Great job, Ed. It speaks not just to Italian immigrant families and their descendants, but to just about every immigrant family. Terri's and my Eastern European Jewish grandparents took a similar journey to America near the end of the 19th century and put down roots in the midwest. We know nothing of their previous existence in the Pale of Settlement. My Yiddish speaking grandma single-handedly raised eight kids from three different fathers (and two other mothers) by selling rags from a pushcart on the south side of Chicago. I have thought of their travails often, and have been writing a letter (over the past 5 years) to my grandkids to help them understand our family's history and to experience the same gratitude that I have for their sacrifices. It has reached 100 pages! I plan to include a copy of your speech with it, so that they may understand the universality of the American immigrant experience. Thanks, Don Coustan
Don, this is a remarkable story. I'm pleased you shared it with me. I'm even more pleased that you have written the story for your children and grandchildren. I hope that you are planning to publish it.
There s an old saying that goes something like, "When an elder passes, a library is lost." That's why I encourage we products of immigrants to write their story.
Like you, Ed, I treasure my grandparents' legacy. With $5 in his pocket, my grandfather arrived in Brooklyn in 1905, with my grandmother, and with a trunk. He was a shepherd in Italy, and over time she had 13 children. They survived on grit and hope. Their legacy sustained my parents, and now me. It is a privilege and an honor to be Italian and their beneficiary. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Ed.
Thanks, Connie. There are so many stories of courage and survival. Wondering if I could ever do such a thing, I thank them whenever I think of them or look at pictures.
I still have a trunk as pictured, brought over from Italy in 1921 and today it is painted white and used for clothing storage…in our bedroom. A few pictures that were in it are still with a son of mine. Oh, it also had two leather handles but today it only has one due to rough handling since its arrival over 100 years ago!
Yes, it had been stored in a cellar along with all the paraphernalia that goes with wine making!
A similar story. So many descendants remember the same. Some years ago, Joe, I found an old satchel of theirs, and I was thrilled. When I opened it and tried to clean it out, it fell apart. There was nothing in it save for the enduring memories.
Thank you. A beautiful story. My grandparents & dad who was 17 months old came from Portugal to America many years ago with their trunk to start a new life in this beautiful country. It took strength, courage & devotion. They persevered for a better life. You are so right
Your acceptance speech for the RI Italian American Hall of Fame was a beautiful tribute to your courageous grandparents and parents. The poignant analogy of the trunk and what it represented was very touching. As we know, not all gifts come in wrapped packages. While immigration to the US was a gift to your grandparents; your superb medical care was a gift to the RI community.
Kudos to you for sharing family history and Italian traditions; the Hall of Fame award is well-deserved.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing so many great memories with us! My young grandmother one of twelve in a poor but loving family in Ireland was signed up by her parish priest to come to Boston to work as a domestic servant but somehow ended up on the East Side of Providence instead.
The family treated her kindly and she learned to read and write English and use a sewing machine. In 1906 she decided to return to Ireland to marry and subsequently had nine children. Worried about the safety of her older boys during the Irish Civil War in the early 1920’s and so she urged her older boys to immigrate to Providence. The family she had lived with in Providence as a young girl helped them find good jobs. My father was the youngest and he actually preferred to live in England where I was born. But after WWII his business faltered and he decided to move to RI at the urging of his older brothers so two of my siblings were born here. I had been brought to Ireland as an infant during WWII by my father and was raised there on the farm by my grandparents until moving to RI. I had a strong Irish accent and a Gaelic first name. My first year here was in first grade and it was not easy. But I soon came to realize how much harder my life would have been had I not the good fortune to have come to America.
Jim, this is a remarkable story of immigration to America, and I love it. I wonder if you are aware of the work of historian Ray McKenna. he has uncovered and reported on a trove of documents housed at The RI Historical Society. The records are from The Old Stone Bank where so many from Ireland opened accounts starting in 1840 or so.
There are also depositors from Italy starting in the late 1800s. Ray has researched them also and has recorded their history on Federal Hill. Because of Ray's work, I have presented the story of "The First Italian Immigrants to Rhode Island" to various organizations. We need to meet for coffee so I can give you some ideas of this monumental work of Ray's and maybe arrange for you to meet him. He is a remarkable man. He lives in CT.
Ed, your presentations are always so well presented and bring pleasure into the mind of the reader. The trunk that brought so much to you and America, the immigrants that crossed the ocean to enter Ellis Island and to this great land to give and learn and make America this country the best in the world. They came from so many countries and settled in so many cities and towns.
