A Kid from South Philly

Mi Famiglia

Well I have always wanted to document growing up and introduce my family. Allow me to give some stats that some in the family might not know. When I started to reminisce I was in awe of what I had found with the help of my dearest Aunt Rose. I am recounting what she has told me and including it here in the opening of my fascinating family. Depicting their hardships and the tenacity they had to show growing up. They had many hurdles to climb over, along with my grandparents having to start a new life in a new world. I hope that this glimpse of a past era will show what is lacking in todays world and how the times have eroded family ties and loyalty.

It all began with the following account which is on my maternal grandparents side of the family, as given to me by my Aunt Rose. After they traveled across an ocean spending a month or more at sea they arrived at Ellis Island the place all emigrants came to. They, as all new citizens, were in awe of a great city and the organized turmoil of arriving here. Unfortunately from the beginning there was a level of discrimination against Italians as they were tagged with an acronym for not having papers. The term was without papers hence they became known as WOPS a word that later on became slanderous, and insulting. Now not only did my maternal grandparents go through this but so did my paternal grandparents and all who immigrated to this country. I often remember my grandmother telling how when she was younger and living in Pottsville Pa. how she would sometimes be made fun of and threatened when she was walking back from or to the store. Times were tough for most everyone, but especially so for immigrants not speaking the language well and having to cope in a foreign land; my grandparents on both sides had to go to school to learn how to sign their names and study hard to be a citizen. They persevered and struggled to achieve never losing site of the responsibility to family. They struggled to become Americans and brought with them a culture and work ethic that stood them in good standing throughout their struggles to acclimate themselves to the freedom they left their country for.

They had to first of all have a home and a job before they were let in and it is at this point that I incorporate the information my Aunt Rose gave to me. Relatives who were living in New Jersey in all probability stood behind them for employment and shelter until they could establish themselves in the states. Thus they then moved to Pottsville in Penna., since we do not have family records of this I make the assumption that this is what took place I have not been able to recover information from the Ellis Island archives but continue to search.