Expert: Francesco Marchesani - 4/23/2009

Question
QUESTION: How does one get information about family from the small town where they were born?  Also, one grandmother was born in Palermo and came to the U.S. and I can find absolutely no information about her in the U.S.  Are records kept in Italy and if so where does one write to get them?

ANSWER: Hello,
all US immigrants' data is available from the Ellis Island records (http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/); however, sometimes it is not easy to find out such an information because the US customs often mispelled or anglicized people's names.
In Italy, you can write directly to a city's board of records; it would be good to give them your grandmother's maiden name and date of birth.

The Palermo's board of records' address is:
Comune di Palermo
Servizio Stato Civile
Piazza Giulio Cesare
90100 Palermo - Italy

Good luck for your search!



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks, i sent off a letter.  How about getting info about a grandfather who was born in Algeria in 1885.  His father, an engineer was sent there by the Italian government to build a viaduct. i would like to find where in Italy the family originated before moving to Algeria. Then how do I get information about his immigration to the U.S.?  He is not in the Ellis Island listings.

Answer
Hello,
if the boy was registered in Algeria upon his birth, the Italian consulate in Algiers should have the record; or, it should be deposited at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome.
You might try to contact both:

Ministry:
http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Ministero/Servizi/Italiani/Sportello_Info/DomandeFre
You'll need to type in your last name, first name, citizenship, country of residence, city of residence, address, phone number, email address, email address again (for confirmation), topic (choose "anagrafe"), question. The fields marked by a * are mandatory.

Consulate in Algiers:
consolare.algeri@esteri.it

If the Ellis Island listing isn't helping, I think you should contact the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, they probably keep old records of immigration:
http://www.uscis.gov