Thank you, Peter. The photo is of my grandparents and four of their six kids. The older two traveled from Pollutri, Italy with them when they immigrated.
Imagine!
We had trouble getting ours to the beach when they were young.
A wonderfully thoughtful speech to give on your induction into the organization, Ed! It makes me think of my nine-year old mother and her four younger siblings traveling alone to America from Scotland in 1928 to meet up with my grandmother who had arrived a few months previously with a small baby and my grandfather who had come a few months before them to find a job before sending for his family. I often think of when I first met you at Midway Memories sponsored by the RI HIstorical Society in 2018 and the wonderful care that you gave to my husband's Aunt Lucille thru the years. Our sincerest congratulations on your induction - well deserved!
Wonderful speech and story! I am fortunate to have my grandparent's trunk. I often wonder at the courage they must have had to journey to America, leaving everything familiar behind.
Thanks for saying it so well, Larry. Some criticize me of being too nostalgic. I take it as a compliment. Maybe you're right; it may well prepare us for the future. I'm not sure.
Wonderful read to start my day. Yes, the immigrant journeys of our grandparents are part of our own history and core, and important to keep dear. I am guessing if it was empty they transferred everything they brought from Italy and used the items to create their new homes and the memories you treasure.
Great speech Ed , I have 3 of those trunks that I had restored that will now remind me of the contents of your speech and how it shaped all of us Italian Americans
Great job, Ed. It speaks not just to Italian immigrant families and their descendants, but to just about every immigrant family. Terri's and my Eastern European Jewish grandparents took a similar journey to America near the end of the 19th century and put down roots in the midwest. We know nothing of their previous existence in the Pale of Settlement. My Yiddish speaking grandma single-handedly raised eight kids from three different fathers (and two other mothers) by selling rags from a pushcart on the south side of Chicago. I have thought of their travails often, and have been writing a letter (over the past 5 years) to my grandkids to help them understand our family's history and to experience the same gratitude that I have for their sacrifices. It has reached 100 pages! I plan to include a copy of your speech with it, so that they may understand the universality of the American immigrant experience. Thanks, Don Coustan
Don, this is a remarkable story. I'm pleased you shared it with me. I'm even more pleased that you have written the story for your children and grandchildren. I hope that you are planning to publish it.
There s an old saying that goes something like, "When an elder passes, a library is lost." That's why I encourage we products of immigrants to write their story.
Like you, Ed, I treasure my grandparents' legacy. With $5 in his pocket, my grandfather arrived in Brooklyn in 1905, with my grandmother, and with a trunk. He was a shepherd in Italy, and over time she had 13 children. They survived on grit and hope. Their legacy sustained my parents, and now me. It is a privilege and an honor to be Italian and their beneficiary. Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Ed.
Thanks, Connie. There are so many stories of courage and survival. Wondering if I could ever do such a thing, I thank them whenever I think of them or look at pictures.
I still have a trunk as pictured, brought over from Italy in 1921 and today it is painted white and used for clothing storage…in our bedroom. A few pictures that were in it are still with a son of mine. Oh, it also had two leather handles but today it only has one due to rough handling since its arrival over 100 years ago!
Yes, it had been stored in a cellar along with all the paraphernalia that goes with wine making!
A similar story. So many descendants remember the same. Some years ago, Joe, I found an old satchel of theirs, and I was thrilled. When I opened it and tried to clean it out, it fell apart. There was nothing in it save for the enduring memories.
Thank you. A beautiful story. My grandparents & dad who was 17 months old came from Portugal to America many years ago with their trunk to start a new life in this beautiful country. It took strength, courage & devotion. They persevered for a better life. You are so right
Another beautiful story of adventure and pride. Thanks for sharing.
Dear Dr. Ed:
Your acceptance speech for the RI Italian American Hall of Fame was a beautiful tribute to your courageous grandparents and parents. The poignant analogy of the trunk and what it represented was very touching. As we know, not all gifts come in wrapped packages. While immigration to the US was a gift to your grandparents; your superb medical care was a gift to the RI community.
Kudos to you for sharing family history and Italian traditions; the Hall of Fame award is well-deserved.
Christmas blessings,
Lora Kosten
You are most kind, my friend. Thank you.
I will reply to your email shortly.
Merry Christmas
Congratulations and thanks for sharing so many great memories with us! My young grandmother one of twelve in a poor but loving family in Ireland was signed up by her parish priest to come to Boston to work as a domestic servant but somehow ended up on the East Side of Providence instead.
