Immigration Packet
Text Needed
1.“Coming to America: The Story of Immigration” by Betsy Maestro
2.“I Was Dreaming to Come to America” By Ellis Island Oral History Project
3. Excerpt from Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman. (packet)
3. Excerpt (pages 4-5) from The Cat Who Escaped from Steerage by Evelyn Wilde Mayerson
(packet)
4. Excerpt from the Library of Congress book Immigrants by Martin W. Sandler, pages 30-34 (packet)
5. Excerpt from Arriving at Ellis Island by Dale Anderson, pages 7-9 (packet)
6. How Many Days to America? A Thanksgiving Story by Eve Bunting.
7. Ellis Island – What’s In a Name? (packet)
7. In their own words (packet)
8. Poem at the Statue of Liberty (packet)
9. Read Alouds: (2-3)
Looking at Liberty by Harvey Stevenson
Liberty by Lynn Curlee
Liberty! By Alan Drummond
The Statue of Liberty. First Facts by Marc Tyler Nobleman
The Great Migration by Jacob Lawrence
Who Belongs Here? By Margy Burns Knight
10. Family Stories (packet)
Margaret Feeny – My Irish Journey
Char McCargo Bah – Putting My Family Back Together
Byron Yee – Discovering a Paper Son
Jennifer Petrino – An Italian Family Returns Home
Alex Woodle – Searching for the lost Jews of Bohemia
Mary Sevilla – Secrets of my Ancestors
11. Immigrant Groups and Timeline http://www.ellisisland.org/Immexp/index.asp
12. Read alouds
The Inside-Outside Book of New York City by Roxie Munro
Brooklyn Bridge: Theme on an Old Variation by Joseph Stella
13. Poetry Selections
Brooklyn Bridge: Nightfall By D.B. Steinman (packet)
Brooklyn Bridge by Charlotte Zolotow (packet)
13. Three Writers’ Descriptions of the Brooklyn Bridge (packet)
14.Two Paintings by Joseph Stella with Artist’s Commentary (packet)
15. You, Whoever You Are- Walt Whitman (packet)
Don’t miss this web experience!
Explore Ellis Island
Meet Young Immigrants
Immigration Statistics
And Ellis Island virtual field trip
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/young_immigrants/
1. COMING TO AMERICA
THE STORY OF IMMIGRATION
BY BETSY MAESTRO
America is a nation of immigrants. Immigrants are people who come to a new land to
make their home. All Americans are related to immigrants or are immigrants
themselves.
Thousands and thousands of years ago, there were no people at all in the Americas.
Then, during the last great Ice Age, nomads crossed over a land bridge from Asia to
what is now Alaska. These early hunters wandered here more or less by accident,
searching for food.
American Indians, called "Native Americans," are distant relatives of the ancient hunters
who arrived in North America so very long ago. They were the first immigrants to arrive
in what was truly a new world.
American Indians, called "Native Americans," are distant relatives of the ancient hunters
who arrived in North America so very long ago, They were the first immigrants to arrive
in what was truly a new world.
As many more thousands of years passed, the descendants of the first hunters moved
around North and South America. They settled in small villages and later built big cities.
By the time Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, millions of people
lived in the great civilizations of the Americas.
After Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean, other European explorers came in search of
land and riches for their own countries. Stories about the fascinating "New World"
spread throughout Europe. In time, settlers followed the explorers' routes across the
great ocean.
These European immigrants came to make new homes in the Americas. They came in
search of a better life - one free of the trouble and hardship they had left behind. In their
native countries, they often had little money and could not worship God in the way they
wished. The immigrants hoped for freedom and good fortune in their new lives.
By about 1700, thousands of settlers lived in the Spanish, French, and English colonies
of North America. Other Dew Americans had arrived from the Netherlands, Sweden,
Germany, Finland, and Wales. As the population grew, the Europeans competed with
the Indians for land and food. The Indians were pushed of! their land and were often
treated badly or killed.
Not all immigrants came to America because they wanted to. Beginning in 1619,
millions of Africans were brought to the Americas against their will and were forced
into slavery. Instead of finding freedom, these Africans lost theirs, and most never
returned to their homelands, so very far away.
During the 1700s, settlers continued to come to the American colonies. Scotch-Irish and
Swiss settlers came, too, in search of a better life, wanting to have land of their own and
enough food to fill their hungry stomachs.
Their hopes for the future gave the immigrants courage to face the long and difficult sea
voyage. Early sailing ships took months to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The living space was
very cramped, and often there wasn't enough food or water. Stormy seas made
shipboard life even more miserable.
New arrivals sometimes settled near the ports where they first landed. New York,
Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, Baltimore, and New Orleans were all growing cities.
As early as 1700, about eighteen languages could be heard in the streets of New York
City.
People who had come from the same country usually stayed together. They felt more at
home near others who lived as they did and spoke the same language. Their new lives
were very hard at first. They had little money to afford anything except the most basic
necessities.
Toward the middle of the 1800s, other adventurous newcomers ,overcame part of the
westward movement. After arriving in the United States, they traveled on, by boat, train,
and wagon. They headed for new frontiers in the Midwest and the Great Lakes region.
Free land was offered to those who would agree to stay and farm. Nonwegians joined
other hardy settlers and founded farming communities in places like Minnesota and
Wisconsin.
Soon other pioneers moved even further west - all the way to California, where Chinese
and Mexican immigrants had already settled. These early Chinese settlers helped to
build the first transcontinental railroad, and when it was completed in 1869, westward
travel increased. The United States had become a vast nation, spreading from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
For more than two hundred years, most immigrants had come from northern Europe
and Scandinavia. By the end of the 1800’s, more modern steamships had shortened the
long transatlantic voyage. People began to arrive in the United States from al! over the
world in greater numbers. They came from Italy and Poland, Turkey and Greece,
Hungary and Serbia.
Although life was hard for new immigrants, it still was better than the perils and
poverty they faced in their native countries. So immigrants continued to come to the
United States. Thousands poured into the many ports, from New York City to San
Francisco, every year.
