Progress
My American journey begins with Great Grandfather Gaetano Capparelli. He left his hometown of Norcia, Italy in 1906. His ship, the Lombardia, left the Port of Naples and arrived at Ellis Island on September 7, 1906. He was only 17 years old. His cousin Benedetto met him and brought him to McComas, West Virginia. This would later become his hometown. Gaetano’s older brother, Olivio, came a month later and arrived on October 21, 1906. My Zio Olivio was 23 years old. My Great Nonno went to school in the United States and enjoyed the opportunities that he would not have had if he had stayed in Italy. Both of them remained in the United States until World War I broke out. They were drafted in the Italian military and were forced to return to Italy. After the war was over, my Great Nonno met my Great Nonna Eva Felici. They were determined to go to America to begin their lives together. Since the passage to America was so expensive, my Great Nonno saved enough money and went back to the United States alone. He planned to work and earn money to eventually bring his wife to live with him in America. When he left, my Great Nonna was pregnant with their first child, my great Zio Armando. After saving enough money, my great Nonna and my great Zio met my great Nonno in McComas, West Virginia.
It was a difficult trip to make alone and especially difficult with a 2 month year old baby. They left on the Providence and arrived at Ellis Island on February 9, 1921. My great Nonna was 21 years old. Gaetano worked in the coal mines. He loved the hills of West Virginia because the reminded him of his home town in Norcia, Italy. His brother Olivio returned and chose to come out west and settled in Sacramento, CA to work on the railroads. He married and had three children. As for my great Nonno and Nonna, they had nine healthy children. One of them is my grandmother, Nonna Babe. They called her Babe because she was the baby in the family but her real name is Clementina. All of the family grew up in West Virginia.
When World War II broke out, my great Zio Armando was drafted into the Italian military because he was the only one of his siblings born in Italy. He did not go back to Italy but enlisted in the US Navy. All three of my Great Zios served in the US Navy. Zio Armando spent over twenty years in the service and fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. My Zio Benny fought in World War II and my Zio Ezio fought in Korea. Neither of them chose the military as a career.
After World War II, my great Nonno brought my Nonna Babe and her brother Ezio to visit my great Zio Armando. His ship was stationed in Long Beach. He told his family, ”If I like it there, I’m going to stay”. Shortly after he arrived, he called my great Nonna and most of the family followed. Only my Zio Benny and Zia Pietrina remained back east. I am told my great Nonno described California as “paradise”. I never met many of these people because they passed before I was born, but sometimes I feel like I have known them all of my life. Here, we live in a big Italian family thanks to great Nonno and Nonna risking everything for the “American Dream”. We still keep in touch with Zio Olivo’s family in Sacramento. We visit and I love spending time with my cousins there. I hope to see them again this summer! I’ll bet Gaetano and Olivio could have never imagined that we would still have such strong family ties even today! Although they were never able to afford to go back to Italy to visit their family, they were happy with the lives they had built here. My family is still connected with our relatives back in Italy. I have family I have never met! We still carry on many of the traditions they brought to us from Italy and am proud to be Italian-American. I am fortunate to now be living my great Nonno’s dream for his family.
Sources:
Interviews with my family!
It was a difficult trip to make alone and especially difficult with a 2 month year old baby. They left on the Providence and arrived at Ellis Island on February 9, 1921. My great Nonna was 21 years old. Gaetano worked in the coal mines. He loved the hills of West Virginia because the reminded him of his home town in Norcia, Italy. His brother Olivio returned and chose to come out west and settled in Sacramento, CA to work on the railroads. He married and had three children. As for my great Nonno and Nonna, they had nine healthy children. One of them is my grandmother, Nonna Babe. They called her Babe because she was the baby in the family but her real name is Clementina. All of the family grew up in West Virginia.
When World War II broke out, my great Zio Armando was drafted into the Italian military because he was the only one of his siblings born in Italy. He did not go back to Italy but enlisted in the US Navy. All three of my Great Zios served in the US Navy. Zio Armando spent over twenty years in the service and fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. My Zio Benny fought in World War II and my Zio Ezio fought in Korea. Neither of them chose the military as a career.
After World War II, my great Nonno brought my Nonna Babe and her brother Ezio to visit my great Zio Armando. His ship was stationed in Long Beach. He told his family, ”If I like it there, I’m going to stay”. Shortly after he arrived, he called my great Nonna and most of the family followed. Only my Zio Benny and Zia Pietrina remained back east. I am told my great Nonno described California as “paradise”. I never met many of these people because they passed before I was born, but sometimes I feel like I have known them all of my life. Here, we live in a big Italian family thanks to great Nonno and Nonna risking everything for the “American Dream”. We still keep in touch with Zio Olivo’s family in Sacramento. We visit and I love spending time with my cousins there. I hope to see them again this summer! I’ll bet Gaetano and Olivio could have never imagined that we would still have such strong family ties even today! Although they were never able to afford to go back to Italy to visit their family, they were happy with the lives they had built here. My family is still connected with our relatives back in Italy. I have family I have never met! We still carry on many of the traditions they brought to us from Italy and am proud to be Italian-American. I am fortunate to now be living my great Nonno’s dream for his family.
Sources:
Interviews with my family!
Reflection
While I have enjoyed learning about the history of Ellis Island, my favorite blog to write about was this one. I researched my great-grandfather, great-grandmother and great-uncle on the Ellis Island website. With each new search result, it made me so happy. I was never able to meet them so talking about their journey with my family made me feel closer to them. This connection is only one half of my family. On my dad's side, I am half-Italian and want to learn more about the journey of that part of my family. Family is such a big part of my life and I am lucky that I had such brave ancestors that risked everything to have a better life in America. | Top photo above: Information about my great-grandmother from the Ellis Island website. Bottom photo above: The ship Lombardia that my great-grandfather came to America on. Photos on the right: Information about my great-grandfather from the Ellis Island website. |