Scavenger Hunt

 

8) There is a post office in town on Dexter Street.

10) There used to be a movie theater in town called the Belleview theater, but it closed down some time ago.

12) There are some parks.  Jenks Park and Cogswell Tower is probably the biggest and most well known park in Central Falls, but there are also some smaller ones scattered in the city.

14) The Central Falls News is the name of the local newspaper.

15) I found the monument to the Saylesville Massacre. The monument was erected in 2010 on Labor Day by the Rhode Island Labor History Society and Working Rhode Island to commemorate "those who were injured, wounded or gave their lives for the American Working Class during the General Textile Strike" in 1934.  It was difficult to find because of the snow and I had to walk through very deep snow to get to it, but I'm glad I found it.  It made me think about how rich Central Falls history is despite its small size, and more importantly, it made me think about the face of the Central Falls population then and now.  It has traditionally been a working class city, and to think that non-unionized laborers were fired upon by the national guard for striking is an important lesson to teach about and learn from.  Nearby this monument are bullet holes from the massacre on gravestones.

18) 82% of Central Falls residents are Catholic.  10% are mainstream Protestants and 8% are "other" according to citydata.com.  From its history as a French city and its current Hispanic demographics, it is not surprising that driving around I saw Catholic cathedrals with Spanish signs in front. Interestingly, I also saw a Mormon Church.  

 

This is the LDS Church

21) Lorenzo De Nevers was a prominent painter who painted presidents like FDR and Eisenhower, as well as many other important figures in the world.  He was born in Canada but lived in Central Falls most of his life. 

24)Max Surkont, Jim Siwi, Charley Bassett and Roland Hemond were professional baseball players from Central Falls. 

26) Caroline Cogswell built Cogswell Tower in 1904.

29) In the cemetery on Lonsdale ave, you can see bullet holes in headstones from when the National Guard fired on textile strikers in what was called the Saylesville Massacre. There is a memorial with benches and a plaque nearby some of the damaged stones.  A little tricky to find in the snow, but very worthwhile to see up close.

30)

I found a few really beautiful old homes to show the former prosperity of Central Falls.  Some were more well maintained than others.  

From this scavenger hunt I learned that Central Falls is more than a tiny city with a bad reputation.  It has a rich history that people don't talk about, and I was so surprised to see all of the life and evidence of its glory days.  I think as a teacher it is important to capitalize on its legacy as a working class city, and to talk about how important the working class is, especially when you think about the impact of strikes and labor reforms.  Especially as from the perspective of a history teacher, I think that it is so important to know about the community you are teaching in to bring to the forefront of your lessons that important things happened just outside the classroom door. I think that knowing about your classroom's community benefits the teacher as well as the student.