Before 1820, no ooe had recorded the exact number of immigrants who had arrived in
the United States. But the numbers of immigrants were growing so rapidly that some
states passed their own immigration laws to keep track of the newcomers. In 1875, the
United States government began to regulate immigration. It wanted to know more
about the people who were arriving daily on American shores. A number of years later,
the government began to limit immigration by saying that people from some countries
could not come to the United States at all.
Between 1855 and 1890, Castle Garden in New York City served as a depot for
immigration. More than eight million people passed through this port of entry. A few
years later, on January 1, 1892, the United States government opened an immigration
center on Ellis Island near New York City. Officials from the island would count and
question the new arrivals. They would see that those admitted were healthy and ready
to become useful citizens.
On the day that Ellis Island opened, the first person to step ashore was Annie Moore.
She was a fifteen-year-old girl from Ireland. She had traveled with her two brothers to
join their parents, who had settled in the United States three years earlier.
As big passenger ships entered New York harbor, the immigrants caught their first
glimpse of what they hoped would be their new country. They saw the Statue of Liberty,
a welcome and inspiring sight. The travelers were relieved that their journey was over,
but they worried about what awaited them on Ellis Island.
Inspectors from the island boarded the ships at anchor to check the passengers.
Wealthy passengers traveling first class were usually allowed to leave the ship right
away. The inspectors looked for signs of contagious disease among the others. Those
who were ill sometimes stayed aboard the ship or were sent to other islands to recover.
Those who seemed healthy were taken to Ellis Island.
On the busiest days, so many ships arrived in New York harbor that there were long
waits just to get to Ellis Island. Sometimes the wait was so long that people had to live
aboard ship for a few extra days. Once on the island, there was more waiting! With
thousands arriving each day, long lines formed everywhere.
First, the immigrants were given a quick examination by doctors. Those with health
problems were marked with colored chalk. The doctors would examine these persons
more closely. Some people were kept on the island for observation. After 1911, Ellis
Island had its own hospital to treat the sick.
Sometimes immigrants had permanent health problems that would make it hard for
them to work. This often meant that they would be sent back to their native country.
But most of the new arrivals passed inspection and moved on to the next step.
Now, the immigrants were asked a long list of questions. Inspectors asked their names,
where they were from, and how much money they had. Since most of the immigrants
did not speak English, they needed help in understanding and answering the questions.
Translators did what they could to help the inspectors and newcomers understand one
another.
Even though it was difficult, most managed somehow to answer all the questions.
Mothers often spoke for children who might be too little or too scared to speak. The
immigrants had to show that they would work hard and stay out of trouble. Usually the
ordeal was over within the day. When they received their entry cards, at last, the
immigrants could officially enter their new country.
During the busy years at Ellis Island, millions of immigrants passed through its massive
halls. World War I slowed the huge flow of people into the United States. In 1921, the
United States government passed more laws limiting the number of people who could
enter the country. These laws were unfair and were later changed.
Other laws were passed requiring new immigrants to have medical examinations before
boarding ships in foreign ports. As a result, Ellis Island was no longer very busy, and
finally, in 1954, it was closed. In 1990, Ellis Island was reopened as a museum. Today,
most immigrants no longer arrive by ship. Instead, they fly into the many international
airports in the United States.
All newcomers to America have a hard time at first. This is true whether they came in
the 1600’s or have just arrived. It isn't easy to start a new life in an unfamiliar country.
Most immigrants have to learn a new language and a new way of life. The jobs they
must take are often hard, with long hours. Sadly, new arrivals are often poorly treated
by other Americans just because they look or act differently.
New Americans make their lives a little better by finding friends from their native
country. As they have in the past, immigrants often group together in small
neighborhoods. It helps them to feel more at home in a strange, new country. Many
different languages can be heard on the streets of the ethnic neighborhoods in big cities.
Many people who come to the United States are refugees. These people are forced to
leave their homelands to escape persecution or the dangers of war and natural disaster.
From its beginning, the United States has taken in countless refugees from countries all
over the world.
After World War II, refugees from Europe arrived on our shores. In more recent years,
Southeast Asian, Cuban, and Haitian refugees have fled from homes where they could no
longer be safe. They seek protection and shelter in the United States.
Today’s new immigrants have come to the United States from Russia, Asia, Mexico,
South and Central America, the Middle East, they West Indies, and Africa. They are still
coming for the same reason people have always come – to make a better life for
themselves and for their children.
America has been called a great "melting pot," where many cultures, or ways of life,
have blended together. But today, Americans have also learned to celebrate their
differences. There, is a growing appreciation and understanding of the special character
and unique contributions of each cultural or ethnic group. Everyone, from the first
Americans thousands of years ago to those who came only yesterday, has left a lasting
mark on this great land.
Immigrants settled and farmed this land before it was a country. Others created a new
nation and founded its government. Immigrants built the cities, roads, and railways of
America. They have toiled in its fields, its factories, and its mills. Immigrants, too have
made the music of this land, written its books, and recorded its beauty in paintings. The
spirit of American strength and independence is the spirit of its people – the spirit of its
immigrants and their children.
Immigration Today
Before 1965, there were limits on the numbers of immigrants who could come to the
United States from many countries. These quotas, based on national origin, were
abolished by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. The United States began to
give preference to those who were refugees and those who already had family members
in the country. Between 1981 and 1990. more than seven million lmmigrilnts were
admitled. Most of the new citizens were Asians and Hispanics.
Today, nearly one million legal-immigrants arrive in the United States each year. Many
others enter the country illegally. These immigration do not have permission to come.
Because they are often desperate to leave political unrest or economic hardship at
home, they take great risks, traveling by boat to coming across the border with Mexico.
Smugglers sometimes "help" these illegal aliens to get into the United States. The cost is
very high - some die in transit, and many others find themselves virtual slaves when
they reach their destination. Although the government tries to intervene, illegal
immigration is hard to control.
3. Why did various groups choose or were
forced to emigrate?

Use the text on pages 4-5 from Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman as a
shared reading experience.
Text:
In the years around the turn of the century, immigration to America reached an alltime high.
Between 1880 and 1920, 23 million immigrants arrived in the United
States. They came mainly from the countries of Europe, especially from impoverished towns
and villages in southern and Eastern Europe. The one thing they had in common was a fervent
belief that in America, life would be better.
