Rosa: The Life of an Italian Immigrant

Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography

by Marie Hall Ets, Helen Barolini (Introduction), Rudolph Vecoli (Foreword)

This is the life story of Rosa Cavalleri, an Italian woman who came to the United States in 1884, one of the peak years in the nineteenth-century wave of immigration. A vivid, richly detailed account, the narrative traces Rosa’s life in an Italian peasant village and later in Chicago. Marie Hall Ets, a social worker and friend of Rosa’s at the Chicago Commons settlement house during the years following World War I, meticulously wrote down her lively stories to create this book.

Rosa was born in a silk-making village in Lombardy, a major source of north Italian emigration; she first set foot in the United States at the Castle Garden immigrant depot on the tip of Manhattan. Her life in this country was hard and Ets chronicles it in eloquent detail—Rosa endures a marriage at sixteen to an abusive older man, an unwilling migration to a Missouri mining town, and the unassisted birth of a child, and manages to escape from a husband who tried to force her into prostitution. Rosa’s exuberant personality, remarkable spirit, and ability as a storyteller distinguish this book, a unique contribution to the annals of U.S. immigration.

Genres: School, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Marie Hall Ets was an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books. She attended Lawrence College, and in 1918, Ets journeyed to Chicago where she became a social worker at the Chicago Commons, a settlement house on the northwest side of the city.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally fascinating slice of history, thank goodness MHE recorded it. As stated in the preface, most autobiographies of immigrants are male, and success stories. This is neither, which makes it an important work. It is closer to the lived experience of the majority of immigrants at that time.

It is the the story of the wild and difficult life of Rosa from about 1870 at age 4 in Cuggiono Italy (name was changed in the book to Bugiarno) working in the silk mills and her journey in life through the early 1900s when she is in Chicago. It was transcribed by an acquaintance, Marie Hall Ets, who used to listen to Rosa and her lively storytelling abilities at her place of employment in Chicago. She begins life as an orphan in Milan, tossed into a turnstyle at a convent, is adopted, and you learn firsthand what life was like in rural Italy in the mid 1800s (pretty bad) and see how the real people she knew dealt with it, why she was sent to America, why she had to marry who she did, and the power that the rich (and the church IMHO, but Rosa was very devout) had over the people there. Her biggest revelation in America is that you could talk to anyone - your neighbor, your boss, someone richer than you, anyone. You no longer had to be afraid, and even though life was still hard, that alone made it worthwhile, not living in fear.

[Nikita Dolese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great story of an Italian immigrant and her journey through life, starting with her abandonment as a baby. It's an autobiography as told to Marie Hall Ets. Rosa has such a great talent for story-telling, that you forget this is non-fiction. It's sad, funny, touching, and real.

[Rebecca Inguaggiato-Elsbree :)]

Looking forward to reading this. There is such few and far little in documenting our experience properly, it has left generations so traumatized. I’d like to see more representation, done respectfully. It’s been difficult growing up with no one to look to as example, and everything buried. There’s some hope though, someday

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one-of-a-kind. Rosa, an Italian woman, tells her life story of growing up in Italy and emigrating to America. Rosa’s story was transcribed by an American author, preserving Rosa’s own vernacular, making the reader feel like they are sitting at the feet of this master storyteller. I did find Rosa to be exceedingly boastful at times and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that some of the events she recounted were exaggerated. But I guess all good storytellers probably embellish some.

[Vic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book about the Italian-American experience. It’s full of details of how American were thought to be stronger and less scared than the Italians. A common thing Rosa said was that they get smart when they live in America. The book is also full of details on how it’s was to grow up as a poor in Italy as well as America.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories flowed together well just like I was listening to Rosa tell them myself. It was interesting time for Immigrants and brought some insight into their lives then and what challenges they faced.

[Lucrezia Gaion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is heartbreaking. I highly recommend to read it to get a taste of what Italian life was for the poor people in Italy after the unification, and what their experience was like if they had the opportunity to move to America.