THE VENETO THEY LEFT BEHIND The First Job — Work, Survival, and the Price of a New Beginning Episode 9

THE VENETO THEY LEFT BEHIND

The First Job — Work, Survival, and the Price of a New Beginning

Episode 9

The first job did not fulfill the immigrant's dream. It gave him a foothold from which to begin building a new life

The Morning After Arrival

For many Italian immigrants, the first morning in a new country brought a question that was both simple and urgent: where could they find work?
The ship had brought them across the Atlantic. Immigration officials had examined their documents, relatives or acquaintances might have helped them find temporary lodging, and the unfamiliar streets had begun to reveal something of the world in which they would now have to live. But a place to sleep was not a livelihood. Food, rent, clothing, transportation, and the repayment of debts all required money.
For those who had arrived with very little, the search for employment could not be postponed. Their savings were limited, and many had borrowed money to pay for the passage. Some had left wives, children, or elderly parents behind, expecting to send financial assistance as soon as they could. Others had crossed with their families and now faced the responsibility of supporting everyone from the first weeks onward.
The promise of a new life had become a practical matter. They needed a job.

Finding Work in an Unfamiliar Country

The first opportunity rarely came through a formal application process as we understand it today. More often, employment was found through relatives, friends, fellow villagers, boardinghouse keepers, labor contractors, or other immigrants who already knew where workers were needed.
A man arriving in New York might be directed toward construction, factories, docks, street work, or the railroads. Another might travel inland to Pennsylvania, where coal mines and industrial establishments employed large numbers of immigrant laborers. Others found work in agriculture, food processing, or the building trades.
The destination often depended less on personal preference than on the existence of a contact who could provide an address, recommend a worker, or introduce him to a foreman.
This was one of the great advantages of chain migration. A person who had already crossed the ocean could become the bridge through which another family member or neighbor found employment. A letter containing the name of a town, a factory, a farm, or a contractor could determine the first destination of someone who had never before seen that part of the world.
For an immigrant without such contacts, the beginning could be considerably harder. He might have to move from one employer to another, accept temporary work, or travel in search of a place where his labor was wanted.

The Work Their Hands Could Find

The occupations available to Italian newcomers varied greatly according to the country, region, period, and local economy. There was no single immigrant occupation, nor did every person follow the same path.
In the United States, many Italian immigrants entered construction, mining, railroad maintenance, road building, manufacturing, and port labor. Some worked in steel mills, textile factories, foundries, brickworks, and other industrial establishments. Others became carpenters, masons, stonecutters, plasterers, mechanics, gardeners, street vendors, or small merchants.
Agriculture also offered employment, particularly in regions where seasonal labor was required. Italian workers could be found in vineyards, fruit orchards, vegetable farms, and other agricultural enterprises. In Louisiana, for example, Italian laborers worked in the sugarcane industry, often under demanding conditions.
The experience of Giovanni Piva, a fictional character whose story reflects the circumstances of many emigrants, illustrates how a young man from Pederobba, in the province of Treviso, could find himself working in the sugarcane fields of Louisiana. His story is explored in The Italian Who Went to Cut Cane in Louisiana.
In Brazil, the circumstances were different. Many Italian immigrants were recruited for agricultural work, especially in the coffee-growing regions of São Paulo, while others entered urban occupations, commerce, construction, and skilled trades. In southern Brazil, numerous families worked in agriculture and established small farms, while others became artisans, shopkeepers, and service providers.
In Argentina, immigrants found opportunities in agriculture, construction, railways, ports, and the expanding urban economy, particularly in Buenos Aires and other growing cities.
The work available to a Venetian immigrant in California was not necessarily the same as that offered to a family arriving in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, or a rural settlement in southern Brazil. The country of destination, the local labor market, and the immigrant's previous experience all mattered.

The Skills They Carried Across the Ocean

Many immigrants arrived with practical knowledge acquired long before they boarded a ship. They knew how to work the land, build walls, repair tools, handle animals, cultivate vineyards, cut timber, prepare food, or make useful objects by hand.
These abilities did not always translate immediately into a secure occupation. A farmer might find himself employed in a factory. A skilled carpenter might begin by carrying timber or unloading cargo. A man accustomed to working with stone might initially be hired for the most physically demanding tasks on a construction site.
The first employer did not necessarily recognize the full value of an immigrant's experience. Language barriers, unfamiliar working practices, lack of formal certificates, and the urgent need for income could force newcomers to accept positions below their abilities.
Yet practical skills often became an important resource over time. An immigrant who began as an unskilled laborer might eventually find work as a carpenter, mason, mechanic, or independent craftsman. Some established small workshops or businesses, while others moved from wage labor into agriculture or commerce.
The experience of Antonio Greco, portrayed in The Hands That Carried Italy to America, offers a narrative illustration of how knowledge learned in an Italian family workshop could become useful in an unfamiliar American city.
The tools and techniques of the old country were not always left behind. Sometimes they became the foundation of a new livelihood.

Long Hours, Low Wages, and Physical Exhaustion

Finding employment did not mean finding security.
Many immigrants performed work that was physically demanding, dangerous, poorly paid, or irregular. Construction laborers worked outdoors in changing weather. Miners descended into underground passages where accidents, explosions, falling rock, and poor ventilation could threaten their lives. Factory workers faced machinery, excessive heat, dust, noise, and long hours.
Agricultural laborers often depended on the season. When the harvest ended, employment could disappear. Workers might have to move elsewhere, accept another kind of occupation, or wait until the next planting or harvesting period.
Working days could be long, and rest was limited. The body became the principal instrument of survival. Strong hands, endurance, and the ability to continue working despite fatigue were often more immediately valuable than education or formal qualifications.
The risks were not limited to physical accidents. Low wages, unstable employment, delayed payments, unfair deductions, and dependence on labor contractors could leave workers with very little control over their circumstances.
Some immigrants encountered employers who treated them fairly and offered opportunities for advancement. Others experienced discrimination, exploitation, and hostility because of their nationality, language, religion, or social position.
The image of America as a land where hard work automatically guaranteed prosperity was therefore incomplete. Work could open a door, but it did not ensure that the immigrant would be able to pass through it.

The Cost of the First Paycheck

A first wage could bring enormous relief, but it was rarely enough to transform a family's circumstances.
Before an immigrant could save money, he had to pay for lodging, food, clothing, transportation, and sometimes tools required for the job. If he had borrowed money for the passage, repayment might take priority over every other expense.
Men living alone often shared rooms or rented beds in crowded boardinghouses. Several workers might occupy a small space, reducing expenses by accepting very little privacy. Meals were simple, and clothing was repaired rather than replaced whenever possible.
For those who had left their families in Italy, another responsibility awaited: sending money home.
A small remittance could help parents purchase food, pay debts, maintain a household, or provide for children. It might also finance the passage of a wife, a brother, or another relative who hoped to join the immigrant abroad.
Money sent across the ocean was not merely financial assistance. It was a continuation of family responsibility, a way of remaining present in a household from which the emigrant was physically absent.
The first wages therefore carried several obligations at once. They had to sustain the immigrant in the new country while also supporting the people who remained in the old one.

The Men Who Worked Underground

Among the most demanding occupations available to immigrant workers were those in the coal mines of the United States.
In Pennsylvania and other mining regions, thousands of European immigrants entered a world of underground labor. The work required physical strength and exposed miners to serious dangers, including falling rock, explosions, harmful gases, and the accumulation of coal dust.
For some men, the mines represented an opportunity to earn wages that might be difficult to obtain in their villages of origin. But the price could be severe. Accidents and occupational illnesses affected workers and their families long after the working day had ended.
The story of Angelo Martelloni, also a fictional character created to represent a wider immigrant experience, follows this path. After years in the coal fields of Pennsylvania, Angelo moved into industrial employment in New Jersey before eventually seeking a different livelihood. His story appears in The True Wealth of Angelo Martelloni.
Such stories remind us that the immigrant's working life was not always a steady progression toward success. It could involve changing occupations, illness, economic setbacks, and the need to begin again.

Women Worked Too

The history of immigrant labor cannot be told exclusively through the experiences of men.
Women also contributed substantially to the economic survival of Italian families. Depending on the destination and local opportunities, they worked in textile factories, garment workshops, food processing, domestic service, agriculture, and small family businesses.
Some women earned wages outside the home. Others combined domestic responsibilities with seasonal or home-based production. In farming communities, their work could include planting, harvesting, caring for animals, preparing food for sale, and maintaining the household.
Even when their labor was not recorded in employment registers or official statistics, it remained essential to the family's economic life.
Women also carried much of the responsibility for preserving family routines, raising children, maintaining religious practices, and adapting household life to unfamiliar surroundings.
For a family that had emigrated together, the struggle for survival was a collective undertaking. The husband's wages might be important, but they were rarely the whole story.

