52 Ancestors Week 38: Adversity

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 38

The theme for Week 38 is "Adversity." All of our families have had to face adversity at some point. Recognizing their struggles helps us recognize their humanity.

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

        Adversity is this week's theme, huh? I don't know where to begin to tell you the truth. Every family has indeed had to struggle with something at some point in their lives. That's definitely the case when you look at the life of an immigrant and the uphill battle they had to endure in order to make a better life for themselves and their family. Life wasn't always fun, games and a neverending pasta bowl for Italian immigrants. Ugh. I can't believe I just referenced "The Olive Garden". Moving on....

Giuseppe and Clementina!

    On the surface it may appear that my great-grandparents, Giuseppe Carrabs and Clementina Forgione were the greatest example of the immigrant story. They came to America with their daughter Jenny in the 1910s and settled on Bartlett Street in Haverhill where they raised their family. Simple, right?

   Not really. A big part of the immigrant story is the fact that they had to learn the language of the land they immigrated to if they had any hopes of thriving there. I'm not sure how long it took them or any other Italian immigrant in my tree to learn English to tell you the truth. I can say that the process was hard because English is a hard language to master and some Italians like Giuseppe's brother, Rocco, never spoke a word of English! 

    It's true. Everyone I've talked to said that Rocco never spoke English or that his English was fractured. I'm not sure why he never learned. But, I can say that Giuseppe and his other brother Pasquale definitely knew some English by the time my father came around. I like to think that Rocco knew some English. He just preferred to speak to people in Italian. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Rocco's on the far left and Pasquale
on the far right.

    Language barriers aside an Italian immigrant had to also find work in the new land in order to make ends meet while learning the language. Giuseppe found himself employed by the Pentucket bank as a janitor after serving in World War I. Eventually, he even became one of the founders of the Haverhill Italian Credit Union.

   I would think that being a member of a union let alone a FOUNDER could have caused some adversity for him in the 1920s and 1930s. People weren't always kind to Italian immigrants back then and so he likely had to deal with prejudice as tension in Europe eventually erupted into open warfare. 

    The rough times didn't seem to bother Giuseppe too much as America entered the second World War and once again anti-immigrant sentiment reared its ugly head. He did serve the army again as an Air Warden and I'm sure Uncle Sam was more than happy to get a few Italians enlisted into the service. Though, being a member of a union probably would have caused people to bat an eyelash or two. I would love to see if there are articles about the union and my great-grandfather's role in the organization. Next time I go to the Haverhill public library, I'll be sure to check them out!

    The third hurdle an Italian immigrant had to face along with the language and getting a job is finding a social group that shares his or her common interests. The first Italian immigrants had to have had it rough because no one around knew any Italian and they probably felt a little isolated. 

    Giuseppe and Clementina came to America in the 1910s. You can imagine that the Italian population in Haverhill at the time was small. What did they do for companionship? Were they just going to talk to each other all night after he came home from the bank?

    Sadly, I'm not sure who their FAN club was aside from Rocco and Pasquale. They must have socialized with them before the community began to thrive in Haverhill. It must have been tough to make friends since Rocco was in Melrose and Pasquale was in Everett and those towns are a good distance from Haverhill. I hope they visited each other frequently!

    Thankfully, there was a growing Italian population in the city and the two likely made fast friends with other Italian immigrants. Part of me wonders if they ever talked to my other great-grandparents, Vincenzo and Maria before my grandparents got married. You never know. A group of fellow immigrants may have made the adversities not seem so challenging because in the end they thrived and despite everything they made great lives for themselves.

   Adversity happens in every family tree and unfortunately today's immigrants have the same struggles to contend with as my great-grandparents. History tends to repeat itself and we need to remember that it wasn't always easy for our ancestors living in a strange new land. If we keep that in mind, maybe we can use the lessons of the past to make a brighter future.

See ya next time!