I am 28 years old (b. March 3, 1866). From Il Mezzogiorno, near Naples, Italy. I work on a farm.My wife is Maria. Two children, Luciano (4 years old) and Rosa (2 years old).I have some education. I went to school until the 5th grade and then had to go to work to help support my family. My mother was sick at the time, and my father needed help to pay for her medical expenses.

Pietro Lupariello(Peter Cooper)

September 1, 1892

Dear Diary,

Life is very hard these days in southern Italy. We are getting very poor. We cannot work the land. The government increased taxes for the property owners, but I have not seen any improvement in our lives. We are just getting poorer while the land owners seem to be getting richer. Plus, it’s just the landowners who can vote so how could the lives of us peasants improve?

September 2, 1892Dear Diary,

We live in a mud hut. Many of us are out of work since the northerners came to the south to take control of our land because of the reunification. I don’t think this reunification has helped us southerners much. Until recently, I worked on a farm that grew peaches, walnut, grapes, and olives. We planted seeds and harvested the crops by hand. It was a lot of work, but at least it was a job. But I no longer have a job because I had to give my crops to the landowner as rent and didn’t have any crops or money left to feed my family. Plus, the work is unpredictable because it either seems to be flooding here or there’s no water! I don’t think the land is being taken care of properly.

Diary: Life in Italy

November 3, 1892

Dear Diary,

I am still looking for work. Winter is coming, and I fear I will not be able to keep my family warm. I have been out of work for over two months and my family is getting poor and poorer. My daughter has been sick with malaria and I have spent the last of my money on a doctor for her. My neighbor recently died from malaria. Others are dying too. We are surviving on one meal a day and are very hungry.

Feb. 28, 1892

Dear Diary,

My birthday is coming up, and I will be 28 years old. I wish I could find a job. My daughter is still ill, and malaria seems to be spreading. My friend showed me a newspaper ad from America that says they are looking for workers in New York City. I hear that the streets are paved with gold there. I want to make a better life for my family. I am thinking about going to America. I have a cousin who went last year and could perhaps help me. I am going to apply for a passport like my cousin did and try to save money for the ticket.

Diary: Life in Italy

April 10, 1894

Dear Diary,

I haven’t written in some time. I feel lucky that I learned how to read and write, unlike so many of my friends, because I am going to America. I got my passport, and I’ll be leaving in a few days from the Port of Napoli on the SS Plata ship to the Port of New York. An Italian in New York is getting my ticket and will help me find a job when I arrive so I can repay him. I probably won’t need to bring much because once I get there and get a job I can buy everything I need. I hope to make enough money to send for my wife and two children very soon or return home.

May 10, 1894

Dear Diary,

I am ready. I have my suitcase packed. My wife packed me some sausage, cheese, bread biscuits, some olive oil, and a bottle of wine for the journey. I packed a couple of shirts, a necktie, my black hat, a waistcoat, and some underwear. I don’t have much money, but will bring a bit and leave the rest here for my family.

Diary: Getting Ready

May 17, 1894

Dear Diary,

I am finally on the ship, although it is not nearly as comfortable as I expected. I think it’s already been about a week. It is very cramped here on the lower decks, that I guess is called steerage. There must be thousands of people on this ship. I’ll be very happy to get off.

May 19, 1884

Dear Diary,

We arrived at New York, well Ellis Island. I guess there was a fire here not too long ago and the main buildings burnt down. We are being processed at the Barge Office. They put a tag on me with information about the ship, and I had to wait in a lot of long lines to go through medical and legal inspection. They asked me a lot of questions. Of course, it was difficult since I can’t speak English. They changed my name to Peter Cooper.

Diary: Going to America

May 21, 1894

Dear Diary,

I ended up on Mulberry Bend where there’s lots of Italians. It’s called this because it’s where Mulberry street turns. It’s a narrow street lined with buildings. There are shops on the lower levels and apartments on the upper levels. Some of the buildings are six stories high and called tenement buildings! The street is very busy. Horses and buggies go up and down all day long. I’m surprised at terrible smell on the street. Even at night the street is very busy. I have to line up to find a place to sleep in a lodge, which is crowded with people sleeping on the floor and everywhere.

May 25, 1894

Dear Diary,

I finally found my cousin, Lucio. He lives in a tenement building and invited me to live with him. There’s a lot of families in the building—mostly all Italians. It’s summer now, and it’s very hot and difficult to sleep. My cousin sleeps on the windowsill because it’s so hot and there’s no room inside. Some families are sleeping on the roof! My padrone says he will help me find work so I can repay him for my ship ticket. I hope that I will have some luck.

Diary: Life in New York

June 1, 1894Dear Diary,

Today my padrone helped me find a job. I am going to be cleaning out the ash-barrels on the sidewalks. I get paid a dollar and a half a day. The work is rather dirty, but it’s money that I can save and send to my family. I haven’t learned much English yet so I cannot find a better job. Most evenings, except Sunday, I play cards with other Italians in my tenement. I do miss the peacefulness of the countryside.

