Fin.

   

McNair Scholars Program

      I'm sad to say that this will be my last post for this summer internship project. It's difficult to put into words how much this summer experience has meant to me, but I'll try. I've learned so much on so many levels. Whenever I think of Camden, NJ I will think of a city in different phases. It has certainly been a city plagued by much of the same misfortune that many other formerly industrial cities have experienced in the United States during the second half of this century. However, this is only the frame of the full portrait that is Camden. In analyzing its evolving demographic, political culture, and key events, Camden becomes a city with a specific character. On a micro level, the individuals that I interviewed and those I encountered in Camden have left an impression upon me of perseverance and progress amid tragedy. The story of the "Puerto Rican Riots" provides us with lessons regarding local government and community communication, the ills of police brutality, and the importance of fair representation for minorities. I will not forget Camden. I intend on studying it and other places with similar issues in the sake of action and progress.

Philadelphia from side of Camden

       As much as the issues in Camden left an impact on me, the experience of researching was the most enjoyable part of this internship. Waking up and heading to the archives or library and spending the day walking through Camden in search of what was hidden, was spectacular. It wasn't always easy but it was certainly worthwhile. It was the thrill of pooling resources together in an attempt to ultimately create vital knowledge that made the internship significant. I had the opportunity to sharpen my researching skills and increase my historical IQ which will both serve me well in my future researching endeavors. Mostly, this research helped me comprehend the importance of understanding history as a guide to action. Decisions are fueled by what is known and understanding the past is essential in this.

         In addition to my loved ones who are my perpetual motor, a constant source of support during this internship came from my mentor Dr. Michelle Nickerson. She has truly become my role model and I can only hope to emulate the sort of dedicated historian and person she is. She's taught me what it means to dig deep into an issue to find truth and the significance of it. The directors and members of the McNair Scholar's program have also been central in motivating me to higher feats. The program has sparked an ambition in me that will continue to burn until I've achieved my audacious goals. Lastly, thank you all for taking the time out to read this undergrad's work. I hope you've enjoyed my posts and learned a couple things along the way. 

Thank you! 

Fruit of Organization

         

       Since being back from the both coasts of the country, I've gotten the opportunity to settle back at Loyola and prepare for the coming semester. I've been trying my best to stay organized: not always an easy task. But as I reflect on this summer's internship researching experience, I thought about how essential it was to make sure that all my sources were well organized. Organization keeps our lives in the order in which we want them. This project, in particular, may have not gone as well as it did if all the information was not kept in order. Newspaper articles, interview questions, transcribed interviews, IRB materials, census information, photos, all had their respective digital folders for easy access. Now the reason I thought it was so important to lay out all my sources in this way is because the foundation to this whole research project was a marriage between sources. In order to present something as true, I tried my best to corroborate one source with another. For instance, when examining the interviews I conducted with those with close ties to the events surrounding the riots, I searched my other sources to see if the information was matching or contradictory what was stated. In some cases it made a certain point stronger, and in others it proved uncertainty. But that's exactly what you want when creating knowledge. As students of history, it is our responsibility to make sure that we present the facts as they truly are. 

          Now that my draft for the paper is done, the next step is to make it better. First, I'll do this by taking into account the suggestions of my mentor Dr. Michelle Nickerson and graduate student Crystal Jackson of the McNair Scholars Program. The next step would be to work on it during the upcoming fall semester in the Honors History seminar. Making this project into an honors thesis would allow me to make it the best it could possibly be so that it may be used as a springboard to graduate school but also to make a final product with significant implications. Much will be added. An appendix featuring maps, original graphs and charts will help to add to the comprehensive nature of the paper. My hope is that the findings of this project will shed light on the complexities of the human condition of those living in an urban environment, in this case, a very strained one. But until then, I have much to learn and I will continue to work on mastering this craft.

California Pt. 2

        Just about an hour south of Berkeley, CA sits one of the most beautiful university campuses in the country, Stanford, and the place where we spent our second day in California. Stanford University is enormous. It boasts over 600 major buildings, 43,000 trees, and 49 miles of roads. At times, the campus seemed more like a resort than a school. While we were there, we had the opportunity to stroll about the colossal campus and enjoy the architecture which seemed to be characterized by tan walls and red roofs. We were there to attend a graduate school workshop that would walk us through the application process and give us tips on how to prepare ourselves in order to be successful. It featured a McNair graduate student panel which was quite helpful in showing us what we could achieve, especially since we come from similar backgrounds and circumstances. Their advice ranged from continuing to conduct research to how to contact potential professors and schools. Dr. Brown, a Stanford professor, was the host of the event. He was clearly knowledgeable in the application process and made it quite clear that his goal was to help us in any way he could. Generally, the workshop was a good way to familiarize ourselves with all the requirements that will make us the strongest candidates for PhD programs.  

