Nafissatou Yattassaye
Life Writing, a course taught by Professor Elizabeth Mazzola in partnership with the HELPS Program (Humanities Experiential Learning Partnership Seminars), allowed students to examine the ins and outs of writing a biography while also analyzing writers who tell stories of a place or person in deeply unique ways. Throughout the semester, my classmates and I interned at The New Jewish Home. We worked closely with residents, documenting lives through memory, observation, and conversation. Our final projects became more than biographies; they transformed into reflections on history, identity, family, memory, and survival for all the residents with whom we built relationships.
Kaitlyn Murphy, a senior studying English Literature, participated in the City College Fellowship (CCFELLS) Program, the Stanford-CUNY Summer Research Program, and served as an archival intern at the Instituto Cervantes de Nueva York. After graduation, Murphy plans to continue her studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, entering their doctoral program in English this upcoming fall. Murphy’s final biography, Mountains like Sleeping Indians: Movement, Change, and Environment in the Life of Lillian Hall, was influenced by Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick and excerpts from Working by Studs Terkel. Murphy’s biography of Mrs. Hall aimed to maintain a sense of playfulness while exploring the breadth of history she experienced and contributed to throughout her 102 years.
Excerpt from “Mountains like Sleeping Indians: Movement, Change, and Environment in the Life of Lillian Hall”
“Her face radiated a kind of warmth, making up for the coolness of her black, bedazzled, oval sunglasses—her thick white hair pinned to the back of her head, forming a solid but lively bun.
‘Lillian, I have a visitor I think you should talk to… she wants to hear some of your stories,’ her roommate Crystal yelled out.
Mrs. Hall shuffled in her wheelchair across the room and into the tight, warm corner Crystal and I had been sitting in for about an hour.
‘I come up the hard way, in Virginia—apple country,’ Mrs. Hall began, as she ushered Crystal and me through her own personal odyssey.
We sat there focused, hanging onto every painstaking detail Mrs. Hall recalled with little hesitation and great conviction. Born in ‘apple country,’ the environment came alive through Mrs. Hall’s memories, recalling an ecological world that nurtured and raised her—a kind of nonmaterial upbringing forever imprinted upon her. Mrs. Hall remembered the winds that would shake the trees and drop apples, describing the apple stew boiling in the kitchen; the cows hiding in the bushes, with Mrs. Hall and her eight siblings waiting for the right moment to jump out at the animals; and finally, the mountains that lived in the backyard—shaping the winds and stealing the sun from the apples in the winter—laying upon the landscape ‘like sleeping Indians,’ watching Mrs. Hall come up.”
Peter Noel Tirado lived in China for 19 years before coming to City College to continue his writing career. After graduation, Tirado intends to pursue an MA in Language and Literacy at CCNY while continuing to develop his creative writing. Many elements of his biography on Sheldon Ostrowsky mirrored Fierce Attachments by Vivian Gornick. Like Gornick, Sheldon was the child of Jewish immigrants and grew up with old-world values centered around faith, community, and relationships.
Excerpt From “The New Jewish Home Class of 2026: Sheldon Ostrowsky”
“Like most city kids of his generation, life was school, then a quick afterschool ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ to mom, and then out with neighborhood friends for games of stickball, stoopball, or any other ball played on city streets and parks. Despite living at home, his upbringing often ran parallel to his sister’s and parents’ lives. They did not intersect.
‘That’s how it was,’ Sheldon often said.
Everyone he grew up with thought the same way and did the same things. Rarely did kids visit each other’s homes. Personal problems were never discussed, even among friends. The best way was to follow the ‘rules’ and maintain an outward, active life.”
Amelia V Cordero is an English Education student hoping to become a high school English teacher. She enjoys reading literary fiction and graphic novels and loves discussing music, especially artists like Ethel Cain and Lizzy McAlpine. Her biography, Jazz and the Blues, drew heavily on the Jasilyn Charger piece studied in class because it blended historical context with vignettes from the interviewee’s life. Through the historical context surrounding Harlem and her resident Lorrie’s experiences, Amelia’s work allows readers to see beyond what history books and the internet often present.
Excerpt From “Jazz And The Blues”
“L, her cousins, and friends would split into groups—older kids versus younger kids—and compete in dance battles. L specifically remembers the ‘end of the summer’ block party where everyone celebrated the end of summer vacation and the start of the new school year. Her group had been practicing all summer for this moment.
L remembers all the competitors wearing Gap sweatsuits, bucket hats, and LA Dunks. She wore an all-yellow sweatsuit with white and black LA Dunks. The older group danced to ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’’ by Michael Jackson while L’s group danced to ‘Tramp’ by Salt-N-Pepa.
L’s group unfortunately lost, and even after 40 years, she still believes the competition was rigged because the older group did not have a routine like theirs and only won because they were older.
These experiences contributed to the magnet that grounded her love for her family and community. Being outside was a significant part of L’s existence because it allowed her to build lifelong friendships and community ties.”
