I'm An American Day -- Christmas in Freedom

Recorded Sound | Digitized | RG Number: RG-91.0082

Overview

Description: The I’m An American Day celebration is being broadcast from Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York on December 23, 1944. The temporary haven is an emergency refugee shelter for more than 1,000 Europeans. Newspaper columnist Dorothy Thompson reports on the displaced people’s first Christmas in America. She reports there are refugees from 14 different nations. Thompson describes their enjoyments of American freedoms despite being restricted to base. She explains why saving their lives should be important to the American people. Joseph Smart, War Relocation Authority Director of the Emergency Refugee Shelter, is introduced as the host of the celebration. A mixed choir made up of refugees sings a Yugoslavian Christmas Carol “A King Is Born to Us”. 15-year-old Vince Marinkovich shares why he and his family left Europe. He also expresses happiness and gratitude from all the refugee children. The choir sings “I Bring You Glad Tidings” in Czech. Gretta Weinstein, a wife in Fort Ontario, shares her immigration story. She thanks America for harboring her family. She states she wants to live and not be hunted by enemies. The refugees thank all Americans. The program concludes with a soloist and mixed choir singing “Silent Night”.
Date: Broadcast: 1944 December 23
Format: WAV

Physical Details

Language: English
Genre/Form: Radio broadcasts.

Rights & Restrictions

Conditions on Access: This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
Copyright: NBC Universal
Conditions on Use: Contact NBC Universal at www.nbcuniarchives.com for permission to duplicate and use this film or sound recording.

Administrative Notes

Legal Status: In process
Recorded Sound Provenance: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased digital copies of these sound recordings from the Library of Congress in March 2018.
Recorded Sound Notes: Vince Marinkovich’s oral history can be viewed at https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn512738 .

More information about I’M AN AMERICAN:
https://www.uscis.gov/history-and-genealogy/our-history/historians-mailbox/im-american
https://www.npr.org/2017/10/16/557338355/im-an-american-radio-show-promoted-inclusion-before-world-war-ii
Recorded Sound Source: Library of Congress - Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
File Number: Source Archive Number: 1786820-3-2 cut 1

Record last modified:: 2024-02-21 07:27:13
This page:: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn621035

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Also in "I'm An American" NBC radio broadcasts

I’M AN AMERICAN premiered in 1940 on the eve of WWII. The NBC radio broadcast was spearheaded by the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the U.S. Department of Labor to foster a “deeper consciousness of the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship and more tolerance for fellow american of all birthplaces”. The weekly program featured distinguished foreign-born citizens discussing their naturalization process, the meaning of “democracy” and reminding all Americans of the value/privilege of U.S. citizenship. Sound recordings of I’M AN AMERICAN are available from the NBC Radio Collection in the Library of Congress.

Date: 1940-1944

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I'm An American Day -- Christmas in Freedom

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