Immigrant Secrets: The Search for My Grandparents by John Mancini (2022)

That John Mancini is an experienced speaker in his professional life is apparent in the engaging presentation style of his writing. His entertaining introduction, with its references to the TV show The Wonder Years and Kevin Costner’s movie Field of Dreams, indicates his fondness for imaginative storytelling. 

All family historians and memoir writers must choose how best to relate the truth of their or their subjects’ experiences. The main section of the book is fictionalised (in the manner of Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife, for example). As Mancini explains:

“The facts that surround the story of Elizabeth and Frank are true, but the color and texture that surround those facts are my own creations to give them life.”

The imaginative approach used here may not appeal to all, but there is no question about the thoroughness of the genealogical research. Among the documents sourced from archives across the world are census entries, excerpts from church registers, death certificates, hospital records, ships’ passenger lists and immigration records. A selected bibliography is included at the end.

Mancini clearly enjoyed the family history experience, speaking positively of the community:

‘One of the great things of doing genealogy research is that folks are extraordinarily interested in helping each other solve their puzzles.’ 

Overall, the book is an insight into one man’s genealogical journey, and how he was changed by his discoveries, as much as it is a story of his ancestors. Although his Irish and Swedish immigrant forebears are introduced in the early chapters, the main focus is on his Italian grandparents (Elizabeth/Elisabetta and Frank/Francesco), their origins in Itri (a small agricultural centre in Lazio), and their new life in the United States. 

Throughout the fascinating story of immigrant life in mid-century New York, we are mindful of the mystery of Mancini’s grandparents’ deaths. Did they or did they not die in a fire in the 1930s, as family rumour suggested? It is well worth taking this narrative journey through the family’s immigrant history to find out.

What was your background before writing this book?

I spent over 35 years working in three major non-profit associations, 1) the Public Affairs Council, 2) the American Electronics Association, and 3) AIIM International. As the President of AIIM, I spent a lot of time with records managers, archivists, and content and process management executives. Personally, I am the grandfather of three, the father of three, and I have five siblings. I was a history major as an undergraduate, which I think helped create the foundation for my interest in family history and genealogy.

Why did you want to write about your immigrant ancestors? 

The story of the search itself is a rather typical family history journey, albeit one that revealed things I never could have imagined about our family. One thing I have found along this journey is that genealogy people are incredibly helpful. I spent a good portion of the last 20+ years of my career hanging about with records managers and archivists. I will admit that in the rush to embrace the latest and greatest technology shiny gadgets, I didn’t always understand or appreciate them. But I do now. Any errors in genealogy are not intentional. But they’re my fault.

The story of my Italian grandparents is in fact a story. But it is, as they say in movie previews, “based on a true story.” The facts that surround the story of Elizabeth and Frank are true, but obviously, the texture that surrounds those facts and the story incorporating the facts are my own creations to give them life. 

As Rachel Held Evans said, “Origin stories are rarely straightforward history. Over the years, they morph into a colourful amalgam of truth and myth, nostalgia and cautionary tale.”

Did you have any concerns about sharing private aspects of your family’s story?

My brother and I debated whether to raise all this secret history with my mom and ultimately decided that telling the story was the way to keep my father’s story alive. We thought for a while about what to ask my mom about all of this, and what she knew.

My father must have somehow coped with the complete disaster of his childhood by creating an enormous, sealed wall around it, never to be scaled or even discussed. Against a society that viewed – and continues to view – any sort of mental illness through a prism of shame, he and the rest of this extended family of immigrants just shut down the memory of Francesco and Elisabetta and completely erased them from history. Well, not quite.

 And my father kept all of this bottled up so that first HE could survive and protect his brother and then later protect his own family of eight. I imagine that over the years this pressure cooker of secrets ultimately contributed to his premature death. Ultimately we decided the best way to honour his memory was to tell his story.

Do you feel a strong connection to Italy? Has this deepened since working on the book?

I have been to Italy four or five times, and love it. A pre-COVID dream – and one I still hope to realize – was to spend an extended time in my grandparents’ home town. All of this deepened with the book and actually making connections with the Italian side of the family that we never knew existed.

What’s next for you? Any more books?

One of the things I realized after writing the book and talking to people about it is that EVERY family has a story. Many of these origin stories are not what we would have guessed – and many of them are frankly not pleasant – but they are all nonetheless precious.

I am currently researching my maternal grandfather’s story – John Oliver Manson. He was quite a character. He was born in Sweden – but always claimed to have been born in Australia. I believe he stowed away on a ship when he was a teenager. One medical report says he suffered a gunshot wound as a teenager in Rio. He was a leading ship captain in Miami prior to the Depression, lost most of what he had during the Depression, and dabbled in a silver mine in Nevada. And much more, I’ve started documenting his story on my blog – http://www.searchformygrandparents.com – so we’ll see where that goes.

My wife’s family goes all the way back to the 1700s in Virginia, fought on the wrong side in the US Civil War, and has LOTS of untold stories. So many stories, so little time.

 

 

John Mancini was the long-time President of AIIM, the world’s leading information management association. He is a well-known author, speaker, and advisor on genealogy, digital transformation, information governance, and intelligent automation. He is the author of Immigrant Secrets, 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 Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.