Document text
Accession no.
W 3716
Date received
10/10/40
Consignment no.
1
Shipped from
lash. Office
Label
Amount
ep
WPA L. C. PROJECT Writtre I UNIT
Form -11
...bakifkr.t...Collection (or Type)
PlaceoforigughP*LP.a. Illinois Datej126/59
Project worker 41141k...P.9.244114.19k......_
Project editor
Remarks
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
January, 26, 1939.
Little Grandmother.
She was called Little Grandmother, but she was tall and
broad. She had big bones whibh made her body large. Her name
was Katherina Breshkovsky and she was sixty-five years old when
she visited Hull -House..
Of the sixty-five years that she had lived, thirty-three
had been spent in Siberia. She was a political prisoner. The
crime for which she was sent to Siberia consisted of being caught
teaching the Russian peasants to read and write.
Katherina Breshkovsky told us that knowing how to read and
write opens the gates of the past and points the way to the way
to the future. The Czar of Russia did not want the peasants to
know anything about the past and he did not want them to think of
the future. That is why the Little Grandmother was a criminal.
She had soft kind eyes, that made me feel that she under-
stood everybody. She loved the Russian peasants.
"Some day," she said, "the people of Russia will be able
to read and write just like the poeple of America."
She wanted the American people to know what was happening
in Russia. So she told her story at Hull -House. Then she went
back to Russia, where she was again sent to Siberia.
W3715
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
January 26, 1939.
The Air is Bad.
Hull -House was attracting the attention of Chicago's
wfthy society leaders. They were curious. They wanted
to know why anyone who did not have to live on Halsted
Street, would choose to do so.
I was standing in front of Hull -House one hot, dusty
afternoon, when a shiny carriage, drawn by two spirited
horses, stopped. A footman got down and opened the door
of the carriage. A tall, overdressed woman stepped out,
and I heard her say:
"James, take the horses right home. The air is very
bad here."
-1-
11,9
Hilda Polaoheck,
American Folk Stuff.
January 26, 1939.
A Prince Comes to Halsted Street.
"I heard her say it. She said she was gonna get the prince."
"Aw, yer daffy: A prince wouldn't come here. A prince never
comes to a dirty street:"
"Well, I tell you I was sittin' in the big room and Miss
Addans stopped at the desk and said she was gonna get the
prince."
Sarah Goldberg and Maria Molinari were sitting on the railing
surrounding the court at Hull -House when the above conversation
took place. The two girls were waiting for the other members
of "The Jolly Ten Club.' As the members arrived the news of
the prince's coming was imparted to then. A variety of questions
greeted Sarah:
"A real prince?"
"Is he tall?"
"Has he blond curly hair like Prince Charming in the play?"
"Will his ooat be made of velvet?"
"With golden buttons?"
"Is he going to have diamond buckles on his shoes?"
"Will he come in a golden coach?"
"Will the coach be drawn by six white horses?"
"I tell you what," said Maria, "let's not have a meeting
today. Let's wait here till the prince comes."
Every child that passed was invited to stay and wait for the
prince. Before long, a crowd of children badgathered. They
were so excited that they failed to notice the archaic two-
-2-
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
January 26, 1939.
A Prince Comes to Halsted Street.
wheel vehicle, drawn by a scrawny horse, with the driver on an
elevated seat at the back, had stopped. One of the children
saw Jane Addams alight. The vehicle was immediately surrounded
by the group of children. Tide-eyed)they waited for thelfprince.
But the prince of their imagination did not come. A short
mound -shouldered man in a poorly fitting prince -Albert coat,
stepped from the vehicle. A shabby black cape hung from his
neck. He wore a battered hat. He carried his valise. When he
took off his hat, the children saw that he was bald. He had a
thick half gray, half black beard. He was just a mans
Keen disappointment was in everybody's eyes:
"Are you a real prince?" one of the boys asked.
"Children, this is Prince Kropotkin of Russia." Jane Addams
said.
matere is your crown?" asked a little girl.
"My name is Peter Kropotkin and I have no crown. I am sorry
to disappoint you."
"Now children, please let us pass," said Jane Addams.
"May I carry your bag?" one of the boys asked.
"'Yes, certainly." said Peter Kropotkin.
The children lined up in two rows forming a guard of honor.
Ragged, poorly fed children they were. They were future American
citizens. It was a fitting guard for the. great Russian Democrat.
Between this guard Peter Kropotkin and Jane Addams walked into
Hull -House.
Hilda Polacheck.
American Folk Stuff.
January 26, 1939.
The Ghost of the Convent.
On West Taylor Street, near Throop Street, stood an abandon-
ed convent. All around this convent lived people. They were Irish,
Italian, Jewish, German, Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Greek, French,
Swedish, Norwegian people. All these people had children. I wan
one of the children.
We played all sorts of games on the sidewalks and the street.
We were all good friends. Even if my gentile friend called me
sheeney in the morning, she was willing to share her candy with me
in the afternoon. I plead guilty to calling my Italian friend
dago at times, and then offering her a bite of my apple.
One night we were engaged in a stirring game of "run sheep
run" when we saw a light in one of the convent windows. The next
minute the light was at the next window. The light kept appearing
at each window for a few seconds. There were many windows in the
convent. We watched the light breathlessly.
"Ghosts:" said Mary Mb Guire.
"Ghosts:" we all repeated.
"I'm gonna tell my mother about it," said Mary Mc Guire.
We all decided to tell our mothers, and we scurried in all
directions to our homes.
The next evening some of our Catholic neighbors came out.
Sure enough, there was the ghost again.
This "ghost" produced all kinds of fantastic stories. One
old Catholic woman said that the souls of the saints were rambling
-2
The Ghost of the Convent.
Hilda Polacheck,
American Folk Stuff.
January 26, 1939.
through the old convent. Another version was that the saints must
be dissatisfied with something.
It was about this time that the convent was to be sold to
a group of Jewish philanthropists, who plahned to house The Chicago
Hebrew Institute in the' abandoned convent. Then the story was
told that the saints were objecting to the building being sold to
Jews.
My mother knew the caretaker of the convent so she called
on his family one evening.
"Have you heard of the "ghost" story?" my mother asked.
"What Ghost?" asked the caretaker.
"My little girl told me that every night, as soon as it
gets dark, a "ghost" appears in every window of the convent."
"Well, I'm a pretty live ghost," said the caretaker. "I
go from window to window with a candle to make sure that the winr
dows are locked. I must use a candle as the electric lights have
been shut off."