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Descendants of the Past, Ancestors of the Future is a dramatic short film about an expectant father who must deal with his family's past in order to face the future. This compelling and heartfelt film explores the sacrifices immigrant families make and the powerful bond that ties all generations of a family together—living, deceased, and yet to come. Our team's distinctions and honors include an Emmy® nomination, and we have worked on such projects as The Dark Knight, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Cold Case, House MD, Law & Order SVU, Bee Movie, The Simpsons Movie, Underdog, and Brotherhood. [MORE] |
My ancestors came to America around the late 1700s and early 1800s. My earliest ancestor lived in London, England around the 1500s, and his ancestors originated from Wales. I have not completed my search on my African ancestors, but I do know that they were from Central Africa. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Africa, African American, Alabama, Bluitt, Coby, England, Europe, London, Louisiana, Native American, New York, North Carolina, oil, Perry, surgeon, Texas, Virginia, Wales
Posted in Uncategorized
I was born in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) toward the end of British colonial rule. When I was growing up, Sri Lanka was Ceylon. In the following narrative, I describe events in my time in the country I used to know as Ceylon; therefore, the use of this nomenclature is not intended to undermine Sri Lanka, but to recreate the period of history in which I lived; it was Ceylon then.
I completed my high school education in 1954 while English was still the medium of instruction. I was among the last to study in the English medium at the University of Ceylon. I graduated in 1958 with an honors degree in Economics specializing in Money and Banking- a specialty that opened up a promising professional career in the Bank of Ceylon in 1960 as one of two women officers hired by the Bank for the first time. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: American Dream, bank, British, Ceylon, economics, minority, prejudice, Singhalese, Sri Lanka, Tamil
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This is my Dad’s story. Kiyo Morimoto was born in Tyhee Idaho in 1917 to a Mother who was a Japanese picture bride and a Father who had been working the railroad.  My Grandfather, Ryukichi Morimoto emigrated to the US in 1885 to work on the railroad.  He worked in the West – quite wild at the time, saving his money for the bride his mother found for him. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: army, farming, French-Canadian, GI bill, Idaho, Japanese, Pearl Harbor, picture bride, prejudice, railroad, sociology, steamer, WWII
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I recently returned from a road trip through the Midwest, and I was struck again with how much land is still empty – a fact that can escape me as a city dweller lo these many years – in spite of the agrarian roots from which I sprang.
My mother’s people were driven to America from the Neapolitan village of Potenza by the bone-crushing poverty that afflicted much of rural Italy in the early 1900s.  Her grandfather came to New York for work but hated it. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Chicago, great-grandfather, Italy, Midwest, New York, poverty, rural, train
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My family came to America about 100 years ago, in my great-grandparents’ generation.  We were part of the great wave of Jewish refugees fleeing Eastern Europe, where the Tsar encouraged Christians to burn Jewish villages.  The story of my great-grandfather Yankel, on my father’s side, especially sticks out.
Like many Jewish boys, Yankel was drafted into the Russian army at the age of 8. Â Christian boys served in the military for a few years, but Jewish boys had to serve from age 8 to age 30, in an obvious attempt to either kill them or assimilate them. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Eastern Europe, great-grandfather, Jewish, military, New York, Prussia, refugee, Russia
Posted in Uncategorized