Sepia Saturday provides an opportunity for genealogy bloggers to share their family history through photographs.
Today’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt shows a harbor with ships and lots of people. This provides me with the perfect opportunity to share more photos from my Grandpa Debs Webster’s 1952 photo album!
This album holds photos of the Webster family’s emigration from Brazil to the U.S.A. It is essentially a photo travelogue of their immigration story.
The family boarded the S.S. Brazil in Santos, Brazil. They then made an overnight stop at Rio de Janeiro before embarking on the long voyage to New York City.
While on board the S.S. Brazil, and as the ship left the port at Rio de Janeiro, my Grandpa Debs took some fascinating photos showing various scenes of Rio de Janeiro and the harbor.
Hope you enjoy the photos! Just click on them to get a closer look.
The photo below looks curiously similar to today’s Sepia Saturday photo prompt showing people on a dock.
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If you look closely at this photo below, you can see lots of people standing on the dock.
Hmm, another ocean liner. Wonder where that one's headed.
Any guesses on what kinds of ships are in the photo below?
I love this shot with the airplane in the sky. Also, if you look closely, you can see three men in a small boat on the water.
Military ship up close with the Brazilian flag flying.
Another shot of the military ship. Looks like a tug boat or two are on duty.
My Grandpa Debs wrote on the edges of this photo. I love that he did that!
And this is what he said ~
Top ~ This Time It Is
Bottom ~ Really Goodbye
I wonder how they felt as they watched the shores of Brazil recede from their view, and then turned their faces toward the open ocean and to a new life in the United States of America. I imagine it was a mixture of sadness, apprehension, and excitement all rolled up together. At least, that's probably how I would feel.
Before you say goodbye, see what other Sepia Saturday participants have written this week by clicking HERE.
Thanks for reading!
Jana
Copyright © Jana Last 2012
Incredible photos, Jana ... and that last one is so poignant with your grandfather's writing on the edges! I think you summed up their likely feelings quite gracefully ...
ReplyDeleteHi ljhlaura,
DeleteI really have to thank my Grandpa for taking these amazing photos! I am so glad he decided to document their departure photgraphically.
And I thank you very much for stopping by and for your comments!
Such personal photos for your family. Do you by any chance have any of their arrival in New York?
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteThanks so much for stopping by! It turns out that my Grandpa did take a photo of the Statue of Liberty as they were approaching New York City. I actually wrote a blog post about them coming to New York. Here's the link if you'd like to read it ~
http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2012/07/treasure-chest-thursdaygoodbye-trinidad.html
Thanks for reading and commenting!
In some countries making photos of naval ships like your Grandpa did, is considered to be spying. But since he arrived safe and sound in the States, Brasil is not one of those.
ReplyDeleteThe aircraft in the 5th picture looks like a Douglas DC3 aka Dakota.
What a treasure, this album!
Hi Peter,
DeleteWow! I'm so glad my Grandpa and his family didn't get in trouble for taking those photos! And thanks for the info. about the aircraft! Very cool!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Bittersweet indeed. You summed it up well. I'm sure they felt like they had said their good-byes when they boarded the first ship. But the next ship was the one of no return - at least not anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
DeleteYes, I think my Grandpa's words on the edge of the photo were quite telling regarding how they may have felt as they left Brazil. I think my grandparents visited Brazil sometime in the 1980s, but I don't know if they ever visited before that time.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
How fortunate that debs was handy with the camera. I love the way all the people on the dock are shielding their eyes; it makes it more human somehow.
ReplyDeleteHi Little Nell,
DeleteThanks so much for stopping by!
I am so grateful to my Grandpa Debs for taking these photos! And yes, it's fun to see the candid shot of those people on the dock.
Thanks for reading and commenting! I really appreciate it!
Jana, I guess I could never fully comprehend what it would be like to say goodbye to one's homeland forever. These are such great photographs, and they tell their own story. They seem to have a much more positive outlook than I think I'd have if I had to leave home forever. It certainly makes me want to revisit how each of my ancestors might have felt at that moment in their own lives...
ReplyDeleteHi Jacqi,
DeleteI don't think I can really fully comprehend what it would have been like either. I wonder if I would have been brave enough to move that far away, leaving all that was familiar to me.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Yes, saying goodbye for ever would not have been easy. Australia in its early days had many migrants which did not have a chance to return to their home country. In the end one can make a home anywhere, it just needs a positive attitude towards it. Well many did not have a choice. Your pictures of your families emigration are very precious and also interesting.
ReplyDeleteHi Titania,
DeleteThank you for your kind comments! And thankfully, my grandparents and their family were able to make the United States their new home. Growing up, I don't recall them ever saying they wished they hadn't relocated here. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanx 4 sharing this moment in your family's history. Beautiful landscape and the harbor, bustling with activities. But I personally cannot understand the need to immigrate as I feel I am already "home". I live in a country where people emigrate to. Sure, there are plenty of Canadians living abroad, but I'm pretty sure I am not the only one here who feels he is where he is supposed to be. I would like to visit other places, but always to return home, eventually. So I think it is a brave thing to do for those who feel the need to relocate on this planet, some to leave behind a painful past, others to embrace a brighter future. Half my friends are from immigrant bacground, first born in this country. While they've settled down nicely and made a good life for themselves, I wonder how their parents feel after all of this time, really, deep down. Still nostalgic of the motherland, or happy with the move?!
ReplyDelete:)~
HUGZ
Hi Ticklebear,
DeleteI personally don't feel the need to move to another country either, as I too feel like I am "home." And I agree that my ancestors, whether from Brazil, England, Sweden, Norway, or wherever, were indeed brave to immigrate.
Thanks for stopping by!
That mountain peak is really unusual. Debs was grabbing every piece of Brazil that he could, it seems. I agree with the others -- that had to be a really bittersweet departure.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy, One of those mountain peaks could be Sugarloaf Mountain, but I'm not sure.
DeleteIt did look like my Grandpa Debs was taking as many pictures as he could as they left. I actually have more from his photo album that I didn't include in this post.
Thanks for stopping by!
The photo with the airplane really captures the "goodbye" feeling.
ReplyDeleteHi Postcardy,
DeleteGreat point about the photo with the airplane in the sky.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I really appreciate it!
How wonderful that you have these lovely photos to remember such a momentous occasion. I agree that the airplane shot is such a metaphor for so many reasons, not just the "going away," but for the future that was to be greeted: changes in travel were just beginning and changes in your family were occurring.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy,
DeleteI love what you said about the airplane being a metaphor for many reasons, not just leaving but what the future held for them.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Parting is always so sad. I do like the plane flying overhead. The one ship in question could it be a sub? I find all that history back in those days, to be quite interesting and scary at the same time. I am such a picture taker I'd hate for anyone to ever think I was a spy, but back then it was very common in some places!
ReplyDeleteHi Karen,
DeleteI hadn't even thought of the spy angle with those photos of the military ships! Glad my Grandpa didn't get in trouble or get his camera taken away from him. Wouldn't that have been a tragedy. All these amazing photos would have been gone.
Thanks for stopping by!
Everyone has made great comments. I just wanted to state that it's so awesome that you have this immigration story. I know my family immigrated, but it was long before cameras. So, I don't have the images of their travels like you have. What a treasure for you. And my family stayed put for the most part, except my parents. So, it's awesome for an 'outsider' to watch these photo stories that you have shared. We all have our own stories. I just really enjoy seeing yours in photos.
ReplyDeleteHi Devon,
DeleteYour comments are so sweet and very much appreciated!
I really am so grateful to my Grandpa Debs for taking these photos as they immigrated to the United States.
Thanks so much for stopping by and for your kind comments!
Today's immigrants who travel by air undoubtedly have the same feelings, but never get the chance to take photos like this. In the past, a voyage by ship made distance and time easier to understand. A great post.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike,
DeleteThanks so much for stopping by! And I really appreciate your insightful and kind coments!
It is hard to imagine what they must have felt as they saw their land disappear from sight, but I can remember what it was like leaving Hawaii aboard ship after living there. Unlike flying away today, you watch as your home disappears into the horizon. It's very sad.
ReplyDeleteHi Tattered and Lost,
DeleteWow, that must have been very sad for you!
Thank you so much for reading and for your comments! I really appreciate it!
I love when I find a beautiful photo, turn it over, and poof - it's labeled. Not just the words but in my ancestor's own handwriting. Little did they know what a gift they were leaving to us!
ReplyDeleteHi Debi,
DeleteHow true your words are! It's so exciting to find words of explanation about a photo and the added bonus is when it's in our ancestors' own handwriting.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I really appreciate it!
Oh Jana,
ReplyDeleteI love the photos from where I was born and lived for 25 years!!! Rio de Janeiro is a very beautiful place. Those photos are at the harbour, and if you noticed the big mountain at the back, a very tall one, is where the Christ with open arms is on its top - Cristo Redentor. One of the last photos is showing the Sugar Loaf!
Isabella
Hi Isabella,
DeleteWow! You're from Rio? How lovely!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the photos. I thought perhaps the tall mountain was Sugar Loaf. And I have photos of a trip my grandparents' family took to the big mountain with Cristo Redentor. I'll have to write a blog post about this visit.
Thanks so much for stopping by!