Asturian-American Migration Forum

As I've read here in the forum,
"AsturianUS" is available for purchase for $30.00. The contact person is:

Jan Johnson
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
600 Capitol Street
Charleston WV 25301
Phone: 304-556-4903
Fax: 304-556-4980

I hope everyone will enjoy it.

[Art: If you need the WVPB email address, please ask a moderator to send it to you by email. Only the moderators can view the email addresses because I've moved them to the are in the banned threads area under the same title: Docu Film "AsturianUS" is available for purchase.]

I odered my copy of Asturian US and received it today.

I watched it...

I have to say, for me it was sad. I really enjoyed it and thought about days gone by. It brought back so many happy memories of my childhood in Moundsville and Grasselli. I thought about my Grandparents on both sides and what they must have gone through to come here to the USA. Things that we can only imagine.

The houses in Speltzer, that were built for the workers, where so much like the homes in Moundsville...there too after the closing of the Smeltzer the homes were sold to the people who lived in them. They also have changed so much and most of the people in "Spanish Town" are dead and their children moved to other parts of the Country.

It was very well done...and Thank You to the people of Speltzer, Donora and Asturias, and you Ron for all you did to make the film what it is. And, of course, to you Luis who did such a good job bringing Asturian US to all of us.

Barbara Alonso Novellino

Barbara, I agree with you in the sadness feeling later of viewing the documental. I realized what all of you, Asturian Americans, could feel. It's because that that I see the interview to Luis in the TV program "Terapia de Grupo" like a great stupidity and lack of respect to any former emigrant.

Greetings

I too ordered 2 copies of the film. I think I watched it 4 times since the copies arrived. I could see how it might be sad to see how things have changed in these formerly "Asturian towns"

On the other hand I was so happy to see a piece of history and meet some of the people on the forum (though not meet them in person). I was born in 1980, long after the zinc plant and spanish hall were torn down in Fairmont City, IL where my grandfather and greatgrandfather lived and worked. They have passed on many years ago and watching this film allows me to learn, preserve, and pass on an otherwise "lost culture" to us 3rd and 4th generation Asturian-Americans.

Following what Barbara said, I can see the same streets and houses in Fairmont City that are in Spelter. They are remnants of a company town. These cities remind us that our ancestors risked everthing so we, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generations could have a better life.

sometimes I wish I/We were more appreciative.

Carlos wrote:Barbara, I agree with you in the sadness feeling later of viewing the documental. I realized what all of you, Asturian Americans, could feel. It's because that that I see the interview to Luis in the TV program "Terapia de Grupo" like a great stupidity and lack of respect to any former emigrant.

Greetings

Sadness, yes; there is a sense of sadness. Spelter was a town full of life at every corner. You could hear Spanish voices; the men would be arguing over anything. I don't think they knew what they were arguing about. The women would talk about other things: the kids, the work at the plant, would the husbands lose their jobs. As a young boy growing up in Spelter, all the Asturian women were your grandmother; they all looked out for us. The men were not so bad; they would tell us, "You better go home now." We knew that if we didn't go home, our fathers would soon find out about whatever we were doing.

Sadness, yes, but there is one thing that I will always have memories of: the Garcia family who lived next door, the Cueto family who lived across the srteet, the Huerta family, the Alvarez family, the Menendez family. I could go on with names, they all have a face in my memory.

There is also a sense of happiness. I still laugh to my self when I think of some of the things that happened, like the pumpkin in the Cueto family garden. I feel sad for everyone who missed growing up in a town like Spelter. I feel blessed that I did.

Some day Ron will tell us who broke the Cueto family's huge pumpkin! That secret must be weighing heavily on you, Ron!

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¡Algún día Ron va a decirnos quién rompió la calabazón de la familia Cueto! ¡Este secreto debe ser un gran cargo de conciencia, Ron!

It took only a few days to receive my DVD copy of AsturianUS. My brother, Robert, & my sister, Barbie, and I had seen the premiere in WV last year. We enjoyed it so very much. This DVD is also wonderful and very interesting. I've watched it twice and my husband mentioned today that we should watch again. We certainly will.

One thing I noticed is that none of the Spanish-speaking persons in the film spoke Asturianu... and I know my grandparents and aunts and uncles etc. all spoke Asturianu and were a part of that community. (My great grandmother moved to Langaloth while my grandparents' final destination was Canton OH. Many others made the same move to OH to work for the Timken Co.)

Do we know whether Asturianu is still alive among those folks remaining in WV and they simply chose to speak Castalian for the film? Or, is it the case that Castilian is what has survived? I did understand many of those interviewed did not speak much Spanish at all anymore... mostly for a lack of someone to converse with.

Maybe Ron and or Luis can comment.

Again, Muchas Gracias Luis Argeo!!

I can understand the feeling of nostalgia those like Barbara feel. I feel the same way when I look back on my childhood and those that have now passed on. I think that's only normal.

But haven't the goals of our immigrant forefathers been achieved? While it is sad that many Asturian cultures are slowly fading, let us keep in mind that our great-grandparents did not come across the ocean so that three generations later their offspring would still be working in zinc smelters. They wanted to become Americans. Not Spanish Americans. Americans.

