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Ruthenian Gypsy Woman (after: Ellis Island Portraits, F. Sherman, 1923)

  • Format: 55cm x 80cm
  • Year: 2012

Dear Journal,
I met an Ruthenian immigrant woman a few days ago. Her eyes were an incredibly pale ice-blue and her voice was soft. The woman's traditional clothes seemed eccentric to me, but, altogether, not so bad. The conversation: Me: Other than being Ruthenian, of which group of people are you from? Woman: I'm a gypsy, or a Roma. Me: Oh! Why did you leave? Woman: The Ruthenians are a people who have faced many problems–no country of our own, minority status, persecution for no good reason, etc. Where I lived there were inefficient agricultural practices and poor soil, economic and political oppression, wars and disease.
Journal, that is what you call a list. Sincerely, Gus