Pick and Shovel Poet

Age Range 9-14 years.
The inspiring story of a young Italian peasant who immigrated to America is used to illuminate the experience of many immigrants who came to this country in the early twentieth century. Pascal D’Angelo, like so many others who came before and after him, left behind a hard life in Italy to embark on an even harder one in America. Taking the only job available to him -- that of a manual laborer hauling rock and building roads and railroads -- and despite poverty, prejudice, and hunger, Pascal never lost his sense of wonder at the world around him. Yearning for an outlet to express himself, D’Angelo fervently went about the task of learning to read and write, teaching himself English from newspapers and poetry books and ultimately becoming a respected poet himself. This moving story of one man’s accomplishments is also the universal story of all American immigrants who helped build our nation.