This book is Dr. Ameer’s reflection on growing up within the small community of Assyrian Christians in Yonkers, New York. He uses the year 1946 as an orientation for his discussion of the characteristics of that ethnic community, that city, and that time in United States history.

The book enables readers to reflect on those aspects of community critical to civic support and on the process of successful assimilation in mid-twentieth century America. The author describes the context of living in an ethnically, religiously, and racially diverse society. This will be of particular interest to the many people concerned with sustaining the idea of community in American life.

The author achieves his purposes by including chapters relevant not only to shaping the identities of the young members of that particular community, but also useful in understanding identity formation in other contexts. He explores the roles that the church, the neighborhood, the school and the recent history of the Assyrians—refugees from World War I, had in forming the context in which a youngster developed sense of self and of community.

Readers will encounter those forces within American society that foster the development of a vibrant and exciting bicultural identity.

John Pierre Ameer was an administrator and teacher in secondary schools from 1966-1985. Since then, he has worked in teacher education programs at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Simmons College, and is now Assistant Professor of Education at Clark University and Adjunct Faculty in the Foundations of Education at Worcester State College. He received his BA degree from Yale University in history and his EdM and EdD degrees from Harvard University in the history of education.