Indivisible 250: Immigrant groups find their 'American dream,' a seat at the table

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- For most, the American story is an immigrant story.  

Since the country's inception, families have bravely started over in a new land. They balance building communities, preserving proud heritage and culture, all the while forging a new, American identity.    

But what is the American dream? For many, it's finding a seat at the table.   

Fiddler's Hearth Public House, South Bend

Monday nights in downtown South Bend, musicians play traditional Celtic music at Fiddler's Hearth Public House. 

"It's been a home for all the Irish musicians," said owner Terry Meehan. "We have Irish music every Monday night. It's called a session."   

Terry opened Fiddler's Hearth with his wife, Carol Hamilton Meehan.

"Place had to have a fireplace because I wanted to have sessions around the fireplace," Carol said. "It's Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's. The chairs don't match. You grab whatever you can." 

Terry said he has two beer taps always dedicated to Guinness. 

"Of course, the beer, the beer flows," he said. "We're very much an Irish pub here." 

By "Irish," Terry means the joint's aesthetic presents both Notre Dame Fighting Irish spirit (Terry is a third-generation Notre Dame alum and track athlete), and Celtic heritage and ancestry. 

"I'm fourth generation. He's five generations," said Terry's 99-year-old mother, Norma Lu Meehan.   

The family is immensely proud of their history that traces back to the beginnings of South Bend as a city. For example, Terry says he's a descendant of Samuel Cottrell, St. Joseph County's first sheriff. 

Many Irish American immigrants (and those from the greater Celtic region, including Scotland) worked the railroad upon arrival in the United States. 

"A lot of them dropped off here because of Father Sorin," Carol said. "He was building Notre Dame, and he needed people to help build it."  

Carol said the university became a magnet for other Irish immigrants and European Catholic immigrants. 

"Our first blessing was a priest from Scotland with holy water in one hand and Scotch in the other," Terry said. 

Fiddler's Hearth opened in 2002. Norma and Terry are Irish; Carol is Scottish. On the facade of Fiddler's Hearth wave the flags of the seven Celtic nations. 

"I mean, a restaurant is a great way to bring those traditions and cultures to life," Carol said.    

Kolasa's Polish Peasant, Michigan City 

"We have our 'Polish festival' every day that we're open," said Mark Kolasa.   

The classic Polish dinner is now a regional staple as Polish-Americans like Kolasa maintain a proud foothold in Michiana. 

Kolasa preserves his Polish pride, and family recipes, at his Michigan City restaurant, Kolasa's Polish Peasant. 

"We advertise our traditions here," Kolasa said. "We're homemade, handmade, Polish-American food."

(Kolasa's Polish Peasant is also featured in "Indivisible 250: Savoring Michiana") 

Cosimo and Susie's A Bit of Italy, Mishawaka

Born in 1935, Cosimo Rulli is 90 years old. He arrived in America at just 14 after leaving his Southern Italy home of Calabria. 

"In 1951, early, we got on the boat in Naples, and we landed in New York," Rulli said.   

The family immediately settled in South Bend and Rulli has been there ever since. He attended Central High School, but at the time, he struggled with his English. 

It was 1952, according to Rulli, when he started working at the State Theater on Michigan Street in South Bend. 

Cosimo and Susie's A Bit of Italy has been operating for 36 years, located in Mishawaka's Town and Country Plaza.

Rulli said it's a popular spot for Notre Dame priests and other local, Catholic clergy. 

Rulli keeps family flavors alive, even if nothing is written down. 

"To be honest with you, I don't have any recipes. I just cook like my sister did," he said. 

"Do you feel like this country gave you a place at the table?" Annie Kate asked, to which Rulli replied, "I think so. You know, I think America, you know, they give you all opportunity that you could get, but you have to look for it. You have to work for it."   

Rocco's Restaurant, South Bend

"We're sitting in my grandmother's home, grandmother and grandfather's home," said Linda Verteramo.    

