When my great-great grandmother, named Fortuna Piacenta, came to America back in 1905, she didn’t take much with her. She left behind her country of Italy for a better life for her and her children. She said that what mainly pulled her to America was the large number of jobs in the textile and clothing industry. A main factor that pushed them from Italy was the on going poverty that the country had been facing. Sabado had lost his job back in Italy and made it extremely hard for him and my great-great grandmother to continue to raise their family. Once they arrived in America, they faced a lot of the same hardships that many immigrants faced. Much like the Mexican-Immigrants, a lot of people refused to hire them based on their race and the fact that they did not speak english well. This problem forced my family to assimilate to the American culture. Even though my family was now in America, speaking english, and trying to live out the “American Dream,” that brought them here in the first place, they never lost sight of their Italian heritage. Of the few things that my great-great grandmother brought from Italy, was a spoon she would use to make sauce in Italy. This spoon is very special to my family because not only was it brought from Italy, but it was passed down from my great-great grandmother to my great grandmother to my grandma to my dad and then to me. It reminds me and the rest of my family that we can live our lives as Americans and engage in all of the wonderful things that this country allows us to do, but we must never forget where we come from. 

– Kassie Vickers

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more