This is a picture of my Grandfather holding a basket of fresh strawberries picked from his family’s farm in Amite, Louisiana. I take great pride in my ancestry and am happy to share how my paternal grandparents came through the port of New Orleans and made South Louisiana our home for generations to come. My grandparents, Tony John Campo and Sarah Schittone came to New Orleans from Sicily in the early 1900s. Tony John Campo came first with his brothers, as they entered the United States through the port of New Orleans. After their arrival, the men were employed on cutting sugarcane with the descendants of slaves on the West Bank. Once they had earned enough money, the women and children were able to come to Louisiana. As many Sicilian immigrants did, the Campos migrated to Tangipahoa Parish and continued to farm various crops. My parents, John Tony Campo, Sr. and Ida Dispensire, had moved to Baton Rouge while most of my aunts and uncles remained near Amite, Louisiana. My grandparents and great-aunts and great-uncles were a unique bunch, as three Campo brothers married three Schittone sisters. Visiting my Uncle Sam and Aunt Frances Schittone Campo’s farm in Amite, Louisiana was a fond memory within my childhood, as well as eating the fresh fruits and vegetables that they produced. 

– John T. Campo

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant