Nicholas Ang

Fv5221
Hon Sec 520
Laurel Sprague

My ship arrived on Ellis Island on a particularly chilly fall morning. The year was 1901, and I
was leaning over the rusted railings on the port side, trying to catch a glimpse of this foreign
world unveiling itself before my eager eyes. I had my selfless wife, Loretta, and two suitcases
crammed with all the clothes and memories we could fit from home by my side. Born Lorenzo
Argenziano in Northern Italy, I decided to pack my bags at the age of 21 and leave the country
due to heightened social tensions1. Through my 25 years in America, I was left with scars and
cherished memories that forever impacted my life.
When we finally came up to the docks, the force of excitement rushed through the air,
challenging the speed of the Atlantic wind we had faced on the two week journey here. Many sea
sick ridden passengers were vying to be the first off the ship to start a new life in this strange
world. However, obtaining citizenship in the US wasnt easy. Luckily for us, we knew a group of
dock workers who would lie about an immigrants citizenship for extra cash2. That was our best
hope of getting into the country and staying here. Illegal or not, we would do anything to build a
life in America.
The first few weeks in New York were tough. The city was like a hearth, with its warming and
unforgiving fire ceaselessly burning. Here, you had two options: either exhaust yourself to death
1 "Italian Life in New York." Immigration and Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed.
K. Lee Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 7678. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

2 Wright and Crater's Investigation. Testimony of Albert Wank 68-75. 9 Oct. 1901. National Archives
Docs Teach. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

in order to keep the fire going, or get caught in its relentless flames. People were always racing
left and right, their minds too occupied to acknowledge your existence as they darted around
you3. Loretta and I were worried about not being able to make ends meet. Using the money we
had, I rented a small room in an old apartment complex. If it was not needed to survive, we did
not buy it4. During the first few days Loretta and I split to seek out potential jobs. I found work
as a bus boy at a local diner, just a few blocks down from the apartment, and Loretta secured a
position at a clothing factory. The work was repetitive and dirty, but it was all we could do to
stay afloat. As the initial years went by, we made enough money to move out into a bigger
apartment. We had our first child, a rather cheerful baby who occupied the day with smiling and
laughing. We named her Mila, after my grandmother who always found a way to make us smile.
It was a tough lifestyle. Loretta would work day shifts while I worked nights1, so someone would
always be with Mila. Despite that, we found ways to make it work. There was enough food on
the table and a roof over our heads, and that is all we needed to be happy. But then, the fire
happened. In early spring, 1911, a fire burned down the factory my wife worked at5, the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory. I immediately ran there when I heard the news. The smell of incinerated
wood and metal polluted the air as the smoke billowed down upon the streets of Manhattan.
Someone had posted up a list of workers who escaped and had been rushed to the hospital. I
frantically ran my finger down the list as I prayed to see the name I was looking for. My finger
3 Modern Times. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. Perf. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard. Charlie Chaplin
Productions, 1936. Film.
4 Pozzetta, George. "Italians and Urban America." Rev. of Neighbors in Conflict. Journal of Urban
History 6.3 (1980): n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
5 Demonstration of Protest and Mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. 1911. National Archives,
New York. Demonstration of Protest and Mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
N. pag. National Archives Docs Teach. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

slowly crept to a tear wrenching halt at the bottom of the list, and I knew that the hearth of the
city had consumed her.
Things didnt get better after that day. Years later the First Red Scare happened. Americans
were terrified of not only communism, but of new immigrants as well6. Due to my Italian
name and heavy accent, I was treated like I didnt belong here. I was called derogatory names
like "wop," "guinea," and "dago6. I was fired from my job, only because my ethnic features
could scare the customers. Living expenses were too high and food was becoming hard to come
by. Just as things started to appear bleak and hopeless, my old coworker handed me a Ford
Manual. He said that this would be a great way to start fresh, with a blank slate. I immediately
packed what little I had and moved Mila and myself to Detroit, Michigan.
There was a craze about Detroit in 1914. Everyone came here to be on the same playing field, to
reinvent themselves in this untouched jungle, and to become someoneto be distinctly
American7. The whole city was full of people new to the land, immigrants and Americans alike.
Center stage for this city bursting at its seams was the Ford Company, namely the River Rouge
Factory. This guy, Henry Ford, decided to raise his workers wages to $5.00 an hour. Lines of
people trying to get a job were sprawling out of the Ford buildings.8