Most of these immigrants were poor. Somehow they managed to scrape together
enough money to pay for their passage to America. Many immigrant families
arrived penniless. Others had to make the journey in stages. Often the father came
first, found work and sent for his family later.
Immigrants usually crossed the Atlantic Ocean as steerage passengers. Reached by
steep, slippery stairways, the steerage lay deep down in the hold of the ship. It was
occupied by passengers paying the lowest fair.
Men women and children were packed into dark, foul smelling compartments. They
slept in narrow bunks stacked three high. They had showers, no lounges, and no
dining rooms.
Food served from huge kettles was dished into dinner pails provided by the steamship
company. Because steerage conditions were crowded and uncomfortable,
passengers spent as much time as possible up on deck.
The voyage was an ordeal, but it was worth it. They were on their way to America.
What Did Children Do During the Long Voyage to America?
The following excerpt (pages 4-5) from The Cat Who Escaped from Steerage by
Evelyn Wilde Mayerson tells of the ways that children of immigrants passed their
time on the long ocean journey. The book can also be read as a book club project by
the more able readers in your class. It has recently been re-issued by Houghton
Mifflin, Paperback Plus Series.
The children didn’t mind steerage, mainly because children never seem to mind
anything as much as grown-ups do. .. So, while the grown-ups complained, the
children made the best of it. They ran in a gang, little ones following the big ones,
most wearing garlic bags around their necks to ward off fever and vampires. Few
spoke each other’s languages, but it did not matter. If a word was not known, a tug
on a shirttail would do. They searched for land with telescopes made from rolled-up
newspaper. They played tag through a deck so crowded there was no place to sit.
They knocked over chessboards and got tangled in the ropes until the sailors chased
them away. Sometimes they scrambled below to the baggage hold, and once, even
below that, to the stokehold, where men with shovels heaped coal into fiery furnaces.
Once in a while, the gang of children ducked under the chains that blocked the
gangways to the upper decks, but they were usually caught and chased below by
third-class passengers determined to keep steerage people where they belonged.
4.Why did various groups choose or were forced to emigrate?
Use the following excerpt from the Library of Congress book Immigrants by
Martin W. Sandler, pages 30-34 as a shared reading experience.
Text:
As the immigrants first set foot on American soil, their faces revealed the sense of
anxiety shared by all strangers in a strange new land. Most cannot speak English
and most have heard frightening stories of the ordeal that awaits them at Ellis
Island.
The immigrants’ fears are justified. Once inside the Ellis Island facility, the newcomers are
forced to wait hours, sometimes days, before undergoing both a
physical and a verbal examination. They wait knowing that if they fail either test,
they will be sent back across the ocean. The physical examination includes an eye
test for trachoma, a disease common in southern and eastern Europe. About 2 % of
all newcomers fail this or some other test and are forced to return to their
homelands.
The verbal examinations are just as difficult, just as terrifying. Uniformed
immigration officers, with the aid of interpreters, fire a battery of questions at the
newcomers:
“Where did you come from?”
“Where are you headed?”
“Can you read and write?”
“Have you served time in prison?”
“Do you have a job waiting for you?”
Though most of the immigrants pass the test, it is a bewildering experience.
The Ellis Island experience is so bewildering that many immigrants actually lose
their names in the process. Often, when the immigrants state their names, the officer
writes down what he thinks he hears rather than what is said. When asked their
names, many confused newcomers are apt to state the names of their hometowns or
their former occupations instead. Some officers, on their own, change European
sounding names like “Valentin” to more American sounding names like “William.”
Thousands enter America with their names changed forever.
Finally, for most, the Ellis Island ordeal is over. The immigrants gather on the
docks awaiting the ferry boats that will take them across the harbor into New York.
Many will journey on to other American cities like Boston, Philadelphia, or
Baltimore, but hundreds of thousands will make their new home in New York. As
they gaze at the skyline of the world’s largest city, they can only imagine what lies
ahead.
5. “Why did people leave their homes to come to
America?”
Use the following text from Arriving at Ellis Island by Dale Anderson,
pages 7-9, as a shared reading experience first and then allow students to
read the text on their own to answer the focus question “Why did people leave
their homes to come to America?”
Text:
Why did so many millions of people leave their homes?...Some people emigrated to
escape religious discrimination…Other groups came to the United States because of
wars and civil conflicts.
Whatever they were leaving behind, most people thought that by emigrating, they
would find a better life. And no country was more likely to provide that life than the
United States of America. The country offered people political and religious freedom,
meaning that they could speak and worship as they wanted. It also had principles of
equality- at least for the white males – written into its constitution. There were
elected officials rather than monarchs running the country, and it was common for
ordinary people to own land.
People in Europe also heard about the opportunities that were available for
immigrants. Family members and friends who had already come to the United
States wrote home, making American life sound very attractive. There was plenty of
cheap land to farm. There was work building canals and railroads. There were jobs
to be had in the factories of the country’s growing cities. All of this led immigrants to
believe that the United States would give them a chance to get ahead.
Another factor that helped bring so many immigrants to the United States in the late
1800’s was that the trip became easier than in earlier years. Ships powered by steam
enabled people to make the ocean crossing in about two weeks rather than the
months it had taken previously in sailing ships. Shipping companies wanted to fill
their ships so they cut fares. Sometimes they conducted price wars with each other
causing the cost of fairs to drop to the sum of only a few days’ wages. Prices for
children were often especially low, which helped families make the move.
7. Ellis Island – What’s In a Name?
Source: www.ellisisland.org
Before the arrival of Europeans, the
Mohegan Indians called Ellis Island Kioshk,
or Gull Island. Then the Dutch West India Company purchased Gull Island from
the Mohegans and named it Little Oyster Island. It was used mainly for
harvesting oysters, which were abundant. By the time the English took over New
Amsterdam and renamed it New York in the 1660’s, the island was still just a place
to gather oysters.
Captain William Dyre was the first private owner of the island, he was also an early
mayor of New York. In 1686 Dyre’s Island was sold to Thomas and Patience Lloyd
and it became known as Lloyd’s Island. Then Lloyd’s Island became known as
Bucking Island. Then on November 18, 1774, Samuel Ellis purchased the island.
