Benjamin A. Gorman
“It used to be a nice place to live. Neat, clean and people; everybody knew everybody. . . friendly. A real community back then.”
“It’s not the same. . . Things are different. Weather is cold. Still, people hang around. . . talk. This is going to be home now.”
“That old grey siding is gone. The new paint makes it brighter. I never noticed the porch with those columns before. Everything seems to be changing. . . people moving in, fixing up.. . Iooks nice.”
Former residents, long since moved away; immigrants moving in, adapting; people seeing for the first time what was covered, hidden or obscured. The landscape is changing; it is uncovering its past and in doing so, preserving itself as a vital community.
The purpose of this unit will be twofold. presentation of the historical background of the Village of Fair Haven will provide a frame of reference for the students who live in this area of New Haven. By locating in time and space, the settlement, the development and the evolution of this community, the students can obtain a sense of pride. The second thrust will concern the existing architecture in Fair Haven that reflects its historical growth and the effort to preserve the structures as the community revitalizes itself. A set of slides will illustrate the status today as Fair Haven renews, preserves and builds for the future.
This unit will be used with eighth graders in a Social Studies course. The teaching length will be not more than two weeks due to curriculum limitations but individual projects can be completed over a longer period of time.
