Great Falls Youth Corps Visits Washington, DC

At 6:20am on August 22nd, 2011, the sunlight had just begun to peek over the gray skies of a cool August morning. The air was crisp with excitement as thirty high-school aged Patersonians assembled in the Paterson Museum parking lot on Market Street. At 6:45am the Platinum Tours Coach bus was ready for departure and the eager members of the Paterson Great Falls Youth Corps (GFYC) began their journey to the nation’s capital.

For some members of the group, this was their first trip to Washington, DC. The agenda was jam-packed with appointments that included an appointment with Leonard Zax from the Hamilton Partnership, a tour of the Capitol building, a visit to the Air and Space Museum, a meeting with a National Park Service representative, a tour of the monuments—highlighting the new MLK Jr. Memorial, a visit to the Library of Congress, and the climax of the trip—a session with Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff and Paterson native—John Lawrence.

The trip began with a visit to the National Building Museum with Leanord Zax, the Director of the Hamilton Partnership. There, he led discussion on United States history with an emphasis on Alexander Hamilton—one of our nation’s Founding Fathers and the founder of Paterson. Many parallels were drawn between Paterson and Washington, DC. The students learned that Pierre Charles L’Enfant—the civil engineer that designed the city of Washington, DC also designed the city of Paterson. The students also learned that Henry Bacon, the architect that designed the Lincoln Memorial also designed Paterson’s Danforth Library on Broadway. The visit with Mr. Zax at the National Building Museum revealed Paterson’ rich history tied to the nation’s capital.

The next stop on the trip was the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. While learning about the science of aviation and space flight, the trip was interrupted by the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit the east coast. After learning that the rumbling and wobbly display planes and space shuttles were not a scheduled part of the museum demonstration, the group evacuated the museum and went to a meeting with Gay Vietzke, the Northeast Region Deputy Regional Director for Park Operations. Ms. Vietzke listened to the students’ stories about what the Great Falls National Park meant to Paterson’s youth, asked for suggestions on what the students would like to see in the park, and described the process of drafting a General Management Plan for the new national park in Paterson. The students were extremely excited about this session, because they had the opportunity to reflect on why the GFYC program was important to them and give suggestions for features in the future park.

The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly meeting Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff John Lawrence. A graduate of School #20 and Eastside High School, Mr. Lawrence is a proud Paterson native. He grew up on 32nd Street and Park Avenue before attending Oberlin College as an undergrad and University of California at Berkley for his PhD. Since the 1980’s, he has been the driving force behind many pieces of important national legislation. Mr. Lawrence made it clear to the group that one’s past circumstances does not dictate what one can achieve in life. He advised them to get as much education as they can, and that would be the key to their success.

While at the National Building Museum one quote stood out on the wall: “Make no little plans for they have not the power to stir men’s minds. –Willis Polk”. If the students learned anything on this trip, they learned the importance of big dreams. It was Alexander Hamilton’s big dream that designated Paterson as the nation’s first industrially planned city, and only big dreams of our new national park will ensure its success.