[introspective piano music]
- Throughout the 20th century,
Beloit stood out as a city of opportunity
with robust manufacturing industries.
In addition to securing jobs, many newcomers found Beloit
an ideal place to pursue an education.
- Fung Scholz: Anybody that wanted to have a better life,
of course, would migrate.
Many people came.
Well, my uncle came to Beloit first,
started a restaurant,
and then my father came to join him.
- Charles Wong arrived in Beloit
from Guangdong Province in 1920,
and eventually brought his wife, Yee Shee,
in 1923.
- John Wong: The Wong family is one of the first Chinese families
to ever immigrate to Beloit, Wisconsin.
Charles and Yee Shee Wong had seven children:
Gim, Fung, George, Helen, Harry, Frank, and Mary.
Moving to the United States
was going to offer them opportunity
that they would not have had in China.
Not only opportunities as far as jobs,
but probably more importantly for our family: education.
And they knew that the educational system
was going to be stronger in the United States
than it would have been in China.
Eventually, my grandfather was shot and killed
in July of 1938.
My dad was the oldest at age 14.
- Fung Scholz: When we lost my father,
that was truly a struggle
'cause my mother didn't speak any English.
It was up to us.
And that was kind of a struggle, to begin with.
I was number two; I was the oldest daughter.
I grew up only speaking Chinese in the home, and then,
learning English, playing with neighborhood friends.
Education was a thing that my mother insisted on.
That was one reason they came to the United States.
- John Wong: Higher education was extremely important
to the entire family.
And I think that they knew that education was the one tool
that nobody could ever take away from them.
When they were in the community and involved,
they knew they were different,
but they tried to be different in positive ways.
All of them excelled in school.
Many of them were class presidents,
or treasurers, or secretaries
of each of their respective classes.
I think knowing what they had to go through,
and then, to find out that all seven of them
ended up going on to college,
having successful lifestyles,
successful families
is probably the greatest part of the story.
- Fung Scholz: We didn't go back to China because
the neighborhood, the community was so supportive of us.
I think that's why we all got an education.
Of course, my mother expressed her feelings about it
all the time, too.
She was just glad we all got through.
[drum roll, jazz]
- By mid-century, nchildren of the Great Migration
were also making their mark on the Beloit community.
Arriving in Beloit from Mississippi,
Barbara Hickman immediately developed
a passion for education.
- Barbara Hickman: Academically,
I did very well in high school.
That just was part--
whatever you do, you do your very best.
I wanted to be a third-grade teacher.
That was my goal in life.
I wanted to go to college.
I decided to go to Stevens Point.
I was the only Black student on campus for three years.
And so, it was after I graduated from Stevens Point
that I became aware
that I was the first African American female
to graduate from Stevens Point.
- After receiving her teaching degree in 1960,
NBarbara searched for a position as a teacher in Wisconsin.
[bell, students] - Barbara Hickman: Growing up in Beloit,
there were never any African American teachers.
I never wanted to forget
where I came from and my background.
I never wanted to part from that.
I couldn't be average.
You know, you had to stand out
in order for them to even think or consider.
There were people who were honest with me to say,
"Well, we're looking and want to hire,
but they got to be twice as good." [small laugh]
In Beloit, they offered me a contract.
I started my career
in the building that I had attended.
And from there,
I spent about 60 years in the District of Beloit.
Every opportunity I got,
I never said no to anything.
- With Barbara's success,
she became a role model
to young Black students.
By the end of her career,
she had worked nin ten Beloit elementary schools
and earned distinction
Nas the first Black administrator in the school district.
In the later years of her career,
Barbara witnessed a new pattern of immigration
in the school district.
NShe, along with other educators, shifted their focus
to set up new Beloit residents for success.
- Rosamaría Laursen: The growth of the multilingual students,
about 98% of them were Spanish speakers,
really started to take off in the early 2000s.
There was a large increase in immigrants in Wisconsin
because of agriculture and manufacturing industries.
It attracted many families here.
- Coming from Mexico
and countries throughout South and Central America,
these families Nsought educational opportunities
through English literacy programs
like Even Start and the dual language program
in the School District of Beloit.
- Rosamaría Laursen: Having an education
really not only opens doors for you,
but it also gives you
that complete freedom and flexibility
to live the way that you want to.
Anecdotally, I have heard students say that
they loved attending Beloit schools
because it taught them how to interact with people
who are different than they are,
and it really set them up for success
in a larger global society.
- Barbara Hickman: We wanted to make a difference
in our students' life.
You get an education;
can't anyone take that away from you.
And that was the driving force.
- Education has long been na pillar of Beloit's community,
from the college
to the public schools.
These educational institutions now stand as a beacon
for those in search of a better life.
- John Wong: People that are coming in from other countries,
they want the same thing
that my grandparents and great-grandparents wanted.
They want their family
to have a better opportunity for the future
than they had.
That is no different today
than it was a hundred-plus years ago.
- Rosamaría Laursen: I truly believe that Beloit
is on its way to being a supportive community
where anybody's welcome and is able to thrive.