My object is a newspaper article from 1960 featuring my grandmother. She came to America from Annascaul, Ireland in 1951 when she was 20 years old. She was chosen as the New York Rose for the 1960 Rose of Tralee Festival, which is why she had her picture published in an Irish newspaper. The Rose of Tralee Festival is an annual competition in Ireland where a group of women are nominated to represent certain parts of the world -- for instance, cities in America or counties in Ireland. They then try to be chosen as the one Rose of Tralee, or the winner. It is still going on today and has great significance in Irish history and culture.  This article represents the way she helped to make history, because she was in one of the very first Rose of Tralee Festivals (the first one was in 1959). It also shows how she brought Ireland and America together -- she united the two cultures by representing New York in an Irish competition. That’s why this article is so crucial to my family. It connects us to our Irish heritage and shows how my grandmother was a part of the cultural history of her country. It also shows that, even when she moved to America, she didn’t abandon the traditions of her home country. Rather, she was able to combine it with the traditions of her new home. 

– Hannah Smith

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