In 1765, the notorius pirate Anderson was hanged on the island and it was
sometimes known as Anderson’s Island or Gibbets Island (because gibbets was
an old term for gallows). Other pirates were also hanged on the island.
Mr. Ellis used the island as a tavern for fishermen. Mr. Ellis tried to sell the island
but no one would buy it. When Samuel Ellis died, the island went to his daughter.
Then in 1808, the U.S. Government bought the island for $ 10, 183.10 and called it
Fort Gibson.
In the meantime, immigrants were being processed at Castle Garden located on the
western tip of Manhattan Island. This station was not large enough to handle
increasingly larger numbers of immigrants. It was not well organized or
supervised.
In 1889 the U.S. government gained sole control of immigration and in April 1890
President Benjamin Harrison approved the use of Ellis Island as the site of the
new federal immigration receiving station.
Ellis Island: The Interview
All immigrants had to sit through an interview as part of the entrance process at
Ellis Island. The following are questions that officials asked each immigrant.
Sample questions:
1. What is your name?
2. What area are you arriving from?
3. Who paid your fare?
4. Have you ever been hospitalized for insanity?
5. Have you ever been imprisoned?
6. Are you an anarchist?
7. Are you in possession of at least $50?
8. What city are you traveling to?
9. Do you have a ticket to this city?
10.Do you have a job waiting for you?
7. In Their Own Words
“Farewell to old Ireland,
the land of my childhood,
Which now and forever I am
going to leave…
I’m bound to cross o’er that
wide swelling ocean
In search of fame, fortune and
sweet liberty”
From Song, “The Emigrant’s Farewell”
“I can remember only the hustle and bustle of those last days in Pinsk, the farewells
from the family, the embraces and the tears. Going to America then was almost
like going to the moon.” Golda Meir
Many immigrants had brought on board balls of yarn, leaving one end of the line
with someone on land. As the ship slowly cleared the dock, the balls unwound amid
the farewell shouts of the women, the fluttering of the handkerchiefs, and the
infants held high. After the yarn ran out, the long strips remained airborne,
sustained by the wind, long after those on land and those at sea had lost sight of
each other. Luciano De Crescenzo, “The Ball of Yarn”
“He asked me a lot of silly questions. You know what I mean? About America, if I
knew all about America. Well, I didn’t know anything about America.” Florence
Norris, English Immigrant
“Why should I fear the fires of hell? I have been through Ellis Island.” Written on a
wall at Ellis Island
“My first impression of the new world will always remain etched in my memory,
particularly that hazy October morning when I first saw Ellis Island… My mother,
my stepfather, my brother… and my two sisters…all of us together…clustered on
the foredeck for fear of separation and looked with wonder on this miraculous land
of our dreams. Passengers all around us were crowding against the rail. Jabbered
conversation, sharp cries, laughs and cheers – a steadily rising din filled the air.
Mothers and fathers lifted up the babies so they too could see, off to the left, the
Statue of Liberty…looming shadowy through the mist, it brought silence to the deck
of the Florida. This symbol of America, this enormous expression of what we had
all been taught was the inner meaning of this new country we were coming to –
inspired awe in the hopeful immigrants.” Italian immigrant Edward Corsi, 1907
[In the Shadow of Liberty, 1935].
“There was absolutely no chance for the common man to get ahead [in Europe]. You
just lived, and you finally died… We’d have meat about once a year…Once in a
while, Mother would buy one of those short bolognas, cut it up, put it in the soup,
and everybody would get a little piece. I used to think, ‘If only I could get enough of
that to fill my stomach.” Charles Bartunek (Czech immigrant, 1914)
“We went by train from Aleppo to Bierut. Then in Beirut we took a boat to Egypt,
and went on to Naples, Italy. We stayed on the boat overnight in Naples…After
that, we went to Milan and stayed there about three weeks in hotels. I forget why.
Then we went to Paris, and then Le Havre, then straight over here.” Helen Saban,
Syrian immigrant, 1920
“The open deck space reserved for steerage passengers is usually very limited, and
situated in the worst part of the ship subject to the most violent motion, to the dirt
from the stacks and the odors from the hold and galleys… The only provisions for
eating are frequently shelves or benches along the sides or in the passages of the
sleeping compartments. Dining rooms are rare…Toilets and washrooms are
completely inadequate.” U.S. immigration commissioner writing to President
William Taft, 1911
“When we arrived…the first class passengers were asked to leave the ship. The
second-class passengers followed. Then the announcement went around – all third
class passengers were please to remain on board overnight….[The next morning a
ferry[ would come to take us over to Ellis Island. And so there was this slight
feeling among many of us that, ‘Isn’t it strange that here we are coming to a country
where there is complete equality, but not quite so for the newly arrived
immigrants?” Hans Bergner, 1924
Source: From Arriving at Ellis Island. Landmark Events in American History. World Almanac Library
8. This poem by Emma Lazarus
appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breather free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
10. Family Stories (packet)
My Irish Journey
During the early years of the 20th century most of the Irish men who
lived in Portland, Maine worked the docks as longshoremen, including
for three generations the men in Margaret Feeney Lacombe's family.
Recently, Margaret began feeling that a part of her family's past was
slipping away. "When my father died, I lost all of that history, really
because there was no one left who remembered any of the stories;
no one to tell me where they came from. So I wanted to find out
Margaret's grandfather,
what I could while I could."
Martin Feeney.
Margaret was especially curious about her grandfather, Martin
Feeney. She knew he came to America as a boy from County Galway,
Ireland, but what she really wanted to know was the name of the
town he came from so she could go there herself. She started by
looking for Martin's marriage record. The Web site for the Maine
State Archives has a marriage index where she could find the date of
Martin's marriage. She requested a copy of the complete record, but
when the record arrived in the mail Margaret had the first of a series
of disappointments. It told the parents' names and said the groom
Margaret and her daughter
was born in Ireland, but didn't say what town he was born in.
searched the record books of
the Portland Longshoreman's
Margaret knew the approximate date of Martin's death, and that he Benevolent Society.
had died working down the longshore, falling into the ship hold.
Accompanied by her daughter Nicole, Margaret went to the Maine
Historical Society where she found a very unusual document for
pinning down the exact date of Martin's death - the minutes of the
Portland Longshoreman's Benevolent Society meetings.
After searching through all the entries for 1902, the year she thought
her grandfather died, Margaret found nothing. As Nicole continued to
browse through the ledger, she came upon an entry in 1903. Martin
The record book gave the
J. Feeney had died on March 25, 1903. "Moved, seconded, carried
exact date of Martin's death.
that the heirs of Martin J. Feeney receive $100 death benefits," the
record stated.
With this information, Margaret could look for the death record.
Luckily, the Maine Historical Society had a set of microfilms of vital
records for this time period, which Margaret used to find the death
record for Martin J. Feeney. The record told her that he had died at
Maine General Hospital, and gave his birthplace as Ireland, but didn't
say where. Another dead end. Margaret decided it was time to track
down her family in County Galway itself. At the Family History Centre
in Galway, a researcher helped her locate the marriage record for her
great-grandparents, Thomas Feeney and Mary Hernon. Finally, from
this record Margaret found the information she sought: the name of a
town. The Feeney's came from the small town of Lettercalla on Leitor
Moire Island.
Margaret and her family
And so Margaret and her family set out for Lettercalla. At the local
travelled to the ancestral
grocery store Margaret asked if there were any Feeneys left in
home in Lettercalla, Leitor
Lettercalla, and learned that an elderly man named Patrick Feeney
Moire Island.
still lived in town. Patrick Feeney, 80, spoke only Gaelic, but his niece
Peggy translated Margaret's questions. Indeed, a Thomas Feeney had
lived in the house Patrick now owned and had emigrated to America
many, many years ago. This was the home of Margaret's ancestors.
Thomas Feeney had lived in the Lettercalla house in the 1870s with
his wife, his children, his brother and his family. Fourteen people in a
one-room cottage. Times were hard; the stony soil as unyielding then
as it is now. Thomas and his family left for America. Patrick is the
grandson of the brother who stayed behind. Margaret remains elated
at discovering her family's history. "This is the same ground that my
ancestors walked on. This is the same house that they lived in. And
to know I still have family living there, that makes me feel very
connected to history and connected to the family and all of the long
line of Irish ancestors."
10. Family Stories (packet)
Putting My Family Back Together
Char Bah's search for her ancestors began at the Cross Roads Baptist Church
in rural southern Virginia. Char's family helped form the church in 1871, just
six years after being freed from slavery. In tracing slave ancestors, AfricanAmericans are challenged by a lack of records. Slaves often took the
surnames of their owners, which could change when they were sold, and
many documents were destroyed in the Civil War. Char knew the odds were
against her finding anything at all. She began by recording oral histories with Char began by recording
family members from different lines. Memories of older relatives, like her
oral histories with older
distant cousin Lazarus Bates, helped Char leap frog back into the 19th
relatives
century and provided names and details that would come in handy later on.
Oral histories also help bring the past to life, as happened when Lazarus
relayed to her this story about his grandfather: "And I went to my
grandmother's house and she was dressing grandpa. I could see just scars all
over his back. Whips, you know? And I asked my grandmother, I said
'Grandma, what is wrong with grandpa's back?' And she said, 'Slavery son,
slavery son, slavery son.' That's all she said to me." Char had a wealth of
stories, but she wanted facts to confirm them. The paper trail started back at A register from a funeral
the church cemetery, at a funeral in 1964 for Char's uncle, Felix Scott, and
provided a clue to Char's
his daughter who both died in a tragic drowning accident. People who
family history
attended the funeral signed a register and that was handed down to Char
when she started researching her family's history.
Char decided to pick her mother's line and try to get back as far as she could.
She knew her grandparents, Jessie and Kate Scott, but the register provided
a name she did not know: Jessie's father Clave - her great-grandfather. Char
went to the Halifax County Courthouse looking for records on Clave Scott.
Eventually, she realized that Clave was not his given name, but Claiborne.
Then she was able to locate Claiborne's marriage license from 1878, which
gave his age as 21. This put his birth date around 1857, eight years before
the end of slavery. It also gave her the names of Claiborne's parents - Jessie
and Oney. With this information, Char could enter the world of the slave
period. The next step was to look for Claiborne on an Old Slave Birth Record Char found Clave's
using Scott as the last name for any owner.
marriage record at the
county courthouse
At the Library of Virginia, Char continued her search. She was lucky because
in Virginia, unlike in other slave states, many owners reported slave births,
sometimes naming both mother and child. Under an owner named Martha
Scott was listed a slave named Leony, or Oney, and in 1857 the birth of
Oney's son, Claiborne. Back at the courthouse, Char looked for a will that
showed Martha Scott inheriting anything. In 1851 her husband had died, and
his will gave his wife Martha $1000 and his slaves. An inventory attached to
the will itemized William Scott's property, including household objects,
livestock, and slaves listed by name. There, Char found her great-great
grandmother Oney, who was listed as being worth $600, and her great-greatgrandfather Jessie, worth $200. "In finding this document I was very excited;
this was my very first slave owner I found on my people. It was also sad that Char found a will, listing
it was a price put on my people at that time. But I looked at it as a stepping the names and prices
stone because now I am beyond a wall I thought I might never be able to get placed on her great-great
beyond."
grandparents
After this breakthrough, Char went on to research other branches of her
family tree, turning up more slaves and owners going back to the early
1800s. One of her biggest challenges has been to track the surname changes
that often occurred when a slave was sold to a new owner. As of last count
she had documented a staggering 92 surnames used in the family over the
last two centuries. In the course of her research, Char learned much about
the plantations of Halifax County. She was even able to visit a surviving slave
cabin her ancestors likely built and lived in. "I feel very fortunate to be able
A slave cabin likely built
to enter part of their world. Genealogy allowed me to be able to step into the by Char's ancestors.
past and to feel what they had gone through, and to know that they tried
tremendously to survive. To be able to know who my ancestry is, is not to
bring shame to what they were; it is to elevate them to what they made
possible for the generations after them."
