Description: The West Side of St. Paul, Minnesota, has been called the "Ellis Island of the Midwest" for its role in the history of immigration in the region. The current wave of immigrants in the neighborhood includes large numbers of Hmong, Latinos, and Somalis. In 1996, professors at the University of Minnesota and the College of St. Catherine joined with neighborhood residents and the staff of a century-old settlement house to found the Jane Addams School for Democracy. The primary ongoing activity at JAS is the organizing of neighborhood learning circles which bring together residents, students, and others. Two straightforward goals of the learning circles are to help recent immigrants pass the federal citizenship exam and to help participants learn about each other's languages and cultures. However, the circles have led to a number of other projects and outcomes over the last six years as participants compared experiences and generated ideas for improving the neighborhood.

Dates active: 1996-present

Web-site for project: http://www.publicwork.org/jas/

Issue(s): Human rights or race relations

Sub-issue(s): Neighborhood issues; race and cultural difference; immigration.

Level(s): Neighborhood

Initiators: Universities, neighborhood leaders

Particular goals: Help recent immigrants other neighborhood residents do public work together; advance cultural exchange in the neighborhood.

Time spent by participants: 2+ hours per month

How meetings were structured: The learning circles are organized according to languages (at least four languages are spoken at the school in any one evening), with English translation in each circle. Bilingual college students serve as language translators and cultural interpreters, to allow people to discuss issues of concern in their native languages. A part of each session is devoted to a more formal cultural exchange where participants discuss current issues, explain cultural traditions, or engage in storytelling.

Sample outcomes: Hundreds of participants in the neighborhood learning circles have since passed the federal citizenship exam. Participants in the learning circles have also created a community farming project, a mural, a parent involvement partnership with the local schools, a health project, and an annual community-wide celebration known as the West Side Freedom Festival. And even though most of the emphasis of the circles is on improving the local situation, Jane Addams participants have not stopped there. Concerned about human rights abuses in Laos, they successfully petitioned the Minnesota legislature to pass a resolution urging Congress to negotiate with the Laotian government for more humane treatment of the Hmong population. Participants also acted on their concerns with the way the U.S. citizenship test is administered. They forged a partnership with the regional director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), who agreed to allow English-speaking partners to accompany Hmong applicants during the citizenship exam and interview.

Full story:

• Kari, Nan, and Nan Skelton, eds., Voices of Hope: The Story of the Jane Addams School for Democracy (Dayton, OH: Kettering Foundation Press, 2007).

Related resources:

• Longo, Nicholas, and John Wallace, "Creating Democratic Spaces: Jane Addams School for Democracy," CURA Reporter, June 2000.
• Post, Margaret, "Building Relational Culture at the Jane Addams School for Democracy," Family Involvement Network of Educators Forum, Harvard Family Research Project, Fall 2002.
• San, Bob, "Jane Addams School for Democracy Honors New U.S. Citizens," Hmong Times, June 1st, 2002.

This case contributed by: Matt Leighninger, 2007