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Ancestry Daily News
1/2/2003 - Archive
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PBS Special on 8 January 2003: They Came To America |
PBS Special on 8 January 2003: They Came To America
What would you do to come to the United States if your forebears hadn't thoughtfully
facilitated your birth as an American citizen? Rosanne Katon Walden's Jamaican
father used her as his entry ticket:
"He wanted us to live in the United States. And he had been to the U.S.,
so he knew that there were certain challenges . . . because the American Embassy
equated dark skin with being poor, it was . . . really hard if you had dark
skin to get a visa to come to the U.S. And so my dad decided that . . . every
time my mom was pregnant . . . he would go in and do all the paperwork and .
. . get a visa, and they would visit New York . . . in hopes that . . . the
baby would be born during those two weeks . . . For my two older sisters, it
didn't quite happen, but for me it happened, though I was born in Jamaica Hospital
in Jamaica, New York!
What he was able to do then was to go back to Jamaica and petition the American
government to allow me to live in the country of my citizenship and my birth.
And . . . in a couple of years, the paperwork came through and my family was
able to move to the United States . . . It was . . . very happy. My parents
were thrilled to become American citizens."
Rosanne is just one of the many immigrants whose stories are featured in the
upcoming PBS special, They Came to America, scheduled to air at 9:30
p.m. on 8 January 2003 (check your local listings for details). These personal
stories remind us of what people will do to get into America and what it meant
to our ancestors to come to these shores.
Congressman Tom Lantos of California and his wife Annette are among those who
came here after surviving the Holocaust and share their experiences with They
Came to America viewers:
Congressman Lantos: "I was put in a forced labor camp. I escaped, I was
recaptured, I escaped again. I never expected to survive the Nazi occupation.
I felt convinced that before the war is over, I will be gone."
Annette Lantos (who spent her years during the Holocaust in hiding): "We
were just living for the day. You know, sometimes I looked out the window at
the countryside . . . and saw those village girls walking on the streets and
I envied them so much for the life that they had and they seemed so free and
so safe. . . . We were really sort of living dead hiding in the cellars and
trying to survive from day to day."
Congressman Lantos: "In my case, in 1947, in Annette's case 1948, we came
to the United States. And if the phrase 'born again' has any meaning, it certainly
does for us because this was not a phase in our lives. It was in fact a totally
different new life. And it has been like this for both of us for well over a
half a century."
Annette Lantos: "My greatest emotional and spiritual experience . . . was
the day when I received my citizenship in 1953 in San Francisco. I sort of was
aware of a major shift in my whole attitude towards everything. This was now
my country. I knew that with such a certainty. And it wasn't only a question
of my own personal freedom and ability to pursue an education and to bring up
my children and to make friends and to be myself. It was more a question of
. . . a spiritual heritage with which I connected and for which I have never
ceased to be very grateful."
Congressman Lantos: "Getting my citizenship papers was a very emotional
experience for me. I became an American citizen and I promptly applied for a
passport. Because to have an American passport I think is . . . one of the great
and unappreciated aspects of the lives of any American citizen. You are an American
citizen. You are free to leave the country whenever you want. You are free to
return. You are free to travel anyplace on the face of this planet."
This is but a small taste of the experiences shared in this ninety-minute special
which features interviews with more than two dozen immigrants or their descendants
and spans about a 150-year period in our history. Tales of those who have come
from China, Poland, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Greece, Korea, and many other countries
are intertwined. Immigrants speak of their fears and hopes, the journey itself,
the inevitable culture shock and efforts to adjust, and the pursuit of the American
dream.
They Came to America is not only enjoyable viewing, but also an excellent
means of helping us understand the choices and sacrifices our immigrant ancestors
made to secure a better future not only for themselves, but for all of us who
continue to reap the benefits of their bold decisions decades, generations,
and even centuries later. Why not skip your usual ancestral Internet surfing
on the evening of 8 January to learn a little more about their lives?
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, (Yes, that is her name!) author of Honoring
Our Ancestors and In Search of Our Ancestors, confesses that she is
just a little bit biased as she was the lead researcher for this show, but hopes
your viewing experience will confirm her own reaction! She can be reached at
megan@honoringourancestors.com
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