10. Family Stories (packet)
Discovering a Paper Son
For actor Byron Yee, family history provides the inspiration for his one-man
show. "My name is Byron Yee. I am the second son of Bing Quail Yee. I am the
son of a paper son.
"My father was an immigrant. He came to America to escape the Japanese
invasion of China in 1938. He was 15 years old and he didn't know a word of
English. He didn't have a penny in his pocket and he was living in a crowded
apartment in New York City with relatives he had never met. I know nothing
about my father's history, about his past."
With little to go on, Byron set out to decipher his father's story. He started at
Angel Island, located in the middle of San Francisco Bay. "Angel Island has
been called the Ellis Island of the West and for the most part, all the Chinese
who came to the United States came through here, from a period of 1910 to
1940. But the rules were a little bit different. European settlers, Russian settlers
were processed within an hour. The Japanese were kept for one day. But the
Chinese were detained anywhere from three weeks to two years for their
interrogations. So this was not so much the Ellis Island of the West for the
Chinese; it was more like Alcatraz."
In 1882, Congress passed a law prohibiting Chinese laborers from immigrating
to the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the only immigration law
ever based on race alone. But people found ways around the act: US law states
that children of American citizens are automatically granted citizenship
themselves, no matter where they were born. Taking advantage of that
opening, some immigrants claimed to be legitimate offspring of US citizens
when in fact they were not. These individuals, mostly male, were called paper
sons.
Byron's next step was to find his father's immigration file. The National Archives
regional office in San Bruno, California contains thousands of files related to
Angel Island. While Byron did not find his father's records there, he did find
those of his grandfather, Yee Wee Thing. In one of the documents in his
grandfather's file, Byron found a cross reference to his father, Yee Bing Quai.
To avoid the scrutiny of Angel Island, Byron's father had sailed through Boston.
Byron found his file at the National Archives in Massachusetts.
"My father at 15. He is asked 197 questions: 'When did your alleged father first
come to the United States?' 'Have you ever seen a photograph of your alleged
Most Chinese immigrants
came through Angel Islan
in San Francisco Bay.
The 1882 Chinese Exclusi
Act prohibited the
immigration of Chinese
laborers.
Yee Bing Quai's immigrati
file.
father?' 'How many trips to China has your alleged father made since first
coming to the United States?'" The lengthy interrogation made Byron suspect
that his father was in fact a paper son. Maybe this was why he never knew his
father's story.
Though Byron's mother knew very little about her husband's past, she did have
an old photo, which she sent to Bryon - a portrait of his father's family back in
China. Byron learned that the baby on the left was his father. The boy in the
middle was Yee Wee Thing, not Byron's grandfather at all, but his uncle.
"It kind of floored me because all of a sudden it made a lot of sense - why he
was the way he was, why he never really talked about his past, why he was
very secretive. It explained a lot about him and about his history.
"You see my story is no different from anyone else's… In all of our collective
past, we've all had that one ancestor that had the strength to break from what
was familiar to venture into the unknown. I can never thank my father and
uncle enough for what they had to do so that I could be here today. One wrong
answer between them and I would not be here."
Byron's father and his fam
in China
10. Family Stories (packet)
An Italian Family Returns Home
Jennifer Petrino's family is Italian, but they've been in America for
three generations, and over time, the connection to Italy has
grown weaker. As she was looking at some old home movies one
evening, Jennifer realized that she wanted to know more about
her Italian heritage. "I called my grandmother and asked her
everything I could think of to ask - all the names of her sisters
and brothers and her grandparents and great-grandparents, and
anything she could remember, and it just kind of snowballed from Jennifer found documents
about her family at a
there."
genealogy center.
Next, Jennifer began looking for documents. The first document
she found was copy of the 1920 Census listing her great
grandmother's family. To find out more about her great
grandmother, Caterina, Jennifer went to her local Family History
Center, a genealogical resource run by the Mormon Church.
In the microfilmed records of the ships arriving at Ellis Island,
Jennifer learned much about her family's immigration history. The
A surprising finding: a
first surprise: "Through my research I learned that my family 2nd sister named
Caterina - went back and forth to Italy three times total. Sort of
Caterina.
like birds of passage, they go back and forth and they visit their
family and come back, and sometimes the family comes with them
and stays."
The next surprise: on the ship with Jennifer's great grandmother
the last time she arrived was a second Caterina with the same last
name. Jennifer had found her great-grandmother's younger sister
Caterina, who returned to Sicily after a brief stay in America. She
was 18 years younger than her sister, and in a decision that would
The fountain in Misilmeri,
cause some confusion later on, their parents had chosen to name
where the two Caterina's
them both Caterina.
lived.
Now Jennifer wanted to know if the younger Caterina had any
descendants in Italy. She wrote to the Civil Records Office in
Misilmeri, a small town in Sicily, which she knew from her
grandmother was the ancestral home. The reply came, giving the
name of the younger Caterina's daughter - Francesca
Saglimbene.
Jennifer wrote to her, and a visit was arranged. A few months
Barbara and Jennifer, the
later, Jennifer travelled 5000 miles from her Florida home to the
grand-daughters of the
small town of San Giorgio su Legnano, outside of Milan, to meet
two Caterinas, reunited
the younger Caterina's daughter, Francesca, and her grandfor the first time in 80
daughter Barbara. Jennifer brought along old photographs given to
years.
her by her grandmother. On the back of one, her grandmother
had written "the fountain where grandma Aiena went to get
water." This was the fountain in Misilmeri on the piazza where the
two Caterina's had lived as children. The next day, the two
families went to Misilmeri, and made the fountain their first stop.
At the Civil Records Office in Misilmeri, Jennifer learned more
details about her family tree. She also learned that dozens of her
relatives still lived in Misilmeri, and the mayor had invited them all
to the town hall for a celebration of the unique bonds between
Italy and America.
Francesca's grand-daughter, Barbara, expressed the joyful mood
of the reunion: "We were two families, and now we are re-unified.
We are all together now and it is really beautiful that we have a
piece of us also there in America."
