Botany Mills Sixth Grade is a reflection of my grandmother's experience as a first generation Polish American. She was born in 1907 in the coal mine region of Pennsylvania to very young Polish parents. My grandmother was 2nd oldest of 11 and when she and her older sister started showing signs of puberty, her parents, afraid of what might happen to them in the lawlessness of the coal mining camp, packed up the entire family, got on a train bound for NJ as they heard there might be jobs in the woolen mills. Not speaking any English with about 6 children (by then) in tow they got off the train in Garfield, walked to the police station and asked where they could get rooms and jobs. The police walked them to a rooming house and the next day her father got a job in the mills making thread. This was how it worked for them as immigrants. My grandmother had to quit school in 6th grade to work there along with her father. This was considered a good life for them. It made a huge impression on her and she was always after me about my report card and penmanship. I got a quarter for every A and she took back 10 cents for anything lower than a B. They were devoutly religious which is where I think they got their courage, strength and tenacity, and took with them from Poland the craft of lace making which served them well as they were able to use the leftover thread from the sweatshops to make beautiful creations for themselves.

When I was 4 years old my grandmother sat me down and taught me to knit, crochet and embroider, telling me as I squirmed that her father taught her when she was 4 and that she hated it too, but that by the time I was ready to do it she might not be alive. She said she really got into crocheting in her 60's. (She died when she was 105.) I have all her books and needles and even some of her thread, and now that I've reached 60, I'm revisiting embroidery.

Botany Mills Sixth Grade
2007
Mixed media
16" h x 11" w x 8" d (irregular)
Slate, chalk, fiber, metal, plaster, stone, acrylic.