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Immigrant Secrets: The Search for My Grandparents
The only thing my father ever said about his Italian immigrant family was that his parents died in the 1930s, shortly after arriving at Ellis Island. Except they didn't. Once I began the search for my grandparents, I mostly ran into dead-ends. Until the 1940 Census. My grandparents magically appear, but as inmates at the Rockland Insane Asylum. What happened? Why all the secrecy? And how did I use genealogy to unravel the mystery?Like many of their greatest generation compadres, my parents, Joseph and Sallyann, quickly headed from New York City to the suburbs in the 1950s shortly after they were married. They arrived in New Jersey, and began their own personal population explosion, having six kids—John, June, Joseph, Jennifer, Jeffrey, and Jeanne—within an eleven-year span. Yes, all Js.
My father was born in 1925. He grew up during the Great Depression, served in the US Navy during WWII and worked as a business analyst at Union Carbide, a somewhat mysterious large chemical company. Later, he started his own business with a friend, but I have no idea what they did. In my father’s last episode, he had a heart attack in New York City in 1987 shortly after officially retiring.
Other than those skeletal facts, my father had no “backstory.” My father never mentioned his family. Never. We only knew – or thought we knew – that his parents died in the 1930s. Unless you knew my father -- the consummate family man -- you will have no idea how weird this was.And therein are the seeds of my quest to unravel our family history mystery.
In a pair of ship manifests, I discovered my father's parents, a pair of Italian immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1920s, intent on grabbing their share of the American dream. In the 1930 Census, I found a family of four – my grandparents, my father and his brother -- with a tenuous foothold on that dream, operating a small fruit stand in Manhattan.
After that, I had mostly frustrating dead-ends -- until the release of the 1940 Census. My grandparents magically reappeared in the Census – but as “inmates” at the Rockland Insane Asylum, never to reemerge. And through my entire lifetime until my father's death, there was no mention that he had an extended family of aunts and uncles and cousins, all living within driving distance.
What happened? Who were these people? How did their lives go so awry?
This is a story about my efforts to use genealogy to discover the truth about our family and a reflection on the impact of secrets on our lives. It is also the story of what it means to be an immigrant – and the impact that “otherness” and mental illness can have on the vulnerable. And lastly, it is my attempt to think through the "why" and "how" of my father, 34 years after his death.
My father was born in 1925. He grew up during the Great Depression, served in the US Navy during WWII and worked as a business analyst at Union Carbide, a somewhat mysterious large chemical company. Later, he started his own business with a friend, but I have no idea what they did. In my father’s last episode, he had a heart attack in New York City in 1987 shortly after officially retiring.
Other than those skeletal facts, my father had no “backstory.” My father never mentioned his family. Never. We only knew – or thought we knew – that his parents died in the 1930s. Unless you knew my father -- the consummate family man -- you will have no idea how weird this was.And therein are the seeds of my quest to unravel our family history mystery.
In a pair of ship manifests, I discovered my father's parents, a pair of Italian immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in the early 1920s, intent on grabbing their share of the American dream. In the 1930 Census, I found a family of four – my grandparents, my father and his brother -- with a tenuous foothold on that dream, operating a small fruit stand in Manhattan.
After that, I had mostly frustrating dead-ends -- until the release of the 1940 Census. My grandparents magically reappeared in the Census – but as “inmates” at the Rockland Insane Asylum, never to reemerge. And through my entire lifetime until my father's death, there was no mention that he had an extended family of aunts and uncles and cousins, all living within driving distance.
What happened? Who were these people? How did their lives go so awry?
This is a story about my efforts to use genealogy to discover the truth about our family and a reflection on the impact of secrets on our lives. It is also the story of what it means to be an immigrant – and the impact that “otherness” and mental illness can have on the vulnerable. And lastly, it is my attempt to think through the "why" and "how" of my father, 34 years after his death.
- GenresNonfiction
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 11, 2021
23 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
John Mancini
5 books8 followersJohn Mancini is the President of Content Results, LLC -- http://www.contentresults.net -- and the Past President of AIIM. He is a well-known author, speaker, and advisor on genealogy, digital transformation, information governance, and intelligent automation.
He is the author of three "book-books" -- IMMIGRANT SECRETS, 70ish: LESSONS LEARNED, and WILL'S CHRISTMAS LIST.
He writes about family history topics at http://www.searchformygrandparents.com, and is the author of more than 30 eBooks on a variety of topics.
He can be found on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook as jmancini77.
