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june 2025 Blog

6/1/2025

My Grandparents:
Italian Immigrants

My grandparents came to America from Italy. They traveled for days to get to a land that was foreign to them, but full of hope and opportunity. I didn't learn much about their travels just a few little things like when my mom's father, Joseph, was 11 years old his parents gave him a paper bag with some food in it and told him that on the other side of the ocean he was to meet with relatives who would take care of him. Little did he know that the bag of food was to last for several days and that he was happy he had rationed out the apple he had... eating the core as a final resort. When he arrived, his relatives met the ship that he was on and he was given a menial job. He met my grandmother in Brooklyn, New York. My mother's mom, Josephine, was born in America. I suppose her parents arrived years before my mom's dad arrived. The community they lived in were all Italian immigrants or relatives of the newly arrived folks.
My dad's parents came here to America in the early 1900's. My father's mom traveled with her family from Sicily. My grandmother was 15 years old when she arrived here. She, her parents, her sisters Tommasa (age 18) and Giovanna (age 11) traveled with their parents, Alberto Adamo and Anna Marie on board the ship Napolitan Prince arriving in NYC on October 20th, 1903 according to the 1910 Federal Census. They were going to join Antonio Adamo who was my grandmother's brother. Antonio was living at the time on Elizabeth Street in New York City.

So. now I guess you're wondering why I'm telling you all about my Italian-American History. Well, lately there's been a lot of press and talk about immigration. Everyone I know, except for the native Americans, has ancestors that came from somewhere else. I always thought that America was a tossed salad of all nationalities. Each part of the salad is important and adds and enhances the whole salad. .

I have to agree that there are good and bad in society. But, for the most part people are generally good law abiding individuals who are just trying their best for themselves and their families. My grandparents settled in New York and made excellent livings for themselves and their families. My mom's parents owned and operated a Butcher shop in Brooklyn and my dad's parents owned and operated a millenary business in New York City. They came to America to find a new beginning. My grandma Frances Paula Flandina was a motivated person who only wanted the best for her son (my dad) and daughter (my Aunt Anita).

If I could recollect one thing about my Grandma Frances it was that she was good at everything she set her mind and creative prowess to do. Very often I’d refer to her as a “Renaissance Woman.”  She sang Opera, sewed, designed hats, cooked, baked, crocheted, knitted, painted and was an excellent entrepreneur and businesswoman.
She was curious, learning and experimenting with many, many types of medium, creating a style all her own. Her fingers were never still. She was always exploring new avenues of creativity. And boy, oh, boy was she a risk-taker!!  It was unheard of back in the early 1920’s, 30’s and 40”s to hear of a woman opening and operating a successful millinery business by herself. In fact, my Grandfather, Giovanni Flandina, actually worked for HER!! He was one of her seamstresses, making the hats she designed. Her thirst for learning new things and keeping innovative was the driving force in all that she did. She had a deep desire and talent in designing hats. However, her talents did not stop there. She had a singing voice that was exceptional. Singing under Fucito, the teacher of the great Caruso, she was told to continue her singing career because she had the voice of an angel.  As a soprano, she sang very often at the Met. During those times of the Grand Opera to sing at the Met in NYC was a dream come true for many young girls. However, she had a thirst for learning more and experiencing new and other fields of creativity and business. She was an immigrant from Sicily, Italy and as an immigrant, America was the land of opportunity and making money. She learned early in her career that she wasn’t going to make the money she desired by singing so she chose a career in the millinery business. Through her perseverance and self-discipline, she became a successful hat designer and businesswoman. But that wasn’t all she did…
  As a young child, I remember going over to my grandparents’ home in Rego Park, Oueens County, New York and sitting at her baby grand piano, learning and singing as she cooked delicious Sicilian delicacies in her kitchen. Very often she entertained her opera buddies, the greats of the time. Her home always smelled like the aromas of Italy. She was an excellent cook and baker. From fried artichoke hearts, rice balls, and caponata (eggplant appetizer) to a mouthwatering ricotta cheesecake topped with homemade whipped cream…our visits were not only filled with culture, but food as well. I often joke with my siblings that if she was still living today, she would most certainly have her own cooking show and several cookbooks chock full of her recipes from her homeland in Italy.
Then when I was teenager, back in the late 1960’s, I remember my grandmother had slowed down a bit. However, it never stopped her from still creating and making my sisters and I our Easter and winter hats. She even created dolls for my sisters and me. Mine was a flower girl with a pink Peau de soie fabric dress and a beautiful flowered straw picture hat (see photos below). She and my grandfather still took their cruises on the SS Leonado da vinci  (Italia Cruise line) over to Palermo, Italy almost every year during the summer months. Their Bon voyage parties were extraordinary!! To us, they lived a life of luxury. It was an unbelievable American dream come true.
As time passed, they slowly closed their factory on Fifth Avenue and still worked out of their basement in their Rego Park, NY home.  I remember one day during the summer of 1967 while my twin sister and I were staying for the weekend at my grandparents’ home, we sat down with my grandmother at her kitchen table.  She told us all about her childhood and the days she spent on a ship traveling to America with her siblings at the age of fifteen. She spoke of the excitement she felt as she entered the port in New York and saw the Statue of Liberty. It was an intellectual, artistic and social journey for her. A new and unbelievable future awaited. A future of hope and dreams. A future of excellence. Now, looking back in retrospect to that day, I’ve come to realize how special and pivotal that day was in my life because less a year later in January of 1968 she passed away at the age of 79.  I wish I would have taped what she had to say to my sister, Yolande and me. But I have memories, wonderful memories, of a woman who inspired us to be the best we could be in all that we do. It was and still is an honor to be her granddaughter. In fact, as a young Roman Catholic girl while choosing a Confirmation name I chose Paula, my Grandmother’s middle name. I was so inspired by my Grandma Flandina that this was not only an honor, but a huge privilege for me to choose her middle name as my Confirmation name. Grandma Frances Paula Adamo-Flandina was bigger than life itself. She was truly a “Renaissance Woman” touching on every criterion that title possesses. She was curious, a risk-taker, creative, had a thirst for knowledge and new experiences and persevered in all that she did with self-discipline and excellence.

I'm proud of all of my grandparents and how they all taught me to always try my best and always remember to add kindness and generosity in all aspects of life. Sharing cultures is what makes America a beautiful place from sea to shining sea!!

Happy tales to you!
xoxo Yvonne