They came to give themselves, and their families, a chance at a better life than the one they had. I am the great-grandson of a zinc worker. In a mere three generations my family has gone from back-breaking work in a hellish furnace to a climate-controlled office working 35 hours a week without once breaking a sweat or breathing in caustic fumes. I have access to education and salaries that my great-grandfather could never even have dreamt of.

All nostalgia aside, they succeeded in what they were trying to do. Don't be sad, be in awe of the awesome sacrifice they made and how, in fact, through their hard work their dreams have been realized.

When I spoke of sadness it was...

Missing my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and all my relatives in West Virginia who have since passed. I miss the days of weenie roasts, fort building, the special Friday night movie at the High School, Marshall Dairy who had the best Ice Cream. Walking down the street in "The Farm" and knowing everyone in every house. Going to Salvios with my Grandmother to shop. Walking with my Dad on a hot summer night to the Mound and climbing it. Working with my Grandmother in her vegetable garden...hanging chorizos in the basement to dry. Smelling a pot of simmering cocido...fresh bread baking.

Watching the DVD brought back all these memories. I am so very thankful to my Maternal and Fraternal Grandparents for coming to this country, where their children and their children's children, could have a much better life than they did.

Barbara Alonso Novellino

Thank you Xose for that reminder. You are so correct about how proud our grandparents would be. I know how proud my father was and my mother is for all the reasons you stated.

When I visited Asturias in all it's beauty, I was overwhelmed with thoughts about how difficult it had to be for them to leave their family, that beautiful land, no money and an unknown future... what brave people they were.

And I, too, miss things of my youth. Visiting with my grandfather and grandmother and admiring his beautiful flowers and perfect lawn. I have so many questions I would like to ask them! The smell of all types of Spanish food coming from the kitchen. Playing kick the can in our neighborhood until all hours. Our parents sitting on front porches watching us run and laugh on a beautiful summer night. It was such a slower and seemingly happy time. No cell phones ringing, no computer games, a "sane" work pace.. on and on.

I wonder if this generation will be saying the same things in 50 years. I shudder to think what their lives will be when I consider all the changes and "progress" I have seen.

Nostalgia, I think it is good for us to remember and to be grateful they made the sacrifices they did, allowing us to enjoy this wonderful country of opportunities - warts and all.
Betty

Dear friends, all those things that you said are matter of Asturian vocabulary: señardá and murnia. No dictionary can explain those words in the manner you express your feelings. A big hug from Asturies for you Asturians.

I have moved some of the messages into a new thread about the language our grandparents spoke.
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2440

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He movado algunos de los mensajes a un nuevo tema sobre la lengua que hablaba nuestros abuelos.
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2440

I just received and watched the video for the first time. I was spell-bound by it. Far too memories of a very happy childhood in Spelter. It was a wonderful vibrant community, very close knit--Spanish, Italian, Anglo. How much I miss the many men who stopped by my grandfather's store (Joe "Mike" Alvarez) and spent their time talking and kidding each other. This was a community, couple of stores; grade/junior high school; factory providing opportunities; pretty darn good baseball field with a superb Babe Ruth team at the time; two churches, Methodist and Catholic; and again just great people. Now all that remains are the churches and one store that is now the post office. And of course the ball field.

It was good to see my two uncles in the video, Joe and Frank Menendez. As Ron said "b-goatee" and "bucks". As time has passed I failed to recognize most of the folks in the video at the Spelter location.

Ron who was the lady with you having dinner at, I guess, your house?

As for Donora, I too had relatives there, primarily Andres Alvarez, my great uncle who was married to Mary Cueto from Spelter. Uncle Andy once lived in Spelter, but went to Donora to work in that smelter. Andy's son, Louis, and I stay in touch. Recently he sent me a picture from the Donora Spanish picnic in 1936 with the Cuetos (Segunda, Sylvia, Mary, Mecco), my uncle Andy and my grandfather Joe "Mike" as well as my aunt Ruth Jean Alvarez (Book) and my uncle Don Alvarez (Ruth Jean and Don were kids at the time) as well as Louis.

Memories!

I was spellbound by the movie. It was thrilling to see so many of Asturian descent discussing their heritage and family experiences in the United States. Plus, I loved the footage of people living in Asturias recalling the experiences of loved ones' voyages to the U.S.

I found it interesting that I was not necessarily affected by the bleakness of some of the footage. Of course, much of it was filmed in the winter which is not a particularly scenic time in the Clarksburg area. But primarily, I was not affected emotionally because I had mourned the loss of industry and many people long ago - in my early 20's. At that time, after receiving a college degree, I could find no employment so I had to move to another state - and say goodbye to my grandparents next door, my parents, brothers, uncles and aunts. My grandmother never could understand why I had to leave. Clarksburg and surrounding areas were dying a slow death, in my opinion. Eventually, growth on Bridgeport Hill offered optimism and the FBI improved the economy some. By that time, I had moved on and built a life elsewhere.

West Virginia - and specifically Clarksburg - will always be home. I'll visit as often as possible.

Ken, her name is Norma Diaz. That lady is one of the best friends that any one could ever have. She always has a hug for you, as well as a kind word. If there ever was a angel on earth, it's her. In the film, we were eating lunch at her home.