July 24, 1894

Dear Diary,

Life is hard in New York. I am still cleaning out ash-barrels, but hope to find other work. I have finally repaid my padrone, but now I have to pay my rent, so I have not been able to save money yet. I miss my dear wife and family. I heard about some bread riots in Italy, and I do hope my family continues to be safe.

Diary: Life in New York

My Dear Maria,

I miss you so. I am finally off the ship and have made it to L’America. I went through the inspection at Ellis Island. That was quite an experience! It was very confusing and tiresome for me, especially after the long journey. I longed to be with you. I have a new American name now. It is Peter Cooper. I think that the immigration official could not understand me when I said Pietro Lupariello, so he changed my name to something less Italian.

Letter Home: Coming to America

Other immigrants from the ship

The government keeps passing new laws here against immigrants. So, because a law was just passed which does not allow people with physical or mental defects, and some diseases, the inspection process was very rigorous. Let me tell you all about my experience.

It was a long and very crowded journey on the SS Plata. There were people and baggage everywhere. Many people were getting sick because it was a bit rough at the time. So, we were all very happy to get off the boat when we landed at Ellis Island. When we got off the boat, the men had to go one way and the women and children had to go another way.

As we got off, some men put tags on our clothes with the number from the steamship. When we entered the building, we had to go to the baggage room first to check our belongings. Since I didn’t have much with me, I decided to carry everything and not leave anything in case someone might steal it. After that, I had to wait in a very long line for the medical inspection on the second floor.

Letter Home: Ellis Island

Immigrants

When I finally made it to the front of the line, I was inspected by a medical officer. It didn’t last long. I heard that they call it the “six second exam” because the medical inspectors look at six things: the scalp, face, hands, neck, gait, and general health condition. Then, they did a more thorough medical inspection.

One thing they did to me was that they took a buttonhook and pulled my eyelid back to look for eye infection. I was lucky because they didn’t find any health problems with me. But, my friend, Mario, wasn’t as lucky. They found an eye problem with him and wrote a big E with chalk on his jacket and sent him to another area. He will probably have to stay at Ellis Island in a dormitory until he his better and may even be sent back home. I feel bad for him.

Letter Home: Health Inspection

Health inspection

Next I was sent to the legal inspection. The questions asked seemed to be the same as the ones that I was asked by the shipping company before I left. I guess they want to make sure that I answer the same way and was telling the truth. Luckily, they had interpreters there so I could speak in Italian.

They asked me things about myself—my name, my age, if I was married, my job, if I could read and write, what my plans were in America, how much money I have, how I paid for my passage to America, if I know anyone here, and so forth. It was very tiresome!

I am very happy to be through that process and am excited that I made it. I had to take a loyalty oath at the end. I’m starting to feel like a true American!

But, I miss you and the kids terribly. I can’t wait to get a job so that I can start sending money to you.

Love, Pietro

Letter Home: Legal Inspection

Hello Again Maria,

Well, life in America is not as easy as I thought it would be. I am living in an area called the Mulberry Bend. My address is 94 Mulberry Street. It’s a big building with many apartments in it. There are immigrants from all over around here, but mostly Italian in my building.

I am living in a small apartment with many others from Naples. It is very crowded. I don’t have a bed and just sleep on the hard floor. I haven’t been able to find work yet. But, I think that I may be able to get a job cleaning soon. Since it is summer, it is very hot. Sometimes, people sleep on the window sills just to stay cool

and get some air at night.

Letter Home: In L’America

I have learned a little bit of English so I am very happy about that.

Oh, Maria, how I miss you and the children. I am going to try very hard to save money so I can come home and be with you. I miss your cooking. Sometimes I smell Italian cooking, but I also smell Greek and Armenian too.

I am tired and will write more tomorrow.

I miss you, Maria. Frank

Letter Home: In L’America

Vegetable stand on Mulberry St.

My Ship, SS Plata

My Ship Record

List of passengers (me ) on SS Plata

Artifacts

When I first heard this question, I could not think of many things I would take a risk for. Throughout my research, I saw that there were some who were willing to take the risk, and some who were not. Those that did were motivated by strong beliefs. While working on Pietro’s portfolio, I realized when you have a strong belief in something, like family, you are willing to take big risks, like leaving your country to live in another.

Why take the risk?

SourcesPapers Past, http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=OW18980519.2.69&l=mi&e=-------10--1----2--

History Channel, Ellis Island www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/index2.html

Ellis Island, http://www.ellisisland.org/

Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Italian Immigration Primary Sources, http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=770

Immigration ThinkQuest, http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/index.html

Italophiles, http://italophiles.com/mulberry.htmNY Arrivals Immigration Records, http://www.nyarrivals.com/immigration_records.htmlThe Century Magazine, August 1899, http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=cent;cc=cent;rgn=full%20text;idno=cent0058-4;didno=cent0058-4;view=image;seq=00503;node=cent0058-4:1The Immigration Experience, http://members.tripod.com/l_alfano/immig.htmPhotographs used with permission from the United States Library of Congress, American Memories Collection