That home is now Rocco's Restaurant, overlooking South Bend.

Like Cosimo Rulli's parents, Rocco's owner Linda Verteramo's grandparents found a home here after World War II. 

"There were no jobs, especially after the war. There were no jobs. Nothing was built up in the South, Calabria. It was war-torn in the '40s," said Verteramo. "Family usually comes where family is, and a lot of other people from Calabria were starting to immigrate here as well."  

The restaurant is now going on its fourth generation of workers. 

"My grandparents and my parents started this back in 1951," Verteramo said. "Family, we're all still running it, and loving it, and working hard at it."  

"We have a lot here. We have an abundance of everything in America. We are very blessed," Verteramo continued. "We don't want to forget where we came from, because it continues to make you know how fortunate you are to be here in this country."

Benton Harbor, Michigan

Not all of America's ancestors arrived voluntarily. Some, like many in the African-American community, are the descendants of enslaved African people, like Benton Harbor native Don Pearson. 

"From a certain perspective, you had to understand where you were in the realities of living in America," Pearson said.     

Some Black folks escaped the Slave Trade and made their way North via the Underground Railroad. There are Underground Railroad "stops" in Cass County, Michigan, such as the Stephen Bogue House. 

Slavery was finally abolished in 1865, then the Reconstruction period began.

"A lot of the former slaves understood that they did not have a life in the south. So that's when the Great Migration started," Pearson said. 

The Great Migration was the movement of Black people from the Jim Crow South up North, starting in the turn of the century through the 1970s.

Pearson said Benton Harbor got an influx of African-Americans starting in the 1940s. 

"The attraction here was the industrial revolution," Pearson said. "We had all these factories." 

Local Michiana manufacturers were largely places that hired Black workers. 

"There were a lot of jobs that the general population did not want, like working in foundries and things like that. A lot of the Blacks from the South, that's what they ended up doing," Pearson said. "And we also had a large fruit industry. And at one time, we had the largest fruit market in the world. But you had to have people out there picking those things, because it was not mechanized at the time."

Jobs were available, but still, it wasn't easy for African-Americans.

"There was de facto segregation, meaning that it was a social thing, not necessarily a legislative thing," Pearson said. "So, you knew where to live, you knew where to work, you knew where to socialize."

The former long-time educator and Benton Harbor principal is an advocate for Black history education.

"If you don't know your history, as they say, you're doomed to repeat it," Pearson said.

Pearson was part of the local "Unified Civic Monuments Project" that got two monuments of Martin Luther King, Jr. installed in Southwest Michigan, one in St. Joseph and the other just across the St. Joseph River in Benton Harbor. 

"The monuments project is a beautiful reminder of what happened in American history, and the possibilities of what can happen," Pearson said. "That's what it's about: getting a seat at the table."   

"I pass those statues at least once a week, and I just look and say, 'Job well done,'" he continued.

La Esperanza, South Bend

Paula Gudelia Sours is the grandchild of Mexican immigrants who grew up a migrant worker alongside her parents. Now, she's not only a business owner, but the president of the Latin-American Chamber of Commerce. 

"From my story and the stories that I know, people who have come up [to America], have come up because they want a better life for them and their children," she said. "If I can be a bridge, that is how I honor who I am. And I want people to understand we're here because we love who we are."   

She sat down with ABC57 at La Esperanza in downtown South Bend, where she got her first job outside of migrant work after her family settled in the city in the 1970s.   

"I am so honored, I feel honored to be here," Sours said. "I feel honored to have that opportunity, to be able to stand and say, 'I am American. I am Mexican. I am a woman, and I am so proud."    

Sours now helps more than 40 local Latino businesses thrive. 

"That's what I love about the small businesses that I work with, they don't want to give up," she said.

"For people that look like me or women... to be able to walk in a room. To be able to sit at the table, and have a voice and be heard," Sours continued. "That is the American dream for me."