       There were roughly 200 students that attended this workshop at Stanford. Of those 200, I only met two students who studied history. Many represented fields in medicine, engineering, and other social sciences. So although much of the advice that was given to us was of great help, much of it was not specific to our respective disciplines. For instance, the GRE was stressed as, potentially, the most important part of one's graduate application. In my conversations with various history professors at different programs, it was further down in the list of priorities. So when our lunch break came, I set about finding the history department. After 20 minutes of walking around the labyrinth-like campus, I was finally successful in finding it! There, I met Art Palmon, Graduate Student Services officer. Art was friendly and gave me some great advice. He walked me through the specific application process for history at Stanford and what I should make my priorities. A strong statement of purpose and transcript seemed essential. After our conversation, I felt much more confident and reinvigorated knowing that I had my objectives laid out in front of me.

   At times it was stressful to think that, in order to be accepted to the best possible program, we must go beyond our best effort to show that we are worth the investment. But ultimately, it is up to us to look within ourselves to discover what our really passions are. My passion is history and just this thought makes it all worth it. What I've learned most during this trip to California is that graduate history programs aren't as concerned with what you've done as they are with what it is that you plan to do. Being specific in what research we'd like to pursue is key. With this information in mind, I will continue to go about this process in a methodological manner while remembering why I'm doing this and continuing to give it my all. The future is exciting. 

California Pt. 1

     

 Sather Gate

Reading room atUC, Berkeley

     So, it's been a while since I've posted on my research about the "Puerto Rican" riots but not without good reason. For about a week, I was able to travel to California with the McNair Scholars Program here at Loyola. Our purpose for being there was a four day McNair Symposium at the University of California at Berkeley which featured presentations by other McNair Scholars from all around the country who represented various fields. While we were there, we also visited the resort-like Stanford University which will be the subject of my next post. In addition to learning from the student presentations, we received vital information and advise about graduate admissions programs for different schools and fields. It was very comforting to meet so many other students who are in the same position of applying to graduate programs and now the stress that comes with that. We met some wonderful people, both students and administrators, who were passionate about what they did and their notable research presentations displayed this. It was a very motivating experience.

      We stayed at the UC,Berkeley dorms which were right on the edge of a beautiful campus on hills and by the famous Telegraph Street in Berkeley.The city of Berkeley is a diverse and vibrant community that is filled with restaurants, museums, parks, and many small private shops. The campus of the university itself gave off a relaxed aura. Everyone I encountered seemed very comfortable with themselves and who generally seemed pretty happy to help (a bit different in my native NYC). As I walked about the campus, I noticed how many old buildings there were and how much significant history took place there during the civil rights eras of the 1960's and 1970's. It was there that remarkable individuals like Mario Savio gave passionate addresses on the right to free speech and human rights. Those moments were part of what helped make this trip so worthwhile.

Sather Tower 

      During those few days, I was also fortunate enough to meet with two professors of History at the university: Mark Brilliant and Waldo Martin. Both were not only helpful in advising me on the application process, but they were also individuals who inspired me. They teach, not only to communicate facts, but to foster a mind that asks complex questions, understands historical methodology, and is focused enough to manifest their passion into a thoughtful final product. All in all, my visit to Berkeley was productive and quite relaxing, a nice break from the arduous, but enjoyable, research from last month. Without a doubt, I will take the necessary steps to submit a strong application to this prestigious school.

"End of Days"

     End of Days: that's the title of my research project. Perhaps a bit dramatic, but after looking through some of the images of, seemingly, war-torn Camden, it seemed appropriate. Since arriving back here in Chicago, I've gotten a chance to peer through all the research data I've collected and look at the bigger picture of what it is that I'm examining. Overall, I'm seeking to understand the role and circumstances of the Puerto Rican community in Camden, NJ in 1971. By doing so, I hope to expose the idea that, although the Puerto Rican community may have been viewed as the catalyst of the riots of 1971, the circumstances leading to the riots were much more complex than that. Ultimately, it was a series of decisions and lack of comprise on the part of city government and law enforcement that culminated into the city's most dire situation. Detroit, another deteriorating city with similar issues to those of Camden, has a population of over 700,000. Camden, on the other hand, is home to just about 77,000 residents. The issues that Camden faced were connected to one another so intimately that the effects of poverty and lack of services suffered by one demographic could not be honestly ignored by another.
   
