[This is a continuation of last week’s blog, which you may want to read first. Jordan’s story comes from my oral history collection.] “When we were taken to Ellis Island, naturally, there were hundreds of us and we were led, almost like sheep, here and there, and we didn’t know where we were going. Each … More True Immigrant Tales_10: Jordan’s Adventures Continue
[From my immigrant oral histories collection during research for my historical novel, Guardians of the Gate, and its sequel, Defenders of Freedom. Helen sailed from Glascow, Scotland, in 1921. She was 14 and traveled with her mother and three brothers to rejoin her father who had left for America a year earlier.] “It may sound … More True Immigrant Stories_7: Scottish Teen in Steerage
In an interview last week, the reporter asked me if the events of the 1890s described in my novel, Guardians of the Gate, can in any way relate to current issues on immigration. The simple answer was “yes,” and some of the details are the topic of this week’s blog. Americans in the 1890s saw … More The Relevance of 1890s Immigration to Today
I was asked an interesting question about how the characters in Guardians of the Gate convey the message of the American Dream and the strength of the human spirit. The easy answer lies in the immigrants going through Ellis Island, leaving behind poverty, repression, and limited life choices to pursue freedom and a better life … More Personifying the American Dream and the American Spirit
Ellis Island today bears little resemblance to the Ellis Island of the 1890s, which is the primary setting for the historical novel, Guardians of the Gate and its sequel, Defenders of Freedom. First, the island back then was much smaller, about one third its present size. In 1899, construction began of Island No. 2 with landfill from … More Ellis Island: Then and Now
As its title implies, Guardians of the Gate is primarily about the people who worked at Ellis Island and the numerous situations they faced while working on the island. I’ve been asked, though, why I didn’t write this historical novel from the perspective of the immigrants instead. Certainly, the millions of immigrants who came through … More Ellis Island Employees Instead of Immigrants
As with many other Americans, Ellis Island is a link to my heritage. Three to four generations ago, it was the first American soil upon which my German, Irish, and Italian ancestors stepped after their overseas voyages. Although I was never able to learn and preserve their stories of the journey and processing at Ellis … More Writing about Ellis Island
Our Private Self and Our Public Self We’re not all phonies or hypocrites. It’s just that we do not reveal to others a certain part of ourselves—our fears and insecurities, our feelings and desires, our hurts and memories, our real thoughts. We put on a social mask, or many masks, depending on the situation. We … More Our Private Self and Our Public Self
Vince Parrillo 