My First Trip to the National Archives Friday, I went to the National Archives. I've worked in DC for two years, but this is the first time I have used any free information sources since I've worked there. I figured I'd do a recon and see what is available. The NA opens at 08:45. I found this at their website. www.nara.gov After jumping on the wrong metro train, I normally go to L'Enfant vice Union Station, I doubled back and got off at the Archives stop. Across the street was this hugh concrete building, the Archives. The researcher entrance is on Pennsylvania Ave, as stated on their instructions on the web page. As you go in, the guards check anything you take in, asking if you have any original documents with you. I took the elevator to the 4th floor, which is the microfilm room. I stepped up to the desk and the woman asked what I wanted to do. I told her I wanted to look at passenger lists. She assigned me to a microfilm viewer (#48). I located the viewer and dumped my junk. She will give you a form and ask that it be returned to her when you leave, so they can reassign the station. I knew that my grandfather had come over between 1898 and 1901, because their first born in the US was in 1901. Soooo, I go up to the inside desk and ask how to go about finding his ship and manifest list. The woman at the desk takes me into the room (more like a vault) where they keep the microfilm. She asks me where he arrived at and the approximate year. I tell her New York and between 1898 and 1901. She directs me to the drawer for New York, and tells me that 1897 - 1902 are indexed by the lastname. Since I arrived early, all the rolls of film were there. I locate the index roll where Cimorelli would be located, #31. The woman at the desk tells me to go to viewer #65-67, which are the more magnified viewers. So I figure out how to thread the film on the spools and start winding through. There are two rows of index cards. I'm trying to read the cards sideways, when another researcher shows me that the spool mechanism rotates. Now I can see the index cards. I start searching, first Cilla, Cimino, then Cimarella, Cimarelli, and finally Cimorelli. There are a bunch. My great-grandfathers name was Michele Cimorelli, and I find his card. It is too illegible to read the date and ship. So, I search the other cards. I know he had sons, Giuseppe, Cosimo, Celestino, and daughters Rosina, Grazia, and Carmela. I find the girls and the younger son, Cosimo. The index card states they arrived on the s.s. Furst Bismarck on March 12, 1900. Great. I write down the info and again go to the desk and ask what to do next. Again, the woman smiles and says "follow me" and back into the vault we go. We go up the row (I think it was 103-111) and she points to a drawer and says it is in there. The drawer states New York Jan 1900-Jan 1901. I start looking and find the film, roll number 107. Great, so I take the film to my work station (#48). This is a 35mm film, vice the 16mm film of the index cards. I thread it onto the reels and turn on the viewer. (First mistake, turn on the viewer first so you can use the light (it is dark)). I turn it on and the is upside down. So, I figure that whoever used it last did not rewind it. So, I reverse reels and have to rewind it. At the beginning, there is a table of contents as to what ships are in the roll. I find s.s. Furst Bismarck. This is promising. I slowly wind the film, then faster, then really fast. One can see when there is a list change, even at high speed. I located the passenger manifest for the s.s. Furst Bismarck. My heart is beating faster and the butterflies starting to move. Can it be? I look at the first list. Not there. Damn. I go to the next list. Not there. I find each page is alphabetical, not the entire list. I slowly go over each name. Some names are in Germanic script, and some are are cursive. Kind of blurry. I glance over to the next viewer, and see a research adjusting something on the bottom side of the top of the viewer. Aha! - two focus rings. So, my left hand is playing with the focus, and the right hand is turning the crank to advance the film. A pro! I get to the last page, and there is a Cimorelli name. YES I yell. I glance around and see the smiles on the researchers faces. They know. All of a sudden there are lots of them. When did they get here? I look at my watch and it's past 10:00. I start looking at the manifest. Rosina Cimorelli, and on top is Maria Zarlenga, my great-grandmother. I also find Grazia, Cosimo, and Carmela. I also find a Caroline Cimorelli. (a cousin?) I cannot find my great-grandfather, nor his two older sons. This is not good. Did he come over earlier? I write down all the info. I thought that it would be really nice to get a printed copy. Back I go to the desk. H..e..l..p! The woman again smiles and directs me to the printer viewer, and says I need to locate the manifest, and bring up both the film spool and the take up reel, thread them on, and print it. But first, you must buy a NA debit card. OK, I came with a pocket full of quarters, because the website said it costs 25 cents a copy. Well, the machine takes dollar bills. OK, I have a couple. Of course, my dollars don't read in. H..e..l..p! OK, go to the 1st floor and go to the cashier and they will sell you one. I go down, give the cashier $5.00, and get a card. Back to the 4th floor. I put the debit card in the viewer and figure out how to print the manifest. After about 3 tries in adjusting the lightness/darkness, thus wasting 75 cents, I get to where I want and print a couple. The printouts are 11 1/4 x 17 - BIG! This is great! I blow a couple up and fool around a bit. I also search another list (s.s. FULDA) for a Giuseppe Cimorelli and it stats on the manifest he was to live with a brother, Michele, in New York and gives an address (188 Quack? St.) Could he have had a brother? More questions for my grandma. I double check the list, but no GGF. OK, back to the index cards. I go to the drawer of the index, and the roll is gone. Damn! OK, I check for my grandmother, Elvira Scotto D'Abbusco. I figured out the soundex for her, D120. Back to the index drawer. I locate the index roll and back to viewer 65-67. All full. I wait 1/2 hour and finally get back on. Now it's soundex cards, because she came over in 1920. I finally figure out that I have the wrong film. I ask at the desk how the soundex cards are arranged. They tell me that it is by soundex number and then by first name. By now, I'm burnt out and need to catch my train back to Spotsylvania, VA. It is really fatiguing on the eyes. Next time I will bring a magnifying glass and maybe I can read some of the hard to read index cards. I stop at the book store on the first floor, after first returning my workstation number to the front dest to reassign my viewer. There I find a bunch of genealogy books, including "They came in Ships", and "Italian Roots" by John Colletta. These are $9.95 and $11.95. In the "They came in Ships" book, it shows the index cards and how to search the manifest lists. I wish I had the book first, before I started. It would have saved me some time. On the way out, the guards check all my stuff. Any way, I got to eat a couple of chili/onion hotdogs on the street outside, review my purchases, and plan my next trip. It was very rewarding and a great learning experience. Next time, the Census and locating my great-grandfather. If anyone at a Regional Archive happens to look at roll #31 from 1897-1902, Please check Michele Cimorelli's index card to see if you can read either the date or ship name. - Maybe you have a clearer film - Thanks. Tony Cimorelli //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //// //// //// Tony Cimorelli cimorelt@cimorelli.com //// //// //// //// Researching Cimorelli/Zerlenga - Isernia(MO) //// //// Scotto D'Abbusca - Monte di Procida (NA) //// //// Scarselli, Iannone, Mazzarelli //// //// http://www.cimorelli.com //// //// http://208.249.158.172/pie/piesani.htm //// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////