My Ethnic Identity

Discrimination

My McNitt ancestors were the victims of discrimination as Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in 18th century Puritan Massachusetts towns. They were forced onto the "frontier" (still Massachussetts...but farther west) because of their religious beliefs and because they were poorer and less educated than the older English families.

My Grandma Munsell (Ruth Weinmann), who was an American citizen, was a victim of discrimination both as an American in Germany during World War II and a "German" in America soon after the war.

Ethnic Enclaves

My French ancestors on the Munsell side, the Grillots and Aubrys, settled in Frenchtown, Darke County, OH. This was an enclave of French immigrants from the northeastern France.

My Dutch ancestors lived in New Netherlands and later in Dutch communities in New Jersey and New York before fully assimilating.

The McNitts were a part of close Scotch-Irish communities in New England and intermarried with other Scotch-Irish families.

My Grandma McNitt (Harvey) did not settle in an ethnic enclave (or at least not one of her ethnic background -- she and my grandpa lived in Holland, MI). However, after her arrival in the U.S., she soon found other women born in England who became her friends. Many of these women were married to Americans who had come to Europe during World War II, so they even formed a loose organizationi called the British Warbrides Association, which gathered for socializing on a regular basis.

Retaining Culture

My Grandma McNitt (Harvey) is a vegetarian, as was her family before her. My aunt is also vegetarian (which I didn't know until I started this web page). Unfortunately, the tradition dies there. I don't believe my sister or I will continue it and we are the only continuation of the Harvey/McNitt line. My father says they drank a lot of tea in the home when he was a child, and would sometimes have a traditional English "tea time." I enjoy tea myself. However, I don't think this is because it ties me to my cultural heritage, but because tea tastes good.

My Grandma Munsell (Weinmann) still makes some German dishes and enjoys going to Frankenmuth, MI, where she can buy German foods and bakery goods. Since she was an only child and didn't have much extended family in America, there were few people to reinforce German traditions. She also arrived in America during a time when German culture was unappreciated and scorned.

Other than that, most of our immigrant influence has disappeared over the years. I certainly retain nothing from my more distant ancestors. Je ne parle qu'un peu de francais et ce n'est pas a cause de mon heritage francais. My father is interested in genealogy, but he only traces the family; he doesn't revive the traditions.