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Catherine Remembers Mother Learning English

 

Catherine Remembers Mother Learning English (Transcript)

Interviewee: Catherine Gaetano Gallippi
Date of Birth: February 17, 1914
Date of Interview: December 12, 1990
Interviewer: Paul E. Sigrist, Jr.
Immigrated from Italy at Age 8 in 1922
Ellis Island Collection: EI-17


Gallippi (Her Mother Learns English):
Sigrist: Did your mother ever learn English?
GALLI Gallippi: Not fully. She tried very hard. She could write her name, she could tell time, money, everything. She knew everything about that, but she never spoke fluently...I do remember that they were trying to get a lot of these women at that time to take classes but they said, "We're too busy with the children. We just can't take time." So this is why a lot of people did not learn.

Download Copy of Transcript: Gaetano Gallippi English Transcript

Did You Know?

Ellis Island's Distinctive Facade and Towers

Although Ellis Island is federal property and has always been historically considered in New York, the U.S. Supreme Court appointed a "Special Master" to mediate. The ruling in 1998 determined that the original island belongs to New York and the rest of the island, added after 1834, belongs to New Jersey.