He is the author of three "book-books" -- IMMIGRANT SECRETS, 70ish: LESSONS LEARNED, and WILL'S CHRISTMAS LIST.
He writes about family history topics at http://www.searchformygrandparents.com, and is the author of more than 30 eBooks on a variety of topics.
He can be found on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook as jmancini77.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 31, 2021
This poignant story of the search for the author's grandparents is interspersed with a fictional account of their lives as Italian immigrants. Triumphant and sad, uplifting and heartbreaking, you will not want to set this book down until their full story is revealed.
August 18, 2024
The author aims to recount how he solves the mystery of his unknown grandparents. This could’ve been an interesting genealogical study because there were certainly surprises. The chapters on this are okay, albeit diluted with rabbit paths and random reflections. However, every few chapters Mancini attempts to write speculative fiction based on the few concrete facts he knows about his grandparents. This is just weird. He includes long passages in Italian, an obscure Catholic saint, even comments on his grandparents’ sex life amid mental illness. Mancini says he’s trying to humanize people from the past, but these leaps are absurd. Pick a genre.
October 15, 2022
So happy John Mancini was not happy simply mastering the art of baking sourdough bread during the pandemic and cooked up a great book with lessons for us all on seeking, and hopefully in most all cases, sharing, the truth hidden in our family histories.
If you are on the fence about researching your family tree, this read will prompt you to become the next Henry Louis Gates, or John Mancini!
Highly recommended!
If you are on the fence about researching your family tree, this read will prompt you to become the next Henry Louis Gates, or John Mancini!
Highly recommended!
October 11, 2022
First person account of a search for info on John Mancini's Italian immigrant grandparents. John is well known member of our church, so the book felt very personal. The book is amazing, reads like a novel. You'll admire John's perseverance in researching the history of these folks through unbelievable channels and paperwork links.
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October 4, 2022I'm not going to rate it, because I wrote it! But I'm just posting this comment because I'm otherwise not sure how to close off the fact that I'm "reading" my book. If anybody wants details on the story or any of the background that went into it, I'm happy to share that. I'm doing a bit of speaking around the book, but also happy to do book clubs or anything like that in which people might have an interest.Thanks.
November 30, 2021
I usually have at least two books going, but once I started Immigrant Secrets, I was hooked. It is a compelling, extremely well written and superbly researched book it takes you through John Mancini’s search for an answer to a family mystery.
It is simultaneously a mystery, a family saga and a description of the immigrant experience.
I highly recommend this book.
It is simultaneously a mystery, a family saga and a description of the immigrant experience.
I highly recommend this book.
April 2, 2022
Immigrant Secrets is an intriguing tale of discovery, both about one’s unknown family history and one’s self. The book is as witty, charming, and brilliant as its author.
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June 9, 2022A Fascinating Mix of Genealogy and Detective Work
Immigrant Secrets is a fascinating story for two reasons. First, it’s an interesting in-depth look at the lives of the first members of a family to reach America, as they struggled to adjust to life in the new world. Second, it’s an intriguing story of a records management guru in a frustrating quest to discover what really happened to his grandparents.
In John Mancini’s attempt to explore their story, he met with dead-ends, impenetrable bureaucratic red-tape, decades of family secrets and misinformation and solutions found only by pursuing curious roundabout avenues.
John weaves this tale of mystery, technology, and old-fashioned detective work into a lighthearted discussion that is fun to listen to. If you’re interested in the immigrant experience in early 20th century New York, or genealogy, you will find this book will hold your attention as you move from page to page. I read this book in two marathon sessions, and I enjoyed every page.
Immigrant Secrets is a fascinating story for two reasons. First, it’s an interesting in-depth look at the lives of the first members of a family to reach America, as they struggled to adjust to life in the new world. Second, it’s an intriguing story of a records management guru in a frustrating quest to discover what really happened to his grandparents.
In John Mancini’s attempt to explore their story, he met with dead-ends, impenetrable bureaucratic red-tape, decades of family secrets and misinformation and solutions found only by pursuing curious roundabout avenues.
John weaves this tale of mystery, technology, and old-fashioned detective work into a lighthearted discussion that is fun to listen to. If you’re interested in the immigrant experience in early 20th century New York, or genealogy, you will find this book will hold your attention as you move from page to page. I read this book in two marathon sessions, and I enjoyed every page.
November 10, 2024
Could have used a good editor but a fascinating dive into genealogy, family secrets, history, record keeping/records management and surrounding issues.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews