Nov. 13, 2013: Have you ever wondered how your great grandmother or any mother immigrating to nineteenth-century America provided food for her family in a strange world with foreign methods of food and preparation, especially given the barriers of language and custom?

Jane Ziegelman has tackled these culinary issues and the broader ones of heritage and legacy in her book, 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. This easy-to-read social history explores how five different immigrant groups brought their food passions to New York and managed the challenges of producing family meals in cold-water flats.

Selected by the directors of the town's three public libraries in Eastchester, this is the first book in the "One Book/One Community" Reading Program for Eastchester's 350th anniversary celebration in 2014.

97 Orchard places these families in a context, tracing the immigration movement from mid-nineteenth-century Germans to the Irish and then to the German Jews and, finally, to the Russian Jews and Italians who followed in the 1890s and early twentieth century. The work also includes a realistic look at life at Ellis Island and the unique food terminology of the foreign-born groups that has contributed to today's common English.

Copies of the book may be borrowed from the Eastchester, Tuckahoe, and Bronxville libraries. Tracy Wright, Eastchester's library director, pointed out that some are available on Kobo and Kindle for large-print readability. For library card holders, the book may also be reserved online through the Westchester Library System. Purchases may also be made at Womrath Bookshop in Bronxville.

As Swadesh Pachnanda, Tuckahoe's library director, explained, "The project's goals are to involve residents from middle schoolers to senior residents, from those who love cooking to those who simply love eating."

"With the book as a touchstone, there are many possibilities for community engagement: discussion groups, ethnic eating experiences, recipe sharing, cooking lessons, and trips to 97 Orchard Street (home of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum) and Ellis Island," added Gabriella Radujko, Bronxville's library director. The Bronxville Adult School included an outing to the Tenement Museum in its fall catalogue.

Eastchester's 350th anniversary will be celebrated with these common legacies throughout 2014, beginning with a lecture by 97 Orchard's author, Jane Ziegelman, on Sunday, January 26, 2014, at 3:00 pm, at the Sommer Center for Worship and the Performing Arts at Concordia College, with a reception to follow. This talk, part of Concordia's Books & Coffee Series, will kick off a yearlong array of events and programs that are open to all residents and described on the website eastchester350.org.

As part of the 350th anniversary's emphasis on the town's heritage of family, home, and neighborhoods, the youth services librarians of Eastchester, Tuckahoe, and Bronxville have developed a list of age-appropriate titles for town youngsters to listen to, to read themselves, and to discuss.

If you wish to contribute your ideas to this program's development, contact your community's librarian: Tracy Wright (Eastchester) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; Swadesh Pachnanda (Tuckahoe) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or Gabriella Radujko (Bronxville) at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The steering committee of Eastchester 350 Anniversary, Inc., the organization overseeing the anniversary celebrations, welcomes volunteer participants in all of its programming and encourages those interested to contact the group at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Pictured here: The cover of 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement.

Photo courtesy Linda Doherty, co-chair, Steering Committee, Eastchester 350th Anniversary, Inc.