March 9 — Take a family document (baptismal certificate, passenger list, naturalization petition, etc.) and write a brief narrative using the information.
[Note: This post originally ran during the Fearless Females series in March 2010]
This is my grandmother’s baptismal certificate (1899, Lutina, Slovakia).
SOURCE: Greek Catholic Church, Lutina, Slovakia, Baptismal Record for Verona Straka, 11 November 1899; issued 1960.
and the passenger list showing her arrival at Ellis Island in New York in 1922.
SOURCE: Manifest, S.S. Orduna, 26 July 1922, List 2021 for Verona Straka (age 22).
Verona Straka was born on November 11, 1899 in Milpos, (Hungrary, later Slovakia) to Maria Verbovsky and Andrej Straka. She was the youngest of 13 children. On July 26, 1922, Verona, along with countless other immigrants, boarded the S.S. Orduna, which left the port of Hamburg, Germany for the United States. When she arrived at Ellis Island, NY on August 7, 1922, she was listed on the ship’s manifest as a “laborer” with $25 in pocket her pocket en route to her final destination—her sister’s house, in Duquesne, Pennsylvania.
Copyright, 2011, Lisa A. Alzo
All rights reserved
Read your article today in The African American Gen Daily. LIke the idea and post – the title "Fearless Females" catches the attention of your reader. New ideas keep me inspired. Great story – Thanks for sharing.
How great that you have this in your family records. I think I found my great great grandmother coming from Ireland but not sure as of now,
What wonderful documents to have!!