I'm Calabrese!

I was not expecting Roma to lose to Reggina last weekend, but I wasn’t all that pissed off… Reggina’s not a bad side, calciopoli notwithstanding. Which is a good thing because… apparently they are my home team!

I just learned from a relative that my maternal grandmother came over through Ellis Island. I knew they had really good records, so I went on the website (excellent resource by the way) and was able to pull up the passenger manifest. There was a ton of information there, including the town my ancestors came from. I was surprised and pleased to learn that my people are Calabrese, as I’ve always been sort of drawn to that part of Italy. My grandmother was born in Palmi in 1898, and they left in 1905 (right before the disastrous earthquake in 1908).

So now I have two paths to follow for my citizenship. My aunt is pretty sure that my grandmother didn’t get her citizenship until after 1939, which works out perfectly as my father was born in 1934. So I sent away for her estratto dell’atto di nascita and am going to submit a FOIA request for her C-records as well.

I’m excited!