Embracing a New Life
All of my life I have always believed that I had a unique last name. I understood that I have Italian roots, but was confused because Italian last names typically end in a vowel, such as Esposito or DeAngelo. I was eager to discover whether my family’s last name had always been Julius. After talking with relatives and discovering ancestors, I came to find out that my family’s last name used to be Euliani. My third great grandfather, Giuseppe Euliani, immigrated with his wife and two sons to America in 1890. I would imagine that this non-English speaking family had to overcome some adversity when they moved to America. Giuseppe’s first born son, Peter, is my great great grandfather and is responsible for changing our family’s name. On the family birth record, it shows our last name as Julius because the government was taking the record after they immigrated. In the early 1890’s, immigrants in America were often looked down upon and often shunned in society and, as a result, were forced to embrace the American way of life.
Due to the negative feelings towards immigrants during this time period, when my great great grandfather Peter opened a clothing/general store, he thought that if he changed my family’s name it would ultimately be beneficial to business. The story goes that when my grandfather was hanging up the sign on the front of the new store, he made an impulsive decision to change the name from Euliani to Julius. The picture to the left shows a general store, much like Peter’s, in the 1900’s. When Peter decided to make this change, he not only had his new business in mind, but also my family and my family’s history up to that point. Never forgetting about his Italian heritage and where he came from, Peter recognized that even though he may be an Italian in blood, he was also an American and needed to embrace the new culture and way of life.
It was vital that Peter and his family minimized their Italian image because of discrimination. From 1890 to about 1920, foreigners from many countries immigrated in mass numbers. They all needed some way to support their families and/or themselves and saw America as a place of opportunity and new beginnings. Because of the large influx of immigrants to America in such a short period of time, jobs were scarce to begin with and, to make it worse, the jobs that were available were being taken by the immigrants themselves. As a result, tensions rose and they were heavily discriminated against. It makes sense, therefore, that Peter found it necessary to change our family’s name as he did.
Although discrimination and ill feelings towards this wave of immigrants began to fade, my family name still remains as Julius. I’m unaware of how successful Peter’s business turned out, but the fact that he started over in America and made a name for my family and me literally represents a prime example of the American dream. He provided my great grandfather, Ernest, the opportunity to live and work in America and, therefore, create the family I am a part of today. For me, Euliani was the name that represented my Italian ancestors before Peter, and Julius is a name I am able to take pride thanks to what Peter accomplished in his lifetime.