Jack:

I concur with Ms. Paikin. An excellent idea!

Here is my story. I knew my grandmother had lived in Norfolk, Virginia
(my mother's birthplace) but little else. I asked my grandmother, 90
years old at the time, where and when she had come to America (she is
now 95).
Well, she sometimes cannot remember breakfast but didn't take 3 seconds
before answering, "August 1, 1921, Hamburg-Amerika Line." She had
traveled alone >from Bialystok, Poland to Hamburg, Germany.

She didn't remember the name of the ship and there was no listing for
Norfolk arrivals at my local FHM. Had she come through Baltimore?
No, she was certain, Hamburg to Norfolk with no stops. So what to do?

I checked Morton's Directory of ship arrivals for NYC. Only two on
August 2, 1921 for the Hamburg line. Checking the microfilm for the
Hamburg-Amerika Line manifests I found one for one of the ships, the
Mount Carroll. And there, listed as passenger #69, was my grandmother,
Sora Uddis Pejlatowicz, aged 15. She had indeed landed in Norfolk on
August 1 and the ship had continued on to NYC for the return trip to
Germany. The trip lasted 3 weeks.

By the way, my mother's father arrived with his parents and siblings
in Baltimore on December 22, 1912 aboard the S.S. Barbarossa, North
German Lloyd Line.

I know I backed into this, but there are certainly arrival records for
Norfolk somewhere.

Mark Spiegel
wysiwig@...