November 15, 2006
Queens, N.Y. -
Mary Childers, Ph.D. brought her compelling story and unique
perspective to the University community on November 14, through an
interactive presentation titled “Growing Up Poor in New York,
Yesterday and Today.”
Based on her book Welfare Brat: A Memoir about her
experiences as a young girl in a poverty stricken household in the
Bronx in the 1960s, Childers led a discussion about some of the
issues facing the poor. Childers began by encouraging those
gathered to take advantage of their location in New York City to
discover the various boroughs they may not be familiar with.
Exploration could lead to great growth, she said. “I am convinced
that one of the reasons I can stand here today with a Ph.D. and the
confidence to speak in public is that as an adolescent I ventured
out of my very poor Bronx neighborhoods into cleaner, safer
enclaves and into Manhattan where I was stimulated and socialized
to speak and conduct myself in ways that made it easier to graduate
high school and go to college unlike five out of seven of my
siblings who all dropped out of high school,” she told the audience
with a sense of candor which carried throughout much of her
speech.
Photo Gallery
Using both the historical perspective of her childhood and
examples of contemporary issues currently being grappled with by
the poor, she encouraged those in attendance to share their
viewpoints on some of the material she presented. She read from a
portion of her memoir about her time as a 14-year old sales clerk
at B. Altman & Company Department Store on Fifth Avenue in
Manhattan and traveling from that upscale store to her
disadvantaged home. Along the way she was mugged and Childers used
the recollection to make a point about the lives of poor children.
“Poor children who take care of themselves have to grow up faster,”
Childers observed. “The whole meaning of childhood is different.
They are constantly fearful of their surroundings. There are so
many children growing up like that now, fearful of crime.”
She shared with members of the University community some of the
risk factors for the poor such as substance abuse, domestic
violence and family repetition of poverty while also focusing on
factors which have helped such as literacy; and social workers,
guidance counselors and teachers who take an interest. Childers
explained that as difficult as her childhood was, the Bronx of
today is even more harrowing for the poor. Evidence of that, she
said, was a recent New York Times report which stated that
the area is now the poorest urban county in the entire country and
that more than half the Bronx families headed by a woman and
including young children live below the poverty level. Given the
debate over welfare, Childers galvanized St. John’s students to
take the opportunity to educate themselves about the topic and the
various viewpoints. “One of the great things about being in college
is that you have the time for nonpartisan discussion to really look
at all the different opinions that come to bear about a particular
subject and decide where you stand,” she remarked.
Many in the audience applauded Childers' ability to overcome her
circumstances and go on to complete a Ph.D. at the University of
Buffalo, be published and have a successful career. She is a
consultant with over 20 years of experience working on
organizational change and equity, particularly in higher education.
She has most recently served as Senior Advisor to the Provost and
Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at Brandeis University and has
taught courses in English literature and women’s studies at
Dartmouth College, Oberlin College, the University of Cincinnati
and Vanderbilt University. While accepting the accolades, Childers
also sought to acknowledge that she has been fortunate. “I think my
story shows that some people can make it against great odds,” she
said. “I also think that there are a lot of people whose nature is
to identify with their communities to want to fit in, to do what is
going on in their communities. I know a lot of people who didn’t
make it who are great people.”
The event was co-sponsored by the Department of Student Life,
Office of the Provost, Discover New York and Core Curriculum,
Student Government, Inc. and the President's Multicultural Advisory
Committee and was part of the Fall 2006 Academic Lecture
Series.