Youngest Member of I Am An American Day

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Youngest Member of I Am An American Day

The Philadelphia Record’s caption for this photo reads “YOUNGEST Member of the ‘I Am an American Day’ Pagent [sic] was Poland’s representative four year old Lorraine Heliniak . . . shown here with Polish American SPAR Marny Ciszewski who has just received her naturalization papers” (May 21, 1944). Census records show that both young women were born in the U.S. but had one immigrant parent—one from Poland, one from Russia or the Ukraine.

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