For more than 150 years, Passaic, a small city in New Jersey, has been a magnet for immigrants seeking jobs and a new life. The common dream is for their children to become educated and successful. And that’s exactly what happens. Each generation is educated in the city’s school system, then moves to successful careers throughout our nation. This mobility allows a new flood of immigrants to take their place – the success process is again renewed as Passaicites Climb the Rainbow.

This book contains twenty-eight stories, each written by someone who grew up or worked in the unique City of Passaic during the last ninety years. These authors are representative of the many ethnic, racial and religious groups that live peacefully side-by-side in this city. Authors were given no guidelines but each one, somehow, was shaped by Passaic’s educational system and by its cooperative diversity.

Quoting from his chapter, Jose Rodriguez describes his reaction as a seven-year old on his first day in Passaic.

“...As I walked into the parking lot on Market Street, I entered a strange new world, exciting and alive with activity, life and color...black, white, brown, yellow and yes, even red. This was not the pigment on the walls of this parking lot but the skin tones of the youth in this piece of the world. That day in 1978 in the wonderful City of Passaic I saw the rainbow that would make up the road of my youth...it was the truest of melting pots.”