Migrant children at our school
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (381837)
Rockingham, Australia
April 9, 2022 7:09pm CST
In my last post, I wrote about migrant children coming into our classes after World War II. Jojo (@Sojourn) mentioned how he had wondered about the Australian fast bowler with the name Michael Kasprowicz. We have a great many sportspeople and others with names that are obviously not English/Australian in origin.
Many of the migrant children, including a lot of Polish children, went to the convent where my husband, Vince, was a pupil. He remembers a child being given a ‘new’ name as his real one was too hard for the nuns to pronounce. We look back now and think what a dreadful thing this was.
I knew a Dutch family who owned the few acres my parents later bought. Their relatives came out and lived in the shed where Mum later milked her house cow. The first day the boy (my age) went to school, he proudly wore his wooden clogs. They were unknown of in Australia. He was probably made fun of at the time. In later years, some changed their surnames to sound more ‘English’. So many stories.
Photo is me on a merry-go-round.
15 people like this
16 responses
@DaddyEvil (174292)
• United States
10 Apr 22
You were very pretty as a child.
A lot of migrants here had their names changed so they were easier to pronounce. Many of them, when they became adults, changed their names back to their birth names. Some of them are extremely hard to pronounce. (I usually ask someone with an oddly spelled name to pronounce it for me so I can get it right.)
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174292)
• United States
10 Apr 22
@JudyEv You're welcome. There are some people with names like Tolliver that are spelled Talifero but still pronounced that way.
1 person likes this
if your nose is too big, mine would be what? 
@bunnybon7 (50970)
• Holiday, Florida
13 Apr 22
I too have many stories to go with this post. Not only was I a migrant worker as a child but I knew a lady close friend of mine, a few years ago that said the name change thing went on many years ago here with nuns changing the native american names to suit their ideas of names when children, and many were, taken from the reservation to be raised in church from their parents. She had had a Sioux name at birth but was snatched from her mother and given the name Gloria. Her and her husband, also Sioux were doing all they could to hang on to their culture. 
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Apr 22
That happened with the aborigines in Australia. They call themselves the 'stolen generation'. Many have only just recently found their family members but for many it is too late. It is a shameful part of our history.
@changjiangzhibin89 (17239)
• China
12 Apr 22
You were so sweet in the photo ! I feel for those migrant children who had to change their old names.
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@Greencindere (674)
•
24 Jul 22
The name changing is actually very common even to this day. I find it appalling. Many of my Asian and African students are asked to pick ‘Western sounding ‘ names when applying for universities or jobs abroad. It’s something I can never grasp.
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@RebeccasFarm (91299)
• United States
10 Apr 22
You were a lovely child Judy. What a gorgeous photo of you I say.
Yes the dear children..that is really wrong isnt it changing the name.
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Apr 22
It must have been really tough for the mothers too. The husbands went to work and gradually picked up English, the kids picked it up very quickly but the women would have found it much more difficult.
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Apr 22
I think so too. People were very insensitive sometimes where the migrants were involved.
@Juliaacv (56223)
• Canada
11 Apr 22
What an adorable photo of you.
Our daughter-in-law was born in Poland, as was her sister and her parents.
I know some of the Polish community who reside in our city as a result of her marrying into the family.
Most, if not all, of them change their names.
They do not want any disrespect shown to their name by someone making fun of it or not pronouncing it correctly.
Some of these immigrants, not all, have come here to our country by way of refugee camps.
They choose names, to fit in, and offer the path of least resistance, afterall, the group that I refer to left because of the communism from Russia.
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@wolfgirl569 (135601)
• Marion, Ohio
10 Apr 22
Very pretty. It had to be hard for all of them.
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@DianneN (254949)
• United States
10 Apr 22
The US is a melting pot and we have had our share of immigrants. One of my best friends is Dutch and she lives in South Africa. I met her when she was an exchange student in high school.
All my grandparents were Russian immigrants and their names were changed once they arrived at Ellis Island in NYC.
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Apr 22
Did they think it wise to change their names themselves or was it done for them? I'm just curious.
@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 Apr 22
I think I've heard of that too. We saw a few pairs at a caravan park in France but it was more a collection. The owner was Dutch. What I also remember from this park was a sign in the toilet block which read "Welcome to our park. Please feel yourself at home'. 
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@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
10 Apr 22
What a pretty picture! I don't remember any migrant children as I was growing up in parochial school. Thanks for another installment of your school life. I will have to start mine soon.
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@Tampa_girl7 (54714)
• United States
10 Apr 22
You were a beautiful little girl.
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@JudyEv (381837)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Apr 22
Thanks, Marie. How are you doing? I haven't seen a post from you for ages. I hope you are all well.
@RasmaSandra (97957)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
10 Apr 22
That is a very nice photo you were a beautiful little girl, I was raised Latviaqn first and then American, I will come up with a post about this,
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