Where do your grandparents, great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents come from? To a large extent, depending on the age of the person answering, the answer to this question can be Europe.
According to data from Immigration Museum, which collects statistics from the 1914 census, at that time a third of the country’s inhabitants were made up of foreigners. The same organization confirms that Argentina was one of the New World countries that received the most immigrants in the period of mass emigration. Italians and Spaniards led that wave, followed by the French and Russians, in that order.
Ships and identity: what is behind these searches
He Center for Latin American Migratory Studies (CEMLA) It has an online search engine with data up to 1960. There, after filling in the “last name” field (the name can be completed but is not mandatory) the required information is obtained.
The platform then offers the age of that person at the time of the trip, their marital status, profession, nationality, ship and port from where it started.
The database has more than 4.4 million registered migrants, from more than 200 countries of origin (including some that no longer exist), more than 3,500 boats and 75 years of registration.
Father Ildo Griz, director of CEMLA, explained to Clarín that there are several user profiles that access the search engine. “The majority want to find out about the history of their family and ancestors: country, province and town of origin,” he said.
Many, he added, “use the database to obtain information about relatives and begin or finish building the family trees”. A third type of Internet users is interested “in accessing European citizenship through the arrival certificate issued by CEMLA, which makes passport processing possible,” the spokesperson mentioned. Finally, this tool is also used among students for school assignments about their ancestry.
The data bank has more than 4.4 million registered migrants. Photo: General Archive of the Nation.
Griz finally highlighted that “in all cases, the depth of the investigation depends on the curiosity of each person and what they have received from the family stories. But, in any case, there is a history of migration in Argentine families and this story has been told from generation to generation.”
The CEMLA representative emphasized that the entity’s work is deeply linked to identity of those who consult them. “The information that users find in the database directly influences the need to better understand their roots.”
“People don’t just come to find data. They want to understand where they came from, how they did it and where they are going; They want to reconstruct their stories and those of many people and families. If they come to look for the information, it is because there is already a prior interest in investigating family history. The ship can be a trigger to try to find more information or make contact with some part of the family that was left in the place,” she concluded.
What is CEMLA and how does it work?
CEMLA is an institution of the Congregation of the Missionaries of San Carlos–Scalabrinianos. Based in Buenos Aires, since 1980 it has sought to specialize in the study of migratory movements, past and present, in Latin American countries.
By 1914, a third of the country’s inhabitants were made up of foreigners. Photo: General Archive of the Nation.
Since its founding, they stated, they were interested in social, psychological, legal and pastoral impact that migrations had on the migrants themselves. Furthermore, they added, they are interested in the demographic, socioeconomic and political impact on the societies of origin and destination of migrations.
Currently, CEMLA structures its services into four large areas: library, training and dissemination, publications and database. Its data bank has more than six million data on the immigrants who contributed to Buenos Aires in the 19th and 20th centuries. This task, which has been carried out since 1985, consists of preserving the records of entry to Argentina of migrants who arrived by boat.
What were the boat trips like?
From the Immigration Museum they explained that the boat trips were plagued with difficulties. Mass emigration was a very lucrative business for shipping companies, which managed to lower transportation costs by reducing the crew, serving poor quality foodoffering emigrants small spaces and poor hygiene conditions on board.
Arrival of immigrants to the country. Photo: General Archive of the Nation.
“The testimonies of the protagonists, doctors and officials assigned to health control offer a dramatic image of the trip, stalked by diseases and discomfort,” they stated.
This precariousness forced the authorities of various countries to regulate health aspects, mainly in order to prevent the appearance and spread of infectious diseases. Thus, as governments regulated travel conditions, they began to improve.
On the other hand, they clarified, all this varied depending on the spaces assigned to the first, second or third class (describing the latter, where most of the emigrants traveled, as the most unprotected).
How the immigrant search engine works
- Go to www.cemla.com/buscador/
- Complete the “last name and first name” field with the information of the person to search for.
The data bank records the arrival of immigrants until 1960. Photo: General Archive of the Nation.
- Complete the captcha code that appears on the screen.
- Click on the “search” button.