Stella Bolduc is an English major who has lived in New York City for four years after growing up along New Hampshire’s Seacoast. Bolduc is an avid reader of fiction and classic literature while also writing short stories inspired by curiosity, people, and memories from places she has traveled. Her biography of a resident named Alva, A Life in Applause, connected her life to Working by Studs Terkel. Like Terkel’s subjects, Alva found meaning and dignity through work, performance, and daily life.
Excerpt From “A Life in Applause”
“A.K. has developed a motto that should be heard and repeated: ‘Live like you’re the lead in your film because everyone else is part of the cast.’
She believes we should allow our scenes to unfold and appreciate the story as it comes.
Growing up in Harlem, A.K. immersed herself in dancing, singing, and performing from a young age. She experienced the aftermath of the Harlem Renaissance firsthand, taking in moments throughout the city at places like the Apollo Theater and Lincoln Center.
One afternoon while waiting for a friend outside a restaurant in the West Village, she accidentally stepped on Ray Charles’ foot.
‘Sorry, I didn’t see you there,’ she told him.
He responded, ‘Hey, that’s supposed to be my line.’
A.K. now spends her days celebrating the life she has lived while continuing to impact residents and workers at The New Jewish Home with her vibrant spirit and outlook on life.”
Tiffany Ly is currently a freshman English major whose passions include Asian American Pacific Islander advocacy and poetry. Through archival research with the Localized History Project, Tiffany advocates for integrating AAPI studies into public schools.
Excerpt From “ Notable N.I.! And Her Adventures in Japan and America ”
“N.I. was from Tokyo, Japan. N.I. loved to cook and eat. N.I. loved poetry.
‘I am ordinary. Nothing special,’ N.I. affirmed, tapping her plastic spoon against a plate of scrambled eggs.
I found this sentiment hard to believe.
What she could not do physically, she made up for in her wide, toothless smile. Her legs and left arm, unable to move, fortunately did not paralyze her spirit.
Born during World War II, N.I. heard the air raids over Tokyo before fleeing with her family in hopes of freedom. Later, she immigrated to America, carrying within her a bridge between Japan and the United States.
Her existence lived quietly between spoken language, meals, memory, and resilience.”
Angelica Y Perdomo is a senior at City College and an aspiring journalist and documentarian from the Bronx. Her biography, Our Harlem, focused on Harlem itself and what remains of the neighborhood today.
Excerpt from “Our Harlem”
“‘Yes, I grew up in Spanish Harlem, which is also called East Harlem. I grew up one block from La Marqueta, which we used to call the Park Avenue Market.’
For residents of East Harlem in the 1950s, La Marqueta was the center of the neighborhood’s world. You could smell it before you saw it. You could hear people arguing over prices, sharing gossip, and debating the week’s news.
Ripe plantains browned at the edges. Dried herbs hung from hooks. The smell of fish laid out on ice mixed with fresh bread cutting through the air.
Born from a political decision in the 1930s under Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, La Marqueta became five city blocks filled with more than 500 vendors selling meat, vegetables, tropical fruits, fabrics, books, candles, and herbs.
It was loud, crowded, and alive in the way that only places built out of necessity can be.”
And lastly, I am Nafissatou Yattassaye, a Malian-American studying Finance, Communications Ad/PR, and Journalism while also serving as a Public Service Fellow at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership. As an aspiring creative professional, I spend my time interning and volunteering with nonprofit organizations.
My biography, Still in the Game: The Life of Miguel Semidey Jr., adopted a style similar to Joy Williams’ piece “One, Two, Three, Four, Five…”. During week five of the Life Writing course, Williams’ piece outlined Gene Hackman’s life, challenging the public’s perception of him against the life he actually wanted to live outside of fame. Similarly, Miguel shared this same struggle: both desired freedom, normalcy, and a life beyond public perception.
Excerpt from “Still in the Game: The Life of Miguel Semidey Jr.”
“ Every Sunday, Room 724 changes. The room is usually quiet, filled with long stretches of silence, but once the baseball game comes on, M.S.J. becomes completely locked in. Even as someone naturally reserved, the game pulls something out of him. His eyes stay fixed on the television, his body leaning forward during close plays. At missed calls, he quietly shakes his head under his breath before suddenly clapping once, sharp and quick, as if he were still sitting in the stands instead of a nursing home room.
‘Yes, I love the game, I love the hustle,’ Miguel noted.
That connection comes from a lifetime shaped by baseball. Growing up in Harlem in a large household where money was limited, the game was never simply handed to him. He and his friends made baseball out of whatever they could find, using plastic bags as balls and broomsticks as bats in the streets and parks around the city. Even after playing for the Central Park Little League team Red, baseball never became a career. Financial struggles, responsibilities at home, and health issues like asthma forced him toward work instead of sports.
Now, when the season ends from October to February, the room feels quieter. He spends his days resting, watching television, and speaking with nurses or family. But when baseball returns, so does a part of him.”
Together, my classmates and I transformed observation into preservation. Through interviews, storytelling, and historical reflection, each individual biography became an act of remembrance, documenting lives, neighborhoods, identities, and histories that deserve to be seen, heard, and remembered far beyond the classroom, touching not only the lives of those at The New Jewish Home but also ourselves.