Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia was the entry for many immigrants arriving in Canada. My husband Adolph and his family arrived there June 29, 1959. When Pier 21 became a museum site many years ago, I sent the Adolph Di Mambro story to them. In return, I was given a picture of the ship Queen Frederica. They sailed on that ship to Canada.
The Di Mambros left Cassino to go to Naples, June 18, 1959. They sailed first to Genoa, Italy, to the straits of Gibraltar and across the ocean to Canada. He describes the voyage as fun, lots to eat, played games: shuffleboard and table tennis- "never a dull moment". He had lots of fun. It was an adventure for him. His first sip of Coke tasted like cough medicine. The train ride from Halifax to Toronto was disconcerting. He wondered where his mother had taken the family. The vast open spaces were so different to Italy, with a shack every few miles and a dozen people waving at the train.
He remembered the first time he had Canadian bread. Adolph rolled it up and tried to bounce it. It sure was not the crunchy Italian bread he knew.
His trip from Italy was not steerage that others had experienced in previous times.
My ancestors- various family groups arrived at different intervals. One group- in 1765 to the USA, others to Ontario in 1820, 1830, 1840 and the latest in 1878 from Ireland. My folks were poorer and definitely travelled steerage.
I recorded Adolph's story and it is on the Immigrant list at Pier 21-can even access it from the Internet.
Have you tried to search your family roots? If you know your history, have you recorded it? Are there gaps? Talk to the older members of your family, better yet, video tape them. Future generations will thank you.
The Di Mambros left Cassino to go to Naples, June 18, 1959. They sailed first to Genoa, Italy, to the straits of Gibraltar and across the ocean to Canada. He describes the voyage as fun, lots to eat, played games: shuffleboard and table tennis- "never a dull moment". He had lots of fun. It was an adventure for him. His first sip of Coke tasted like cough medicine. The train ride from Halifax to Toronto was disconcerting. He wondered where his mother had taken the family. The vast open spaces were so different to Italy, with a shack every few miles and a dozen people waving at the train.
He remembered the first time he had Canadian bread. Adolph rolled it up and tried to bounce it. It sure was not the crunchy Italian bread he knew.
His trip from Italy was not steerage that others had experienced in previous times.
My ancestors- various family groups arrived at different intervals. One group- in 1765 to the USA, others to Ontario in 1820, 1830, 1840 and the latest in 1878 from Ireland. My folks were poorer and definitely travelled steerage.
I recorded Adolph's story and it is on the Immigrant list at Pier 21-can even access it from the Internet.
Have you tried to search your family roots? If you know your history, have you recorded it? Are there gaps? Talk to the older members of your family, better yet, video tape them. Future generations will thank you.
Having visited Pier 21, after it was made into a museum, I can highly recommend it to anyone visiting Halifax. It is full of stories, photos, and artifacts from an important part of Canada's history. Most of us have had some early family members past through there, either as immigrants or members of our armed forces, heading to or back from the war in Europe.
ReplyDeleteA cousin of Adolph's has trouble trying to comment so I took his facebook comment and transcribed it here. From Paolo Cinque: Commento those immigrant stories- Mi hai emozionato molto con il racconto dell'emmigrazione(per te immigrazione:-))di Adolfo...Pensa che non lo conoscevo, nonna non me lo aveva mai raccontato.
ReplyDelete\ \
Faro come dici tu, da oggi volgero lo sguardo anche al passato ogni tanto, invece che essere proiettato sempre e soltanto al futuro.
Un bacio.