You are led away from the building to outside walks enclosed with wire. The gates are open. You see smiling faces outside the fence. Some wave to you. They are Italians too, but you don't know them. Still, you wave back. You are so happy to be accepted into America!
You board the ferry to the Battery (the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York). You hurry to the apartment of your second cousin in Little Italy the minute the ferry lands.
"You must see the padrone [labor boss]," your cousin says, "He will find you work."
The next day you meet the padrone. He explains that there is a need for workers in the ready-made-clothing business. "Men, women, children are all needed. Every pair of hands I can send is given work."
You nod.
You board the ferry to the Battery (the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York). You hurry to the apartment of your second cousin in Little Italy the minute the ferry lands.
"You must see the padrone [labor boss]," your cousin says, "He will find you work."
The next day you meet the padrone. He explains that there is a need for workers in the ready-made-clothing business. "Men, women, children are all needed. Every pair of hands I can send is given work."
You nod.