By Steve Vivona
In April the Committee for Latin
American Studies (CLACS), St. Augustine Library and the Vincentian Center for Church and
Society are co-sponsoring a unique exhibit in the University
Library. The Queens Museum of Art’s “Crossing the BLVD. Mobile
Story Booth,” which allows immigrants to share their stories with
others, will be hosted there from April 7-20.
“Crossing the BLVD.” documents the lives of immigrants living in
Queens and the mobile booth is a companion to the book of the same
name written by Judith Sloan and Warren Lehrer, now being used as
part of the University’s Discover New York curriculum. During a
discussion designed to unveil the exhibit to University personnel
Ms. Sloan observed that Queens is the most ethnically diverse
community in the United States.
For three years she and Mr. Lehrer walked the streets of Queens
and listened to many stories told by immigrants in the hopes of
gaining a deeper understanding of this diverse community. The pair
focused on immigrants who arrived in the U.S. after the 1965
Immigration and Nationality Act which mandated an end to quotas
that favored Western Europeans.
The booth, which is on wheels, allows people to view the stories
of others and share their own stories. There is an online
collection of first-person narratives recounting their immigration
experiences also containing a variety of items unique to the
immigration experience such as passport photos, birth and marriage
certificates, etc. Visitors can enter their own story or that of
their ancestors by entering the Booth, answering some questions and
having their picture taken. Ms. Sloan noted that many of those
stories have been transcribed by immigrants’ children and
grandchildren and, wherever possible, she has maintained them
exactly as written.
Ms. Sloan said that she and her husband were interested in
documenting the stories of many groups largely ignored by the mass
media, especially in the post-September 11 world. She and her
husband literally traveled around the borough with a tape recorder
and headphones asking people on their street if they would be open
to sharing their experiences with them, and they found many willing
participants.
Having traveled the world documenting other cultures Ms. Sloan,
who lives in Queens, stressed that she wanted to turn the lens on
her own neighborhood. The project started as a celebration of “who
our neighbors are,” Ms. Sloan observed, and has evolved since
September 11 to reflect a world forever changed by that
calamity.
For more information please visit their website at www.crossingtheblvd.org