Assorted flavors of cracker

[breakinglight11]

My dad recently has taken an interest in ancestry and genealogy. I think it has something to do with my mother’s death and a desire to preserve family history. He has made an elaborate chart of our family, both his side and my mother’s side, on Ancestry.com, partially thanks to other people who have listed our family members and allowed us to

Comments

[qnmark]

Did your paternal grandfather Anglicize his name in the US to avoid anti-Italian stereotypes?

(Between the name and the looks, I read you as very WASPy, indeed.)

[breakinglight11]

My great-grandfather, his dad, did! His birth name was Francesco Misovano, which he Anglicized to Frank Roberts. We are fairly certain he did a favor for a gangster back in the south of Italy-- may have even killed a man --in exchange for passage to America. So the name change may have been in part so he couldn't be connected to that crime.