Gloria Bussa Wohlschlaeger
(June 2003 -- Sausalito, California)


From where did your family emigrate and when? Who emigrated (self, parents, grandparents) and what were their names?
The first person was my aunt, my father's sister, Teresa Bussa. She came in 1914 to North Beach in San Francisco. So, when my father came in 1922, he joined her. His name was Aurelio Ottavio Bussa. When he returned to Italy in 1930, he traveled with the grandfather of our local chapter president, Kathleen Maggiora Rogers. He returned home and found that the neighbor had grown up, so he married her, my mother, Maddalena Traffano Bussa and they came together back to San Francisco, by then to the area by the cow palace.

What led them to their destination (relatives already there, hopes of a job at a mill, mine, etc. Please explain)?
Hopes of a better financial life.

Did they emigrate to another location before or after (Argentina, France, England, etc.)?
No.

Did they settle among other Piemontesi and were they members of a Piemontesi society (fraternal, mutual aid, etc.)?
The area was full of Piemontesi! They belonged to organizations, played bocce and cards all the time.

Did your family maintain Piemontesi traditions -- language, culture, history, cuisine, etc.?
Yes, especially language and cuisine.

Did your family return home to visit or to live after the initial emigration? Did they maintain contact with family back home?
Contact was always maintained. It was difficult during World War II. Our (their) first visit back was in 1950.

Do you identify yourself more as American, Italian or Piemontese?
American of Italian heritage.

Have you visited your family's town(s) in Piemonte?
Yes. We stay at the cascine where my parents were born and grew up. They were adjoining.

What was your experience like?
Hard to explain. A very warm special, loving time. Last summer, one of the distant cousins on my father's side said he thinks that I love the "Barracona" like all the other Bussas there. Quite a compliment.

Have you studied your Piemontesi genealogy? Please explain why.
I only know the history as told to me by the relatives. I do have it documented. I find it interesting feel it in my bones and want to pass it on to my children.

Do you belong to the Piemontesi nel Mondo, Famija Piemonteisa or any other organization?
Piemontesi nel Mondo.