6 Rapczynski, Joan. "99.03.06: The Italian Immigrant Experience in America (1870-1920)." Yale- New
Haven Teachers Institute, 1999. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
7 Tocqueville. "A Fortnight in the Wilderness." Tocqueville. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Blackboard. Web. 20
Oct. 2015.
8 Martelle, Scott. "The Auto Era." Detroit- An Autobiography. 1st ed. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2012.
74-83. Print.

I was able to land a position on the assembly line in the River Rouge Factory, because the vice
consul for Italians in Detroit, Giacomo Ungarelli9, pulled some strings for me and other Italian
immigrants to get jobs at Ford. Many other immigrants were not as lucky. Through the years, I
put my head down and just worked. I avoided getting caught up in protesting and union fights
with Ford lead by figureheads like Pingree, which would later fail8. I started being able to make a
decent living and support Mila as a father. As life was improving, fascism started taking a choke
hold on the Motor City. Ungarelli was pressuring Italian immigrants to actively support and
advocate fascism. If Italians didnt show support, then fascist groups like the Sons of Italy would
threaten you economically or physically9. My bank accounts in the Italian Bank were frozen
because I refused to participate in a fascist march through Detroit. I came home to hate letters
written on my house or in the mail. I feared the worst for Milas safety.
I tried reporting it to the police, but the Americans were afraid of Italians. They detained me
instead. When the police asked for proof of citizenship, I knew I had made a grave mistake.
Upon realizing I was undocumented and under false citizenship, they put me on a deportation list
for later that week. Mila was a naturalized citizen and could stay; she turned 18 this past winter.
There I was, leaving from the same port I had first arrived at. I didnt walk as brazenly as I did
before. The railings on the dock were even more rusted out from salty air, and some wooden
planks were completely missing. When we departed, I looked back at the city through the wake
of the ship, watching as my dreams moved with the waves only to be swallowed by the mass of
the American ocean. However, when I looked at my reflection, I found myself smiling. I had left

9 Cannistraro, Philip V.. Fascism and Italian-americans in Detroit, 1933-1935.International Migration

Review 9.1 (1975): 2940. Web...

my daughter with a new, better chance to create a story for herself, one that can carve a path for
her and the generations to come.

Bibliography
"Italian Life in New York." Immigration and Multiculturalism: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee
Lerner, Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, and Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 76-78. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

Wright and Crater's Investigation. Testimony of Albert Wank 68-75. 9 Oct. 1901. National Archives Docs
Teach. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
Modern Times. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. Perf. Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard. Charlie Chaplin
Productions, 1936. Film.
Pozzetta, George. "Italians and Urban America." Rev. of Neighbors in Conflict. Journal of Urban History
6.3 (1980): n. pag. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Demonstration of Protest and Mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. 1911. National Archives,
New York. Demonstration of Protest and Mourning for Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. N.p.:
n.p., n.d. N. pag. National Archives Docs Teach. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Rapczynski, Joan. "99.03.06: The Italian Immigrant Experience in America (1870-1920)." Yale- New
Haven Teachers Institute, 1999. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.
Tocqueville. "A Fortnight in the Wilderness." Tocqueville. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Blackboard. Web. 20
Oct. 2015.
Martelle, Scott. "The Auto Era." Detroit- An Autobiography. 1st ed. Chicago: Chicago Review, 2012. 7483. Print.
Cannistraro, Philip V.. Fascism and Italian-americans in Detroit, 1933-1935.International Migration
Review 9.1 (1975): 2940. Web...