A great part of my immigration history, comes from my Great Grandparents on my mother’s side. My Great-Grandfather William Oldhafer came over from Germany before World War I started. Writing had always been an important part of his life, and he many times would write diaries and journal entries. In fact, when he came over to America, he worked at a print shop, to help print different literary works. In order to keep up with what was going on in his life, my Great-Grandfather had a set typewriter that he would always write on, and this object is so important in my immigration history.
When he came over to New York, William Oldhafer took very detailed accounts of his experiences here, and what he did. While he was younger, he was able to write well and keep good accounts. However, as he got older it became harder to write by hand, and he thought it would be easier if he used a typewriter. So he went out and bought one. From then on he would type mostly everything that happened in his life. In this way he was able to show how important everyday things are by showing me insight into what his life was like. This typewriter was so important, because in a sense my Great-Grandfather carried part of the family legacy. He saw how very special it would be for his descendants like his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to read what life was life for him, and what he did.
I’ve never thought about this before when I have written journal entries, but he had great insight into how significant it would be for my family to learn more about our immigration from one country to another country. For example, in one of the typed entries from August 25 1966, he tells about a trip he took with his wife to Vermont. In it, he includes different words in German, and from this I was able to see how his German culture affected his writing. Another important aspect of his writing included milestones, like the birth of my grandmother, and the birth of my mother. Without knowing it, he was documenting my family tree, and giving it life apart from set dates and facts. The typewriter gave him the means to do this, and made it more efficient for him too.
Without the typewriter, our family would not have had a more detailed account of their past, and would have lost a significant part of our heritage. I can still remember as a kid, going down to the basement and looking at the typewriter. As a kid, I thought it was just a fun object to play “history” on. I did not realize that about forty years prior, my Great-grandfather was in the same position. Now as a young adult, I can see how the typewriter was no mere “plaything,” but rather an essential part of the my immigration history, and key to keeping part of it alive.
