Last Thursday was a beautiful day at Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury, Massachusetts, and not just because the sun was shining. Four fourth-grade classed visited for the first time to participate in the school program, Family Ties: The Stekionis House. This program is dedicated to bringing to life our motto, “Everyone’s History Matters,” by focusing on Jacob Stekionis and his wife Dorothy. Jacob immigrated to Newbury from Lithuania to work on the property as a tenant farmer, returning home briefly to marry Dorothy before bringing her back with him. They lived and worked and raised their family in the tenant farmhouse attached to the manor house and were an integral part of the farm for many years.
During the program (which began the previous week when Education Coordinator Arleen Shea visited the school for a pre-visit lesson), students learn about the tools we as historians have used to learn about Jacob and Dorothy’s lives and how they can use those tools to better appreciate their own family stories.
Many of the seventy-seven fourth-grade students who participated are first- or second-generation immigrants themselves. They and their families come from all over the world: Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Algeria, Morocco, Israel, Greece, Italy, Spain, Albania, Bosnia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and more. For many of them, this is a frightening time, but we focused on the positive—that ours is a nation of immigrants and that all our various cultures and traditions are what make this country what it is.
After the program was over, while the students enjoyed a picnic lunch and visit to our farm animals, their teacher made a point to come over and thank us. The students, she said, not only felt welcomed, but seen, heard, and appreciated. As a fiercely protective and loving teacher, she is always on her guard when the topic is immigration (her area of expertise), and we appreciated hearing that we had done it right.
It was a beautiful day, and we hope the beginning of a long and beautiful relationship with this school.
Written by Carolin Collins, Education Programs Manager
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