I have been quiet lately, I know. It doesn't mean that I have abandoned my geneology work. Actually, I decided to slow down a bit as I await a response from the United States Citizenship & Immigration Services. I have submitted two forms for both my grandfather, Carmelo Orlando, and my grandma Antoinette Picione, to see if they have any documentation regarding their naturalization. Once I have the verdict on their naturalization, or whether or not grandpa was naturalized, then I can proceed with my paperwork to become an Italian citizen. Or not. That is the big question.
Because I put my heart and soul into this research, I need to step back every so often and regain my balance. Sometimes it feels like if I try hard enough to dig up information about my nonno Carmelo, I will actually find him and meet him. And then I remember he has passed and that is impossible right now. At least in this world.
So, I submitted these two forms and paid $40 to find out if USCIS has any documentation on my nonni. Once we know what they have, then I will have to submit another form to obtain the specific documents, if they have them. It's a slow process. That's why I am not gathering anymore supporting documents here in the US until USCIS responds.
Meanwhile, no word from the Orlando family in Curinga. I want to send them an email to check in, but I don't want to be pushy. Maybe I just need to go through the official channels to seek the documentation from the town of Curinga. In the case of my grandfather's documents, I am interested in obtaining the documents regardless of my citizenship destiny. I just want to know him. Understand the circumstances of his life, the town he was born in, the family members who raised him.
This is the form I used to conduct the search. It's called a Geneology Index Search Request.
If you are wondering about that media player up there, I installed it to play a song that my Uncle Bruno recorded. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get the song to play. Still working on it...
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Pictures of the Piccione Family from Santo Stefano di Camastra
From left to right:
Back: Concetta, unknown, Giovane, Bruno
Front: Lucia, Ninfa, Antoinette, Angeline
Guiseppe, Concetta, Ninfa, Antoinette, Giovane
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Chosen Scribe
This past weekend, I started to feel that my relatives think I am a bit crazy for being so caught up in this geneology journey. As I shared with them the recent findings from the ship manifests, I realized that it was my passion, my curiosity, and no one seemed to share it with me. I felt very alone and disappointed.
It occurred to me at some point during the weekend that I have taken on an important role in preserving the history of my family, even if I don't have children to pass the torch to when I pass some day. In remembering my relatives and recreating images of them, it seems to me that I am doing something that they deserve. They deserved to be remembered and brought back to life.
And then, I received this very moving passage from a fellow geneologist with Calabrian roots, a man who has been a great help to me in my research over the past week. I no longer felt so alone when I read these words that he shared with me . Thank you, JB.
"My feelings are in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
To me doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do.
In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say.
It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do.
It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it.
It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today.
It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family.
It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a nation.
It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us.
So, as a scribe called I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones."---Anonymous
It occurred to me at some point during the weekend that I have taken on an important role in preserving the history of my family, even if I don't have children to pass the torch to when I pass some day. In remembering my relatives and recreating images of them, it seems to me that I am doing something that they deserve. They deserved to be remembered and brought back to life.
And then, I received this very moving passage from a fellow geneologist with Calabrian roots, a man who has been a great help to me in my research over the past week. I no longer felt so alone when I read these words that he shared with me . Thank you, JB.
"My feelings are in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve.
To me doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do.
In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say.
It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do.
It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it.
It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today.
It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family.
It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a nation.
It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us.
So, as a scribe called I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take their place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put flesh on the bones."---Anonymous
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Naturalization Reading & Rights to Dual Citizenship
I just read through a few informative webpages regarding both naturalization and qualifications for dual citizenship.
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/naturalization/naturalization.html
http://www.myitalianfamily.com/record/requirements.html
I seriously need to face this one. If I don't qualify, it's not the end of the world. But how to find the documents? A nice man from the Circolo Calabrese said he would look around to see if he could find any naturalization records. If he cannot find anything online, does this mean I will need to go to the county courthouse in Luzerne, PA to inquire about the documents?
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/naturalization/naturalization.html
http://www.myitalianfamily.com/record/requirements.html
I seriously need to face this one. If I don't qualify, it's not the end of the world. But how to find the documents? A nice man from the Circolo Calabrese said he would look around to see if he could find any naturalization records. If he cannot find anything online, does this mean I will need to go to the county courthouse in Luzerne, PA to inquire about the documents?
Naturalized or Not Naturalized?
Here is where I go a little crazy, wondering if my chances for dual citizenship are completely wiped out now that a fellow Calabrese has helped me to find the 1930 cenus record for my grandfather. (Yes, Circolo Calabrese is definitely working out for me! I highly recommend joining this group. )The census says both my grandfather and grandmother were naturalized. Yet, look at the ship manifest for a trip my grandma took to Sicily in 1931, a year after the 1930 census. I don't see American citizen or a passport number next to her name. Could they have lied on their census?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Il Circolo Calabrese
Today I joined the Circolo Calabrese for a quarterly membership. It's a much better deal that the www.ancestry.com website, and the discussion board appears to be far more active that Ancestry
I have not explored all the membership perks in detail, but I started by exploring the discussion board tonight. I was happy to see so many Italian Americans of Calabrian roots doing research, but I was sad to see there were so few Orlandos there. I don't know if I conducted my search incorrectly within the discussion board, but my search terms, Curinga and Orlando, brought up nothing. I searched for them separately too.
I did, however, find two other people with the Orlando surname who are doing research. One is still an active member so I emailed her.
I find it odd that there are no people with roots in Curinga who are active at this site. After all, there were quite a few immigrants from Curinga and many ended up in Wilkes-Barre , PA like my nonno.
The highlight of tonight's search was the Catanzaro Exchange. At this website, I was able to find a spreadsheet that someone had compiled with all the names of the people who immigrated to the United States from Curinga. My grandfather was listed there, as were two more Orlandos, both women. I was hoping for a big breakthrough, but unfortunately my nonno was not referenced in the ship manifest for either of these two women.
The postive side to the story is that Elia Orlando, one of the female travelers, was destined for Wilkes-Barre, PA. Her mother's name was Felicia and she listed her cousin in WB as her final destination. There is no mention of Carmelo.
The ship manifest added a few questions since my nonno came 4 years earlier. They asked:
I got a kick out of those questions...
I have not explored all the membership perks in detail, but I started by exploring the discussion board tonight. I was happy to see so many Italian Americans of Calabrian roots doing research, but I was sad to see there were so few Orlandos there. I don't know if I conducted my search incorrectly within the discussion board, but my search terms, Curinga and Orlando, brought up nothing. I searched for them separately too.
I did, however, find two other people with the Orlando surname who are doing research. One is still an active member so I emailed her.
I find it odd that there are no people with roots in Curinga who are active at this site. After all, there were quite a few immigrants from Curinga and many ended up in Wilkes-Barre , PA like my nonno.
The highlight of tonight's search was the Catanzaro Exchange. At this website, I was able to find a spreadsheet that someone had compiled with all the names of the people who immigrated to the United States from Curinga. My grandfather was listed there, as were two more Orlandos, both women. I was hoping for a big breakthrough, but unfortunately my nonno was not referenced in the ship manifest for either of these two women.
The postive side to the story is that Elia Orlando, one of the female travelers, was destined for Wilkes-Barre, PA. Her mother's name was Felicia and she listed her cousin in WB as her final destination. There is no mention of Carmelo.
The ship manifest added a few questions since my nonno came 4 years earlier. They asked:
Whether a polygamist?
Whether an anarchist?
I got a kick out of those questions...
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