        As a part of this internship this summer, it is my responsibility to put together a meaningful essay that shows the product of my research. Not always the most entertaining assignment to work on during a warm summer day, this paper has truly become a focus that is constantly rewarding for me. I've learned so much thus far and I only seem to be headed in the right direction. This week, I was able to complete a 21-page draft of this project which includes 18 sources: 4 original interviews, 5 newspaper articles, 1 original report, 4 censuses of population, 2 censuses of manufactures, 1 Department of Labor report, and 1 book. Now, it may seem like that's an excessive amount of sources for a draft but in order to support claims about the city's history, events, and people, it was quite necessary but also pretty fun.

        An important section for any written piece of history is the historiography, as previously explained to me by my mentor Dr. Michelle Nickerson. Most simply, this section is the history of the history. I didn't expect to enjoy writing this section as much as I did. Perhaps it was because there wasn't much to cite or, more likely, because it allowed me to put this story into a current context of the academic side of it all. The reporting done by the Camden Courier-Post during the time surrounding the riots is certainly the best source of information on the unrest. In Camden County, New Jersey: The Making of a Metropolitan Community, 1626-2000 (2001) by Jeffrey Dorwart, a historian at Rutgers University, the riots covered just about two pages of his ambitious work. Howard Gillette, a leading historian in the history of Camden, briefly mentioned the riots in Camden After the Fall: Decline and Renewal in a Post-Industrial City (2005) by touching on the main points but not delving into much detail. To my knowledge, there is no published book dedicated to the riots, leaving them in a state of vagueness, as a footnote in the history of Camden. And that's exactly what makes this venture so exciting; the opportunity to discover knowledge and create it by bringing all the perspectives I can together into one piece. This work has become much clearer since I first began about 4 weeks ago. It has expanded from reporting events to investigating characters and finally into delving into the nature of they city and it's culture. After completing my first draft, I look forward to making this unfinished product into something I can truly be proud of.

Previous Grievances

        The chaos that was the "Puerto Rican Riots" left the details and origins of the events largely unknown to many. In my interviews with Gil Medina, Carl Poplar, and Joe Rodriguez, people heavily immersed in the riots, the actual name of "Horacio Jimenez" was never spoken and the details of that night when "Jimenez" was beaten into a coma were vague. That's not to say that they weren't experts in what happened in 1971, but this does show a sort of general aloofness about the trigger of the riots themselves. This past week, I've been looking through much the newspaper microfilm articles that I printed back at the Philadelphia Central Library. In order to fully grasp the situation in 1971, I read articles from both before and after, what I found was a fuller picture of the story.

        "Horacio Jimenez" was actually named Rafael Gonzales. He was a 40-year-old construction worker from Camden but lived in Penns Grove in Salem County, NJ about 30 miles southwest of Camden. On Saturday July 31 1971, Gonzales set out with Lesley Whitesall, a 17-year-old male, and had been drinking since 10:30 that morning, landing in Camden by 7:30 that night. According to Whitesall, they had consumed three six-packs of beer that day. "He could drink a case easy." Carmen Villanueva, Camden resident, claimed she witnessed the beating of Gonzales along with Angel Santiago and Elizabeth Santiago. It all happened on West and Stevens streets, just a few blocks from where the protests were held in front of city hall almost three weeks later. Mrs. Villanueva claimed that Gonzales and his passenger were double parked in front of her home speaking with her when officers Warren Worrell and Gary Miller, both 25 years of age the time, ordered Gonzales to move on. He proceeded up the street and parked along the curb at Stevens street. On January 30th 1973, Mrs. Villanueva testified in front of a jury of nine men and five women. She recounted the event quoting the officers in detail. "Okay, turn your around and put your hands on the station wagon." "Why are you searching me?" said Gonzalez with his hands in a questioning gesture."And that's when the cop starting hitting him..he had a little black thing in his hand and it must have been hard because he (Gonzalez) started to bleed."  In the rest of her testimony she explained how Gonzales fell to the gutter as the second policemen left the patrol car and joined in on the beating, "..and they started kicking him and hitting him with a night stick. He was bleeding bad and there was a pool of blood". A few weeks later, Gonzales died from the stomach injuries he sustained during that event.

