My Family Background And Ethnic And Cultural Aspects Of A Family History Project

Dan Panaro 3/27/14 Family History project

My family background and ethnicity is fully Italian. My mother and father are both fully Italian. My mother’s side of the family comes from Sicily and my father’s side is from Naples. Our religion is Roman Catholic, which is not uncommon for Italians to be. I identify myself as an Italian American culturally. I don’t speak the language of Italian, but my grandparents and parents do. I have never been to Italy, but my parents and grandparents have. I have several second and third cousins who actually live Italy. My family has been in America for over a hundred years. My great great grandfather and grandmother on my mother’s side immigrated to America in 1905. They came through Ellis Island like most immigrants did during that time. They moved and lived in Brooklyn until my grandmother moved to Staten Island years later. As an Italian family we have many culture values and beliefs that we still practice today especially on the holidays. Culture and traditions are very important to Italian families. For many years Italian have been passionate about culture traditions values and beliefs.
My family’s immigration story begins with my great great grandfather and mother John and Lucille LaSalle coming to America. They emigrated in 1905 from Italy to America. They wanted to come to America in hope for a better life. They didn’t have a lot of money in Italy and wanted to come to America in hope to make more money. They did not speak English and had a rough and long journey ahead of them. They took very little with them only what was special, and symbolic to them. My great great grandparents came through Ellis Island, like most Italian immigrants they were met with racial prejudice. My...

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...traditions, customs, values and beliefs that we practice. Some are religious beliefs and values and others are just cultural traditions passed down through the years. My family and I are Italian Americans who have been in U.S for over a hundred years. My great great grandparents came from Italy to America in 1905. They contained their traditions, values and beliefs and taught them to their children. My family’s communication also reflects our ethnicity and cultural. We communicate verbally and nonverbally. Just like other Italian family’s we talk using hand gestures and use humor to start conversations. Also sometimes we use physical contact. Mainly to help people understand or pay more attention to the conversation. All of these points represent my family’s culture and traditions of being Italian. My family is very important to me and so is my cultural background.