The Importance of Being Americanized

Pauli Resnick was picked up by a Jewish family in Springfield, Massachusetts. They fed and clothed her but were largely uninterested in her otherwise. Once she met the basic educational requirements for immigrants, which at that time was a fourth grade mastery of the English language, he told her she had to get a job. She quickly found work in a paper factory, but it was repetitive and boring with no chance to move up the ladder. Most of her money went to the Resnick's for room and board, leaving her only pennies to spend and no room to save. So she left and moved to Brooklyn, where she hoped there was more than like stony silence and a terrible job