The family treated her kindly and she learned to read and write English and use a sewing machine. In 1906 she decided to return to Ireland to marry and subsequently had nine children. Worried about the safety of her older boys during the Irish Civil War in the early 1920’s and so she urged her older boys to immigrate to Providence. The family she had lived with in Providence as a young girl helped them find good jobs. My father was the youngest and he actually preferred to live in England where I was born. But after WWII his business faltered and he decided to move to RI at the urging of his older brothers so two of my siblings were born here. I had been brought to Ireland as an infant during WWII by my father and was raised there on the farm by my grandparents until moving to RI. I had a strong Irish accent and a Gaelic first name. My first year here was in first grade and it was not easy. But I soon came to realize how much harder my life would have been had I not the good fortune to have come to America.
Jim, this is a remarkable story of immigration to America, and I love it. I wonder if you are aware of the work of historian Ray McKenna. he has uncovered and reported on a trove of documents housed at The RI Historical Society. The records are from The Old Stone Bank where so many from Ireland opened accounts starting in 1840 or so.
Much of what he has uncovered can be found on his remarkable website https://federalhillirish.com/
There are also depositors from Italy starting in the late 1800s. Ray has researched them also and has recorded their history on Federal Hill. Because of Ray's work, I have presented the story of "The First Italian Immigrants to Rhode Island" to various organizations. We need to meet for coffee so I can give you some ideas of this monumental work of Ray's and maybe arrange for you to meet him. He is a remarkable man. He lives in CT.
Ed, your presentations are always so well presented and bring pleasure into the mind of the reader. The trunk that brought so much to you and America, the immigrants that crossed the ocean to enter Ellis Island and to this great land to give and learn and make America this country the best in the world. They came from so many countries and settled in so many cities and towns.
Ed, you must tell of this photo.
Thank you, Peter. The photo is of my grandparents and four of their six kids. The older two traveled from Pollutri, Italy with them when they immigrated.
Imagine!
We had trouble getting ours to the beach when they were young.
Bravo! A great story, well told. Ed, you speak for many of us, and we thank you for your eloquent words. Grazie, Ron
Thank you, Ron. It is a story of which we should be proud, and one that needs to be told over and over. Buon Natale
A wonderfully thoughtful speech to give on your induction into the organization, Ed! It makes me think of my nine-year old mother and her four younger siblings traveling alone to America from Scotland in 1928 to meet up with my grandmother who had arrived a few months previously with a small baby and my grandfather who had come a few months before them to find a job before sending for his family. I often think of when I first met you at Midway Memories sponsored by the RI HIstorical Society in 2018 and the wonderful care that you gave to my husband's Aunt Lucille thru the years. Our sincerest congratulations on your induction - well deserved!
Thank you, Donna. They are remarkable stories of courage and pride and need to be told over and over.
Lucille exemplified that courage, and it was my privilege to be her physician.
Merry Christmas to You and Your Family.
Wonderful speech and story! I am fortunate to have my grandparent's trunk. I often wonder at the courage they must have had to journey to America, leaving everything familiar behind.
A huge heart full of courage, Joanne.
Great story Ed !!!
My grandparents lived on the first floor of our "triple-decker", I loved to see his photo albums from when he first came to the USA in 1914 !!
Yes, I too have many photos that I rescued. One is in this piece.
Wonderful story. You've mastered the ability to link the past with the present to be prepared for the future.
Thanks for saying it so well, Larry. Some criticize me of being too nostalgic. I take it as a compliment. Maybe you're right; it may well prepare us for the future. I'm not sure.
Wonderful read to start my day. Yes, the immigrant journeys of our grandparents are part of our own history and core, and important to keep dear. I am guessing if it was empty they transferred everything they brought from Italy and used the items to create their new homes and the memories you treasure.
Yes Leslie, " important to keep dear" and to record them. It is our story, our American story.
It was a great speech when I first heard it, it’s still great. You taught me to “open my trunk.”
Write your story, Mike. If not, it will be lost. Merry Christmas
Thank you. Same to you and your family.
Great speech Ed , I have 3 of those trunks that I had restored that will now remind me of the contents of your speech and how it shaped all of us Italian Americans
Terry Biafore
Thank you, Terry. We need to record our stories for our children and grandchildren. If not, they will lost.
Amen
You had me at "meatballs, sausage and gravy".
They were there. Really. No kidding. Kinda like King Tut's tomb memorabilia.