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How I wish Henry Louis Gates Jr., the host of “Finding Your Roots” on PBS, had invited me to be on his show when I began researching my family history. That would have helped me prepare for my trip to Montazzoli, Italy in the summer of 1974, but Dr. Gates didn’t launch his show until…

My sister Rachelle does not impress easily, but I could hear a genuine note of admiration in her voice. “I didn’t know that,” she said. “That is interesting—I never knew that about our grandfather. ‘Bird of passage,’” she repeated. She had just read my blog “Bird of Passage”—Where is Your Home?” Rachelle and I and…

Every year on October 23rd, I think about my grandmother Rachel. I knew that she arrived on Ellis Island on October 23, 1920, but I never wondered why she took a ship from Le Havre, France instead of Naples, Italy. My grandfather Concezio had to walk or share a ride in a donkey cart for…