What drives a family to leave everything they’ve ever known, to walk for days through rugged terrain with no promise of comfort or safety? For my ancestors, it was the hope of a better life in America—a hope that began with a dusty, arduous trek across Sicily. During my research, I discovered that my family […]
Category: Genealogy
Here I cover genealogy research; what worked for me as I searched for my roots.
Understanding Italian Documents
I explained in a prior post where to look for the original Italian documents containing birth, marriage, and death information. Once you have the pertinent documents, you may need some help in interpreting them if you don’t understand Italian. Even if you do speak Italian, the cursive from the 1800s differs from ours, so you […]
Hunting for Italian Records
One of the best websites for finding information on Italian genealogy is Portale Antenati (Ancestors Portal), managed by the Italian Ministry of Culture. You can view the site in English by using the dropdown at the top of any page. You have several options to conduct your research. The easiest is to search by name. […]