I’m part of an NGSQ Study Group. It’s been a really positive experience, and I’m learning a lot from the study and discussion of each article. This past week our group met, and the article we discussed is called, “Without Land, Occupation, Rights, or Marriage Privilege: The Buttner Family from Bavaria to New York.” (Warren Bittner, CG, NGSQ 100 ,Sep 2012: 167-189.) The article talks about oppressive laws against the poorer classes in Bavaria, which eventually led to a few of the descendants immigrating to the United States with the hope of establishing a better life and future. This article made big impact on my understanding of motivations for immigration, and I’ve thought about the story of this family line for a few weeks now.
This week I’m in New York with my husband and daughter, making our way up to see our son at West Point. Today we visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (not my first time but my daughter’s first time). In one of the museum displays in the Statue of Liberty pedestal there’s a quote from an immigrant journal that reads:
You American born can never imagine how we who lived under all kinds of “isms” felt when we, in the early hours of a very cold January morning, saw you, The Statue of Liberty. To us this meant real freedom. Thank God we made it.
I’ve just been thinking a lot about the immigrant process and how many people had hope focused on the dreams of life in America. It’s been meaningful to be in these significant places and remember my ancestors who had their hope set on America. If they never realized their American potential, I’m grateful to be the recipient of their brave jump to leave their homeland and seek something different.
