Narrative Essay on Italian Immigrants Essays

Narrative Essay on Italian Immigrants Essays Narrative Essay on Italian Immigrants Essay Narrative Essay on Italian Immigrants Essay Her parents worked hard to gain US Citizenship and come productive members of society. The values that were instilled upon my aunt years ago still hold true today for her and my family today. TOPICS: Italian American, The Great Depression, Working Conditions, Gaining US Citizenship. For my narrative I spoke with my moms aunt, I Like to refer to her as my aunt also, though I know this Isnt the proper title for her. Her parents moved the family here In the early sasss (1911 was her approximate guess on the year) from Italy. When the came here her oldest brother, was already 5 years old. After arriving here the settled onto a small town in Pennsylvania, named Wampum. Wampum was a small (approximately 1,200 residents) suburb of Pittsburgh. Wampum was full of other Italian immigrants so they fit right in. Her father began working at the local lime quarry, where all the other Italian immigrants in town also worked. The quarry produced the lime used by Portland Medusa Cement Co. Her mother stayed home and tended to the family and home. During the next few years, 2 more sons and 3 daughters were born. The first born once immigrating here, a son was killed at the age of 10, by an unidentified hit and run driver. This was very hard on the family, especially her mother; since he had been the first born In the US and had acted as the Interpreter for her. They all spoke Italian around the house, but her father spoke some English at work, and the children all learned English In school. Her mother also took some night school classes as the children got older. The classes taught her sewing, enough English to get by in daily life, and helped her to pass her citizenship test. Her father and brother also eventually became US citizens. My aunt talked about going to school and being made fun of for being both Italian/Catholic in a predominately White/Protestant area. The kids in elementary school would tease her by saying Hunky day go shinny walk, eat your macaroni/ spaghetti with worms on top which would bring my aunt to tears. Her mom would say for her to Just tell them l dont eat macaroni or spaghetti, I eat steak! Looking back she laughs about It but at the time It was very difficult for her. She also had many Issues once graduating High School flying a Job. Many people In the community adulterated against the Italians, both for their ethnicity and their religious beliefs. After graduating High School in 1943 she moved to Erie, Pennsylvania to work as a dental assailant. (l tank tins Is winner seen met near TLS husband, but she didnt want to talk about it to me. ) She was able to get this Job due to WI going on at the time and them now training women to do mens Jobs that were away at war. Another topic she touched on was The Great Depression of the sasss. They were very poor, but they didnt really notice it cause so was everyone else during these times. She talked about walking the tracks in town, looking for coal that had fallen off assign trains. They collect as much as they could and use it to heat their house all winter. They also would plant/tend to a garden during the warm months, which in turn provided enough vegetables to can and eat during the winter. They also had chickens which provided them more then enough eggs to bake what they needed. Her father had built an outdoor oven in the backyard to cook bread in. She remembers the bags that flour used to come in and how her mother would always make a tablecloth and plate mats out of the old pages. In 1939/1940 steel arrived in the area. Her brothers started working in that field. The one worked at B. Wilcox Tube Company, working with the steel they put inside tires. It was a good Job that he stuck with until his death. (she didnt say if it was a work related death) Her other brother worked in the Ellwood City Tube Mill. Her sisters were now old enough to also work and worked in various retail type stores in town. She was the only one who moved away from home. The lime quarry where her father was working was eventually stripped of all the lime. It was then turned into a growing facility for Snowman Mushrooms. This provided lots of new Jobs for the people in town, including the women. (She wasnt sure what the women exactly did there though. ) The last topic she touched on was the amount of religion the family was involved in. They were a very Catholic family, attending Church every Sunday, and also on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Her mother loved going to Church. The priest spoke Latin and he and her mother would talk for hours since Latin and Italian are one in the same language. She was very adamant on telling me and making sure I wrote down that all of the ids graduated from High School, the whole family did in fact become US citizens and also they received NO extra help during The Depression. I know from also talking to my other family members that Italians are big on family, and they like to help each other, but not receive much outside help. The boys in the family are treated like kings. This is very apparent when you look at both my moms brother and my brother. They both seem to do no wrong, and the women bend over backwards to take care of them and make sure their needs are met.