Searching for the lost Jews of Bohemia
Alex Woodle's great-grandfather, David, came to America from Bohemia in the mid-19th century. "He died
when my father was 12. My aunt gave me this amazing document, which was the marriage vows of her
grandfather and grandmother-David Woodle and Theresa Simons. It's an original document dated 1869. And I
remember looking at the signature and it's a beautiful signature of my great-grandfather. I started to wonder
about the man."
Alex knew that David Woodle died in Chicago so he began by requesting a death certificate from the Cook
County Department of Vital Statistics. When the certificate came in the mail four or five weeks later, it
identified David Woodle as a capmaker and gave the address he lived at, the native country and his burial
place - New York. But where in New York? In which of the hundreds of Jewish cemeteries could Alex find his
great-grandfather's grave? He hoped to discover some clues at the Municipal Archives in New York. Alex
started with the New York City Directories, searching for Woodles. In the 1890 Directory he found Bernhard, a
peddler; Leopold, a stenographer; and Morris, a capmaker. In 1893, Leopold was still there, but what
happened to Bernhard and Morris? On a hunch, Alex looked for a death certificate for Morris in 1892 - Morris,
who was a capmaker in the same generation as David Woodle. Maybe he's related to David and maybe the
cemetery listed on his death certificate - Bayside Cemetery in Queens - is a link to David's final resting place.
Alex's hunch proved correct. The cemetery confirmed that David was among a number of Woodles buried
there. That weekend Alex and his brother visited the gravesite, which had been lost to the family for almost
100 years? "I just feel it's very important to know who our ancestors were. Looking at a signature wasn't
enough for me. I had to make a connection to where this man lived and where he died." But Alex's search was
not over. A vital question remained: where in Bohemia had David Woodle lived? At the New England Historic
Genealogical Society, a set of books lists 19th century passengers from Germany and surrounding countries
and the ships they came over on. After looking through 24 volumes and finding nothing, in volume 25 Alex
came across a familiar name though with a different spelling - Wudl. Although Alex never found David in the
index, he did find a Moses and a Simon Wudl, both from the village of Ckyne in Bohemia. "This could be the
home village of the family." To prove his intuition that Moses and Simon were David's brothers, Alex took a
trip to Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. In Prague, he enlisted the help of researcher Julius
Müller. The State Archives in Prague houses the vast and detailed records kept during the period when
Bohemia was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the index of births for Ckyne, Alex found the evidence
he sought. A set of records for David Woodle confirmed that he was from Ckyne and that he had brothers
named Simon, Moses and Ignatz. The records also revealed the names of David's parents, Jeremias Wudl and
Maria Wudl, the daughter of Jacob Fantes.
Of course, there are no Wudls or Fanteses left in Ckyne. The synagogue, built in 1828, stands abandoned. The
Jewish families in Ckyne were all deported to concentration camps under the Nazi occupation. At the Jewish
cemetery stands a memorial to the Jews killed in the Holocaust, including two members of the Fantes family.
"To go inside is very moving. It's the most emotional part of the trip I've made so far. It's very personal, not
just for my family members, but for those people who lived in this quiet little village - for the Schwagers, the
Fanteses, the Becks, the Kohns. But they're here in spirit."
Secrets of my Ancestors
In 1915, revolution engulfed Mexico. Caught in the
crossfire was the family of Sister Mary Sevilla. The
revolutionary Pancho Villa kidnapped Mary's grandfather,
Manuel Sevilla, and his entire family, because Villa wanted
Manuel, an artist and engraver, to do the portraits for the
new currency. But Manuel managed to escape Villa's
guards. Along with thousands of other refugees, the Sevilla
family crossed the border into the United States and
started a new life in California.
The drama of her family's journey to the United States
inspired Mary to explore her ancestry. At the Family
History Center in Lakewood, California she has scoured
hundreds of microfilms to find Mexican church records of
the Sevilla line. Though she has found records for her
family dating back to 1731, in all her searching one person
eluded her - her grandmother Rita. Rita died before the
revolution, leaving behind Manuel and six children who
barely knew her. But those children kept her memory alive
by passing along her name.
For family historians, the female line is often hard to
document. Mary began the search for her grandmother
with the church record of the wedding of Manuel and Rita.
"When I was growing up, I always heard that my
grandmother was Rita Tressarrieu. And I'm looking at it
[the record], thinking someplace I'm going to find
Tressarrieu in this document. But it's not here anyplace."
Instead Rita's maiden name is listed as Sánchez - a name
Mary had never heard before. Who was Rita's real father?
Unless Mary could find out that part of her family line
would remain hidden.
To uncover Rita's past, Mary travelled to Mexico. Her first
stop was the Civil Registry where birth and death records
for Mexico City have been kept since 1859. Mary knew that
Grandma Rita had a child named Gloria who died as an
infant. This record should list Rita's maiden name. When
Mary received the document, she saw that it listed the
baby's father as Manuel Sevilla; the mother, Rita
Tressarrieu.
Next, to prove that Rita's father was Tressarrieu, Mary
needed to find Rita's baptism record. According to the
wedding document, Rita was baptized at Santa Veracruz
Church in downtown Mexico City. Mary hoped to find Rita's
record somewhere in the church's archives, which date
back to the Spanish Conquest. Mary believed Rita was born
in 1873 and would have been baptized within six months
of her birth. Without an exact date, hundreds of records
had to be examined carefully for the names Tressarrieu,
Sánchez, or simply Rita. After many hours of fruitless
search, the baptism records revealed nothing. However,
Mary's grandmother, Rita
Sevilla.
When Mary found the
wedding records for her
grandparents, the mystery
deepened.
Rita was baptized in Santa
Veracruz Church, Mexico City.
This may be Rita's birth
record.
the church's baptism books separate legitimate from
illegitimate births. Could Rita be there?
Finally, a breakthrough: a baptism record for an
illegitimate child named María Rita; the last name,
however, was not Tressarrieu, nor even Sánchez, but
Gálvez. "This has to be her. I've heard for a long time that
Rita's mother was named Jesús Daniel, but this is a big
surprise, this Antonio Gálvez. I would suspect that Rita
was born to a mother out of wedlock and possibly it was
not okay to be pregnant and unmarried and so that she
went to live with her aunt. The aunt was married to a man
named Tressarrieu. I'm assuming since she was raised in
the Tressarrieu household that it was easier to say
Tressarrieu; that it was their child. When the mother did
get married that's when I think she probably married
someone named Sánchez."
