A Nation of Immigrants

In an effort to highlight ordinary people doing extraordinary things today I’d like to share a little bit about my own history.  I am the grandson and great-grandson of Italian and Portuguese immigrants.  

On the Italian side my great-grandfather Filippo Antonio Goduti came into this country in the 1890s.  He was born in Montefalcone, Italy and settled in the North End of Boston.  If you have ever been to the Paul Revere house you have been to what was once his store, which was a cigar shop.  Attached is a picture of it in the early 1900s.  Filippo married Maria Fazioli and had a son Renato, who is my grandfather.   Renato married my grandmother, Anna Ursini, who was born in Casulduni, Italy.  She came to this country in 1910.  Renato and Anna’s son is my father Philip A. Goduti, Sr.  I am named after both my father and my great-grandfather.

Dominic and Maria (Simoes) Reis came through Ellis Island into the country in the 1920s.  My cousin Joe had their names etched on a plaque that is on Ellis Island.  I attached a picture of their names from that plaque that has so many immigrants.  They were from Aveiro, Portugal.  My grandmother, Rose was the first to be born in the United States on the Reis side of the family.  Rose married my grandfather, John Mendes, who was born in Fall River, MA.  He left this country when he was 1 year old to return to Mongual Beira Alta, Portugal, where he grew up.  He used to tell me that he was sheep herder.  He came to this country in 1945, arriving in Philadelphia.  John and Rose's daughter is my mother Rose Mendes.

I wanted to tell this story, because we are a nation of immigrants.  Those ordinary people, who came to this nation with very little, have done a lot to help create and support the society that we live in.  They fought in wars, started businesses, and have served in our government.  Their children and grandchildren have continued to do that.  My grandfather, Renato, fought in WWI.  Both my father and my Uncle John Mendes served in the army. 

My ancestors were part of a wave of immigrants from Europe that came to this country in the late 19th and early 20th century who played a significant role in building this nation in the 20th century.  Of course, they were not the only immigrants to change this nation.  This distinction extends to the Irish and German immigrants before the Civil War, which was a part of the first major wave of immigration.  It also extends to the slaves from Africa who were forced into labor in 1619 who did more than most immigrants to build our economy and literally our nation’s capitol.  Edward Baptist writes about this in a book titled The Half Has Never Been Told.  Another great resource about this extraordinary story is the New York Times podcast titled 1619.

I leave you with this - John F. Kennedy, the only Catholic President of the United Sates, came from that first wave of immigration prior to the Civil War.  He wrote in his book, A Nation of Immigrants that “There were major forces that triggered this massive immigration.  Every immigrant served to reinforce and strengthen those elements of American society that attracted him in the first place."  By the way, Kennedy's mother, Rose Fitzgerald, lived four doors down from my great-grandfather's cigar shop around the same time.  She was baptized in the Catholic Church in that neighborhood.  Her father John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald was the mayor of Boston at the time.

Take a moment and post your story on the Facebook thread that I started.  The people who came before us were ordinary people who came here with almost nothing, yet they made a life.  The institutions, buildings, and society that we take for granted were because they had the strength, ingenuity, and determination to create a world where their children and grandchildren, and great-grand children can benefit from their sacrifice.  

In the middle of this crisis remember that we are all a product of their struggle.  Like them, we will persevere.  

I look forward to hearing about your stories.