The Immigrant 2004

based on the play The Immigrant: A Hamilton Family Album by Mark Harelik

The true story of Haskell Harelik, a young Russian Jew who instead of passing through Ellis Island, enters through Galveston and struggles to assimilate into a rural community in Texas. Commonly referred to as the 'Galveston Movement,' Harelik's story begins like so many others in 1909, peddling a pushcart full of bananas and wares - but his fate is changed forever when he asks Milton, a small-town banker, and his Southern Baptist wife for a drink of water from their well. Harelik's compelling story of opportunity, success and the challenges of educating a new community is the essence of the American experience.