An American Dream

Blind Artist Vision: blog by Stella De Genova

She was born in 1900 in a small town called Acerra in southern Italy.  In 1918 or '19, she was writing letters to a young Italian man from the same town who had migrated to America a few years previous.  Giuseppe was ready to take a wife and Stella’s family thought he was good for her and felt they could make a good life together.

In 1920, Stella came to America through Ellis Island on a ship named the Giuseppe Verdi.  She had sent a photograph to Giuseppe so he would know what she looked like when he would first meet her in person in the United States.  The couple found each other, a wedding took place, and they made their way to Chicago to start a new life.  These were my paternal grandparents and Stella is my namesake.

Italian immigrants from southern Italy came to America with big dreams and little in their pockets.  My grandpa was a day laborer, taking any job that he could find, often doing heavy construction work. He later found work with the WPA (the Works Progress Administration, a massive New Deal program established in 1935 to combat unemployment during the Great Depression.).  He then went on to work in factories.  He taught himself English by reading the Bible and newspapers.   Grandma was the homemaker and took care of the children.  Grandma and Grandpa were able to buy a home in 1948 with empyy lots on each side.  The one extra lot was like their own little organic farm with tomatoes, peppers, grapes, beautiful flowers and lots more, not to mention room for their many grandchildren to play and run around.

They did not have a lot of money but they were rich with family and friends.  They became U.S. citizens and helped sponsor relatives to come over as well.

Grandpa was the quiet one of the couple and Grandma was tough but always had a smile and hugs for family and friends and a beautiful laugh.  As immigrants, their life was not always easy.  They had six children but lost one son at birth and lost their only daughter in a house fire.  They had four sons, the oldest passing away in his early 60’s due to heart disease.  The three surviving brothers lived into their mid and late 90’s, my dad being the youngest and still doing well at 94!

As a blind artist, I always try to paint more loosely and expressively and I don’t tend to do portraits anymore.  But then, I kept looking at my Grandma’s photo and, with the magnification of my IPad to help me study the details, I really felt like I needed to attempt working on her portrait.  I feel like Grandma’s spirit watched over me and gave me the confidence to work on this.  I made this a summer project and took my time to try to getit right.

Each and every one of us can go back in our family history and find our immigrant stories.  This is an important part of how our country started and continues.  America is a patchwork quilt, made up of people from around this whole world.  My family found a way to be a part of the American story, in the same way that new families are doing the same thing today.  This is exactly what has made the United States unique and we need to respect and hang on to these beliefs so we can honor all of our family stories.

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