Giovanni Amatangelo and Luisa Ragazzi were both from Italy. They were born in Rocca Pia on June 24th of 1890. On the day they were born, their fathers got together and promised each other that Giovanni and Luisa would marry each other once they were old enough. Giovanni´s father, Fiorenza thought that he would be able to find a better life for his family in America, so he decided to travel to the US. He was able to find a place in Pennsylvania and he sent for his family soon after. In America, Giovanni was able to find a job as a coal miner; however, this job had very difficult labor which only paid 50 cents a day. Later, they found better jobs a local steel mills in the Pittsburgh area. Once Giovanni was settled he sent for Luisa to come to the United States. Luisa was very nervous to travel to America to a husband she didn’t know and leave her family behind. Luisa immigrated to the United States and married Giovanni in 1908, just before their 18th birthday. Together they started their new journey in America. Because they were living in the United States, Luisa and Giovanni went by Louise and John. Life in America was very different from their little village back in Rocca Pia, but they were able to manage it. Growing up taught both John and Louise to be self-sufficient. John grew a garden on the property where they lived. Most of what they ate came from that garden. John continued to work in the steel mill while Louise would stay at home. She loved cooking for her family, but she was also very talented at crocheting. She would crochet many beautiful tablecloths and bedspreads.
Together, John and Louise had 8 children that lived to adulthood. One child, named Caesar died soon after he was born, and tragedy struck again when John and Louise’s two year old daughter, Sylvia, died of a childhood disease. After her death, Louise kept Sylvia’s two little pigtails as a remembrance. While Giovanni and Luisa had faced many challenges and hardships throughout their journey of immigration and in their time living in the USA, they were able to build a good life for themselves and their family for many generations to come.
