My grandfather grew up with his parents and siblings in Italy. In 1947, his father died when he was nine years old. My grandfather stopped going to school at age 11 and started working to support his family. His mother (my great-grandmother) was not happy with the situation in Italy due to the lack of jobs and other factors. Her parents and siblings were already in America at this point. Since her father was a US citizen, she was a US citizen by birth. In August 1953 she went to America alone, as the immigration papers were not yet ready for my grandfather and his siblings. It wouldn't be long (December 21st, 1953) until my grandfather and his four siblings got on a ship to America. This is what the ship manifest is from. It represents and brings back this memory. When he got to America he worked at factories and  never went to school. In 1961, he joined the United States Army and earned his GED (General Educational Development) during his service. He served in Germany until getting honorably discharged in 1964. After this, he started a career at IBM and through a veteran's program he earned his associate's degree. He got married in Hudson, New York where he had his first two daughters. He then bought a house in Saugerties, New York where my grandmother gave birth to my mother, his third daughter. The ship manifest represents the start of a long and difficult journey that was ultimately successful. If he hadn't gotten on that ship no one would be writing this right now. This ship started my family and the manifest is something we still hold onto tightly to this day.

– LM

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