Warren Worrell(middle) and parents

          Information on Gonzales was difficult to find. Even Carl Poplar, who represented Gonzalez, knew very little about him, only that he was a 40-year-old, Puerto Rican construction worker from Penns Grove. However, what I was able to find about the two officers was quite interesting. In August of 1966, the Camden Courier-Post  published an article called "City Youth, 20, Bids Dad Goodbye at Home." The youth was Warren Worrell and his destination was Vietnam. After being stationed in Korea, young Worrell requested a transfer to the combat-heavy Vietnam. His father advocated escation of the conflict in order to "get it over with" and Worrell, a machine gunner on a helicopter escort explained his anxiousness to do some fighting because "you can't do anything like that here." In 1973, Worrell's partner Gary Miller, who was 28 and had three children by then, was sitting in his living room in East Camden being interviewed by a Courier-Post journalist about his shooting of a 16 year "knife-wielding" youth. Miller's father had been a Camden police officer and so had his younger brother Ron. After joining the force in 1968, he was suspended for 18 months in 1971 awaiting the Gonzales trail. It was a nightmare repeating itself. He claimed he shot the youth to protect his partner, Worrell. Miller prayed that the young man would not die. Despite the problems Miller had on the job, he stated "I don't think I would be satisfied in any other job. There's excitement and something different all the time. You get to help people and feel you're doing something worthwhile."

           Certainly, the situation is a disturbing one and in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case and the unrest that followed the trial, the similarities are eerie. What seems apparent is that all parties in this case had holes in the credibility of their cases. Gonzales had been drinking, based on his comments and preferences, Worrell was not battle shy, and Miller had managed to get himself into trouble right after getting out of it. For all, it was truly the wrong place and wrong time. As the audience, it is difficult to not feel biased in one way or another, but the fact of the matter is that we do not know what happened. All we know is that something like this shouldn't happen. "A judge and jury have all the time in the world to make a decision but a policeman must make his decision in a split second," stated Miller. Whether what they did was wrong or right, this must be taken into consideration. As discomforting as this incident was, it is more discomforting to know that all the damage and chaos that came as a result of this could have been different. Mayor Nardi had time, as did Public Safety Director Yeager. They had the audacious opportunity to use the beating of Gonzales as a springboard to communication with the community and an investigation of the practices within the police department. But what happened was quite different and the city bore the consequences. Hopefully, we can understand this and know that what happened to Gonzales and what happened to Trayvon Martin are cases that no one wishes would have ever happened but our reactions to them, what lesson we gain from them, practical or abstract, is what matters from here on forth.

Adios Camden

   

Philadelphia City Hall

       It's been quite a warm week here in Philadelphia. As I type these words, it is not without a feeling of melancholy knowing that this will be my last post corresponding from Camden. The work I have left to do, which I am excited about sharing in coming posts, no longer requires me to be here. Although my field work is now over, it has, without a doubt, been a success. I was able to get my hands on census tracts, manufacturing data, primary archival information, and much more in addition to the eyeopening interviews which I was lucky enough to attain. The next step is the synthesis of my research which will produce the most thoughtful research paper possible. These past three weeks have been ones of discovery and emotion. I've grown a certain attachment to Camden and it's residents. As I walk through it's streets and glance across a landscape of gutted buildings and street blocks, I can't help but fill in the lost space with the splendid metropolis that once stood here. But this city is more than what it has lost. It is much more than four days of terrible chaos that stripped it of whatever vitality it had left at the time. Camden is Dominic Petulla. It is Joe Rodriguez. It is a city of perseverance for, although it has lost everything it's had, it continues to survive with an eye fixed on the future while embracing the present.
Everyone I encountered emitted a feeling of genuineness and embraced me with smiles on their faces. Certainly Camden has a long way to go in order to become as prominent as it once was. But what I have learned here is that it will never be the Camden of old. Whatever it does become will be a product of the efforts of those with a vision on the future, of a new Camden. Since 2001, this city by the Delaware river has become the new home of the Adventure Aquarium, Campbell's Field, the Susquehanna Bank Center, and the USS New Jersey Battleship. In 2009, the River State Prison in the North Camden was closed down and the ground on which it stood is the subject of redevelopment. Revitalization is happening. Certainly, the city still has it's share of issues that continue to plague it and that should not be ignored: severe poverty, drug use, crime, poor housing. But a step in the right direction has been made. Revenue is coming in and hopefully the trend of political corruption that has been a stain on a city trying to regain its footing will end.

       In my last moments in the city, I decided to visit my new friend Mr. Petulla. On a 97 degree day, he was in his business with nothing to cool him but an industrial fan in the corner of his workstation. I greeted him and after a adjusting his glasses, I received a huge smile and a strong "Hey, kid!". After a short chat, Mr. Petulla returned to his work and I returned to my life not knowing if I would see him again. We don't know what the future brings. Whatever hope we do have is gained from whatever good we see in someone or something. There is no other way that I can explain it better than saying that the smiles I received in Camden give me hope. I believe.