the Great Depression. These children were not destitute – they were well cared for – but they certainly weren’t prosperous. You can’t compare this to some kind of memoir of a private school; the kids went to public school.
In addition, this book tells us a lot about how children learn and develop. We’re talking about the experiences of more than 180 children over a period of some twenty years. Just because I’m not a professional teacher doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in what I can do to help a child adjust to the world in which s/he has to live.
So tell me, what do you think? Is this a book of limited interest, or do you think it has more far-reaching appeal. If you know someone who might be interested, please ask them too. Let me know, so that I can assure our friend that his work is not in vain.
Thanks.
