Baseball has always had a special place in our nation’s history. It’s a common symbol of America’s values, identity, and rural past--you might even say it’s as American as apple pie.   But did you know that beyond the ballpark there is a grittier version of the game, played mostly in immigrant neighborhoods in cities big and small?   In the first episode of season 2 of How To Be American, host Amanda Adler Brennan talks with baseball historians and stickball players about the significance for city kids in being able to turn city streets and the sides of buildings into their very own ‘field of dreams’.

Baseball has always had a special place in our nation’s history. It’s a common symbol of America’s values, identity, and rural past--you might even say it’s as American as apple pie. But did you know that beyond the ballpark there is a grittier version of the game, played mostly in immigrant neighborhoods in cities big and small? In the first episode of season 2 of How To Be American, host Amanda Adler Brennan talks with baseball historians and stickball players about the significance for city kids in being able to turn city streets and the sides of buildings into their very own ‘field of dreams’.

Baseball has always had a special place in our nation’s history. It’s a common symbol of America’s values, identity, and rural past--you might even say it’s as American as apple pie.&nbsp;&nbsp; But did you know that beyond the ballpark there is a grittier version of the game, played mostly in immigrant neighborhoods in cities big and small?&nbsp;&nbsp; In the first episode of season 2 of How To Be American, host Amanda Adler Brennan talks with baseball historians and stickball players about the significance for city kids in being able to turn city streets and the sides of buildings into their very own ‘field of dreams’.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Our Game

These American stories are not in your standard history book.

History tends to be reduced to key moments and celebrated names, and what’s often overlooked are the stories of the ordinary people, both past and present, who have lived through journeys of immigration and migration...the people who have shaped what it means to be and to become American. 

How To Be American is a podcast by the Tenement Museum where from New York’s Lower East Side, we explore the history of immigration and migration in America. We share the stories of migrants and refugees, and everyone in-between. And we examine why so many important events in our history have unfolded around issues of immigration and national identity.

This is the past, present, and future of becoming American.

Society & Culture

History

These American stories are not in your standard history book. History tends to be reduced to key moments and celebrated names, and what’s often overlooked are the stories of the ordinary people, both past and present, who have lived through journeys of immigration and migration...the people who have shaped what it means to be and to become American. How To Be American is a podcast by the Tenement Museum where from New York’s Lower East Side, we explore the history of immigration and migration in America. We share the stories of migrants and refugees, and everyone in-between. And we examine why so many important events in our history have unfolded around issues of immigration and national identity. This is the past, present, and future of becoming American.

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