The First Steps Toward Independence

For some immigrants, the first job was only a temporary stage.
A laborer who had saved enough money might purchase tools and become an independent tradesman. A factory worker could eventually open a small shop. A farmhand might rent or acquire a plot of land. A street vendor could gradually establish a permanent business.
These transformations were neither immediate nor guaranteed. They required years of work, careful spending, favorable circumstances, and sometimes assistance from relatives or fellow countrymen.
The immigrant networks that had helped newcomers find their first employment could also provide information, credit, customers, and practical support. A person who had once depended on another man's recommendation might eventually become the one who helped a newcomer find his first job.
In this way, communities grew through repeated acts of mutual assistance. A job was more than a source of income. It could be the beginning of a network, a trade, a business, or a more stable family life.

The Family Waiting Across the Ocean

For many emigrants, the most important reason to work was not personal advancement. It was the family.
A man who had left his wife and children in the Veneto might measure his progress by the amount of money he could send home. He might postpone buying better clothes, renting a larger room, or spending money on comforts because every saved coin brought him closer to the possibility of reunion.
Some intended to return to Italy after a few years. Others hoped to bring their families abroad as soon as they could afford the passage. Plans changed according to employment, health, economic conditions, and events in the homeland.
Separation could last much longer than anyone had expected. Children grew up with one parent absent. Wives managed households alone. Parents aged while waiting for letters and remittances.
The emotional cost of this arrangement was often hidden behind practical language. Letters might report that work was steady and money was being saved, while leaving unspoken the loneliness, exhaustion, and uncertainty that accompanied everyday life.
The story of Matteo and his family, told in The Italian Family That Kept One Place at the Table, recalls the lasting consequences of family separation and the memories that continued to connect relatives on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

What the First Job Really Meant

The first job was rarely the fulfillment of the dream that had brought an immigrant across the ocean.
It was often dirty, exhausting, insecure, and far removed from the life he had imagined while listening to stories about America or reading letters from relatives abroad. The first wages might disappear almost as quickly as they were earned. The first room might be crowded. The first winter might be colder than anything remembered from the Veneto. The language of the workplace might remain difficult for months or even years.
Yet that first job represented something important.
It meant that the immigrant had begun to participate in the economic life of the new country. He had found a way to support himself, however modestly. He had acquired experience, learned unfamiliar routines, and begun to understand the possibilities and limitations of the place in which he now lived.
For some, the first occupation became a lifelong trade. For others, it was simply the first step toward something different.
The men and women who crossed the ocean did not all become wealthy, own land, or establish businesses. Many remained wage earners throughout their lives. Some returned to Italy. Others moved from one country or occupation to another. Their experiences were diverse, and their achievements should not be measured by a single standard of success.
What they shared was the effort to turn an uncertain beginning into a life that could sustain a family.
The first job did not make them citizens, homeowners, or successful businesspeople overnight. It gave them something more immediate: a foothold.
And from that foothold, slowly and often painfully, they began to build.
The immigrant's hands had found work. His future, however, was still being written.

Author’s Note

For more than three decades, my work alongside families of Italian descent has brought me into contact with the memories, documents, and personal histories of generations shaped by emigration. One lesson has become increasingly clear: behind almost every family story of departure lies another story, often less visible, about work.
The first occupation undertaken by an immigrant rarely appears in family memory as a simple professional detail. It is remembered through the sacrifices it demanded, the money it made possible, the illnesses it sometimes caused, and the opportunities it opened for the next generation. A family may remember a grandfather as a farmer, a miner, a carpenter, or a factory worker, without realizing how much that first job determined the course of its history.
I have sought to present this subject without romanticizing hardship or treating every immigrant experience as identical. The destinations, occupations, and opportunities varied enormously. Yet, across different countries and circumstances, work was often the first practical instrument through which emigrants began to transform uncertainty into a new existence.
To understand our ancestors, we must look not only at the places they left and the countries where they settled, but also at the work they performed, the skills they carried, and the sacrifices made with the hope that their children might have a wider horizon.
Their labor was part of the foundation upon which later generations built their lives.

Dr. Luiz Carlos B. Piazzetta
Author and researcher of Italian immigration and family history