After years of searching, Mary believes she may have
found at last the answers to her grandmother's identity.
"For me, it's just the excitement of looking and then
finding them on a record. They really existed, they have
their place in history."
12. Poetry Selections
BROOKLYN BRIDGE: NIGHTFALL
By D. B. Steinman
(Steinman and his firm were in charge of the major rehabilitation
of the Brooklyn Bridge in the mid 1900s.)
Against the city's gleaming spires,
Above the ships that ply the stream,
A bridge of haunting beauty stands –
Fulfillment of an artist's dream.
From deep beneath the tidal flow
Two granite towers proudly rise
To hold the pendent span aloft –
A harp against the sunset skies.
Each pylon frames, between its shafts,
Twin Gothic portals pierced with blue
And crowned with magic laced design
Of lines and curves that Euclid knew.
The silver strands that form the net
Are beaded with the stars of night
Lie jewelled dewdrops that adorn
A spiderweb in morning light.
Between the towers reaching high
A cradle for the stars is swung;
And from this soaring cable curve
A latticework of steel is hung.
Around the bridge in afterglow
The city's lights like fireflies gleam,
And eyes look up to see the span –
A poem stretched across the stream
Brooklyn Bridge
Glittering bridge
curved like a harp
with your necklace of sparkling lights,
how you shine through the dark
of these silent summer nights. -Charlotte Zolotow
III. Three Writers’ Descriptions of the Brooklyn Bridge
I.
Slowly, the gaunt stone towers rose above the harbor – bringing an entirely
new scale to the two cities. Rising above the rooftops like visitors from
another planet, the 120-million-pound structures were the most massive
man-made objects on the North American continent.
From New York an Illustrated History by
Ric Burns and James Sanders with Lisa Ades
(Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2003) p. 171
II.
It was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It was also huge; its
towers dwarfed the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines…The bridge also
symbolized the country at a moment when it was becoming more modern,
industrial, and urban.
From an essay by Ellen M. Snyder-Grenier in
Frames of Reference, Looking at American Art,
1900-1950 edited by Beth Venn and Adam Weinberg
(Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1999) p.117
III.
When the perfected East River Bridge shall permanently and uninterruptedly
connect the two cities, the daily thousand who cross it will consider it a sort of
natural and inevitable phenomenon, such as the rising and setting of the sun.
Thomas Kinsella from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle From New York an
Illustrated History by Ric Burns and James Sanders with Lisa Ades (Alfred A.
Knopf, New York, 2003) p. 181
Two Paintings by Joseph Stella with Artist’s Commentary
http://bertc.com/subone/stella.htm
Joseph Stella
The Brooklyn Bridge: Variation on an Old Theme
1939
The Whitney Museum of American Art
I was thrilled to find America so rich with
so many new motives to be translated into
a new art…steel and electricity had created
a new world.
Brooklyn Bridge had become an ever growing
obsession ever since I had come to
America…it impressed me as the shrine
containing all the efforts of the new
civilization of AMERICA.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MUSEUM/Armory/stella.html
Joseph Stella
Battle of Lights, Coney Island, Mardi Gras
1914
Yale University Art Gallery
And then one night I went on a bus ride to Coney Island…that
incident was what started me on the road to success. Arriving
at the island I was instantly struck by the dazzling array of
lights…I was struck by the thought that here was what I had
been unconsciously seeking…
Joseph Stella’s Life Notes (c. 1921 – 1925)
Born in Italy (South, Muro Lucano) forty five years ago. Classical education and at
17 in America. A great bent for the graphic arts since childhood. Scarcely any
academic training – mostly a persistent direct drawing from life in the parks, on the
elevated trains, in the public libraries…One year in the life class of the New York
School of Art…First exhibition at the Art Student’s League – Head of an Old Man –
and contribution of drawings to the Outlook, Everybody’s Magazine, Century, etc.
Working in Pittsburgh for the Survey in 1908. Result – scores of drawings of the
steel mills and working men published by the Survey and exhibited in Pittsburgh,
New York, Chicago – then in Italy and France for five years. Three paintings in
famous Armory Show in 1913 and a few months after one man show at the Italian
Club which attracted great attention and drew large praises from the press. One
year after a big canvas entitled Coney Island – Mardi Gras: Battle of Lights canvas
which exhibited all over the United States with all the first modern paintings.
Made the name of the artist known here and abroad – Since then three one man
shows and innumerable contributions to the most important shows in this country.
Among the pictures which had the greatest success, mostly all large canvases….The
Brooklyn Bridge…
From Joseph Stella by Barbara Haskell (Whitney Museum of American Art, 1994)
Photographs and Painting of the Brooklyn Bridge
Images may be found on accompanying websites.
http://www.eakinspress.com/books/webrooklynbridge.html
Walker Evans
The Brooklyn Bridge
Walker Evans Archives
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.afterimagegallery.com/brooklyneisen1.htm
Alfred Eisenstaedt
http://www.afterimagegallery.com/brooklynroth.htm
Harold Roth
http://www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/viewOne.asp?dep=21&viewMode=0&item=49%2E70%2E105
John Marin
Brooklyn Bridge
Metropolitan Museum of Art
http://www.jimloy.com/arts/hassam17.jpg
Childe Hassam
A Winter Day on Brooklyn Bridge
Berry-Hill Galleries
http://images.google.com/images?q=okeeffe%20%2B%20brooklyn%20bridge&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&tab=wi
Georgia O’Keeffe
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Museum
You, Whoever You Are
You, whoever you are!...
All you continentals of Asia, Africa, Europe,
Australia, indifferent of place!
All you on the numberless islands of the
archipelagoes of the sea!
All you of centuries hence when you listen
to me!
All you each and everywhere whom I specify
not, but include just the same!
Health to you! Good will to you all, from me
and America sent!
Each of us is inevitable,
Each of us is limitless – each of us with his
or her right upon the earth,
Each of us allow’d the eternal purports of
the earth,
Each of us here as divinely as any is here.
- Walt Whitman