Ethnic American Authors
Louise Erdrich, eldest of seven children, was born in Little Falls, Minnesota on June 7, 1954. Although born in Minnesota, Erdrich was raised in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school. Her father was German-American but her mother was French and Anishinaabe (Ojibwa). She attended and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1976, where she also met her husband, a Modoc anthropologist. In 1979, Erdrich graduated with a Master of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University. During this time, she continued to publish various short stories and poems, and in 1982 produced "The World's Greatest Fisherman," which was awarded the Nelson Algren Prize for short fiction.
Elrich and her husband, Dorris, had six children; three of the children were adopted by her husband before the couple married. Dorris published The Broken Cord, a book about fetal alcohol syndrome, a disease that one of their adopted sons suffered. A skilled anthropologist, Dorris found many Native American children are undiagnosed even with their mother's alcohol issues. Their adopted child with fetal alcohol syndrome was later hit by a car and killed at age 23. A few years later, another son accused them both of child abuse. Erdrich and Dorris attempted to build an extortion case against him but did not succeed. Shortly afterward, the couple divorced and Erdrich claimed Dorris had been depressed since early in their marriage. Since then, she has returned to the reservation to continue writing, incorporating and basing much of writing with her heritage.
Summary of "American Horse"
Two groups of people play two major roles in this short story written by Louise Erdrich. The Government, consisting of the social worker, Officer Brackett, and Officer Harmony, and the Native American family of Uncle Lawrence, Albertine, and Buddy American Horse. The Government has orders from the state to remove Buddy from the home because according to them, the environment provided by Albertine is not fit for a child.
Louise Erdrich
"American Horse" (1984)
Anzia Yezierska
"The Free Vacation House" (1915)
Born in Plinsk, a Russian-Polish villlage, around 1880, Aniza Yezierska was the youngest of nine children. The year of her birth is unknown for a few reasons, one because she didn't recollect but also because in interviews Yezierska would claim to be younger in order to compensate for her later start as a writer. Anzia followed the footsteps of her brother and immigrated to America by herself, in hopes to become an independent woman. Immigration officers Americanized the family name into Mayer. Anzia was renamed Harriet, who shortened it to Hattie, and later reclaimed Anzia around the age of 28. Her family eventually joined the two sibilings and together settled into a tiny apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Anzia's brothers excelled; one brother worked in pharmacy, another became a high school math teacher, and another an army colonel. Anzia clashed with her father because she viewed his poverty, religion, and Eastern European ways as barriers to the full experience of an American life. That disposition helped Anzia decide on moving into a home for working girls where she pursued education. She attended Columbia University's Teachers college on scholarship and later went on to teach elementary school. A few years later, in 1913, Anzia began to write fiction.
Anzia Yezierska married and had a daughter, Louise. The author and her daughter moved to San Fransico but Anzia could not support the both of them so Louise was sent to live with her mother's husband's family in New York. The couple later divorced and the daughter describes her mother as vibrant and courageous yet troubled, making her personal interactions challenging.
Anzia Yezierska chose to focus her work on Jewish immigrant life at the turn of the century. Yezierska's typical work focuses on Jewish-American women in poverty, attempting to care for children in crowded conditions and financial dependence on husbands. She also focuses much of her written work on the assimilation process of these immigrants. Much of Anzia's work was found to be "too Jewish" and offended many immigrants and Americanized Jews becaused it mocked and/or exposed their life. Anzia Yezierska died of a stroke November 21, 1970 in Ontario, California.
Summary of "A Free Vacation House"
A Jewish immigrant and her six children reside in a poorer area of the city, but conditions are not dire. A visiting teacher from the school her children attend comes to inquire why her children are often late. The overworked mother explains how she is exhausted from keeping track of all the children and household chores. The teacher sets her up with a charity that offers free vacations to the country. A charity worker arrives at her house and interrogates her about the family's lifestyle. A few days later, she returns and pesters the family to visit the charity in the city, which is a humiliating experience because they are practically paraded around and, in her opinion, every passerby sends judgmental stares. After going through the same irritating interrogation at the charity office, they board a train to travel to the vacation house, which turns out to be a model home that rich people donate to in order to help the poor. The "boss" of the vacation home orders the visitors around and allows nothing relaxing or fun for the family. After the two week stay, everyone is more than delighted to return home.
Américo Paredes
"The Hammon and the Beans" (1984)
Américo Paredes was born in Brownsville, Texas, September 3, 1915, during the border tension and violence from the 1910 Mexican Revolution. He is one of eight children, his father a local rancher and mother from Spain. After school, Paredes would work several jobs to help support his family; but the evenings were his to indulge in literature.
Unfortunately, Paredes encountered his first racist experience in high school. Once his counselor "predicted" he would not attend college; although it almost detered him, he was later encouraged to attend Brownsville Junior College.
During his senior year in high school, he won first prize in a statewide poetry contest but at 20 he began to see his work published. At 22, his first book of poetry was printed. In 1940, Paredes married Consuelo Silva, a local singer; and through this brief marriage, a son was born. He left to work for Pan American Airways in work related to World War II. However, after resigning he began work with the U.S. Army as an infantryman. After the war, he was assigned to the army journal, Starsa and Stripes. He took his military discharge in Tokyo, where he met his future wife Amelia Nagamine. They were married for over 50 years and had 3 children. Once back in the United States, Paredes became a professor of English. He enrolled at The University of Texas, where he graduated summa cum laude and also completed his masters and doctorate at The Unviersity of Texas, as well. He taught in a few universities in Texas before returning to Austin to accept a tenure track position teaching folkore and creative writing.
Summary of "The Hammon and the Beans"
In the border town of Brownsville, Texas, a Mexican community, outside of Fort Jones, transforms culturally. The narrator remembers a fellow classmate, Chonita and old observations of surrounding poverty and military events. Chonita, the focus of the narrator’s recollection, is a scrawny girl who begs for food outside the fort’s mess hall. She watches the soldiers battle for food, where as she understands how limited on food her community is. Midway through the story, the narrator observes Chonita make a “speech,” but all she was doing was repeating what she heard soldiers say at their meals. At the end of the story, Chonita dies and the narrator remembers the girl as she was, but as an angel, flying around shouting, “Give me the hammon and the beans!”
