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A fresh start
Mama always told me that I was her miracle baby. I was born a few days after my papa had been killed. As a child I was always happy, always having fun. In Italy, their weren't many job oppurtunities for women. Moving to America was something my mother always wanted to do. She also wanted a fresh start after death. -
Coming to America
My name is Ivelitza Garcia. My mother decided to move my family and I to the new land when I was about 14.She wanted to make sure we had enough money for things before we came. Plus, tomake sure that everyone was safe back home. The boat ride here was horrible. We were so crowded and the merky sea air made me constantly sick. My mother tried to make us feel better the entire ride but that didn't work very well, but we did make it to America; together -
The inspection
When we arrived on Eliis Island we all had to go through an inspection. there was no privacy anywhere, no curtains or anything of that kind. I remember the feeling of complete violation. I could only imagine what my brothers were feeling at that time. Ellis Island was a different type of memory. I was happy because we have always wanted to come to America but I would never want to feel the things I felt that day. -
When I could actually help my mother
The fire of 1911 I was about 40 at the time and I was working at the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory and I was working there ever since I was about 16. I met a lot of new people their but I can't even remember their names. I do remember the day it burned. It was 1911, a cool day in New York. I remember the screams of the ladies that had to stay behind. I was screaming for them to let me back up so that I could help them. They wouldn't let me back up -
The saddest day of my life
This is the day that my mother died. She had been fighting a rare sickness for about 1 year. She was in and out of the hospital, but they really had no cure for it. She was 90 when she died. She lived a long life. We had many hardships though and alot of pain, but we did get through it. We all stayed together. Now all I can really do is pass down the story of how the Garcia family came to America.
