WHAT WOULD YOU BRING?

Decide what you would bring with you when you immigrate to Warren County. What would you pack your belongings in? It might be a trunk, a suitcase, a pillowcase, or just a tied bundle. It would depend on the wealth of your family. Maybe you could afford to travel first class. Maybe you can afford only the cheapest ticket and will be crammed into the bottom of the ship.

Read these true stories about what people remember carrying with them to America. Then draw two pictures. One should show how you would carry your belongings. The other picture will show the inside of your luggage with the packed items. You might want to use a shoe box and make it into a trunk in which to show the items you would bring to your new home.

“My mother had her trunk just chock full of stuff, all our clothes, and a lot of food that my grandmother liked, all kinds of cheese...and sausage. ” Margaret Lehan, an Italian immigrant in 1911

"We brought a candlestick, of course, and a samovar (for making tea). That was important. My mother brought shawls for some of the relatives here that they couldn't get — woolen shawls. Breakable things she packed into the bedding, and a couple of copper pans. ” Evelyn Golbe, a Russian Jewish immigrant in 1914

“I arrived in New York in 1921 — all my belongings consisted of a change of underwear and two books. ” Abraham Burstein, a Russian Jewish immigrant in 1921

"I didn’t have a suitcase...I had a little basket, like a trunk. I didn’t have too many clothes to pack and I had some dolls that I had forever and ever. ” Irma Busch, a German immigrant in 1925

“Our clothes, our pillows, our big thick comforters made from pure goose feathers — not chicken feathers...And my mother made some cheese which could travel without refrigeration. ” Fannie Shock, a Polish immigrant in 1921

Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society