James and Linda Ziga

Partial Transcript: Now I have a totally different background as a young child because I was born Irish, Scottish, and Cherokee Indian.

Segment Synopsis: Linda explains that she was born Irish, Scottish and Cherokee Indian, in Alabama. Her family owned Indian land in northern Alabama until a treaty took the land away. Members of her family were shipped to Oklahoma on the trail of tears. Her parents left Alabama for Cleveland for job opportunities at the Ford and Chevy plants. She was raised Baptist, and her grandmother was rather strict.

Keywords: heritage; industrial opportunity

Subjects: Automobile industry and trade--United States

Partial Transcript: We met each other, she was was 14.

Segment Synopsis: Linda and James met at age 14. James had some early romance problems with gypsy girls wanting to marry him at age 15, but he was not ready for that kind of commitment. James possessed many of the traits that were appealing to gypsy girls, including money, a clean record, and the ability to play music.

Keywords: courtship rituals; marriage tradition; romance

Subjects: Romanies--Social life and customs; Women, Romani

Partial Transcript: They are really, very, very, pretty girls.

Keywords: James details the traits that make gypsy girls attractive. These include their physical features but also the way they dress.

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture; Woman, Romani

Partial Transcript: I went to, I went to, school at William Dean Howells Junior High School and West Tech High School and then attended some classes at Tri C.

Segment Synopsis: Linda explains that she went to school with some of James's family members. Linda attended William Dean Howells Junior High School and West Tech High School and then attended some classes at Tri C. Jim went to St. Patrick’s School.

Keywords: education

Subjects: Education--Standards--United States--States

Partial Transcript: A lot of people to, don’t think that gypsies aren’t that religious, but my people

Segment Synopsis: James explains that it is a common misconception that the Roma community is uniformly not religious. His family is extremely Catholic. There is a diverse array of religions practice within the community.

Keywords: Catholicism; Religion; fortune telling

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture; Romanies--Social life and customs

Partial Transcript: but all of our relatives, which is at that time there was thousands, thousands of them, because there was a lot of them in Chicago, in my time. And they all lived on a street called Burling Street (?) and some of them lived on a couple streets after.

Segment Synopsis: The Ziga's had a strong presence in Chicago. Most of them lived within a few streets of each other. There was a lot of drama within the community, especially in the summer when it was hot. Tensions often flared, especially between the women who were protective over their men and children.

Keywords: community; family; relationships

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture

Partial Transcript: Yeah you can call them gadje, but usually in our generation it was Americans. Wild gypsies and that, we called the ones that were fortune tellers,

Segment Synopsis: James and Linda explain the difference between their immediate community other Roma communities. Some differences include the role of religion and the term for non-gypsies.

Keywords: diaspora

Partial Transcript: when Linda and I got married we had to rent two floors, there were over 500 people there at our wedding

Segment Synopsis: James and Linda had a huge, traditional wedding. The entire community came out for the wedding. Additionally, as the wedding was traditional, Linda had to go through several ceremonies to officially convert to Catholicism.

Keywords: baptism; community; conversion; wedding traditions

Subjects: Wedding anniversaries

Partial Transcript: Did other gypsies from your community attend the same church that you went to?

Segment Synopsis: James and Linda discuss other churches in the area as well as religion in the community. Many gypsy people went to the same religious institution due to proximity.

Keywords: religion

Subjects: Community churches

Partial Transcript: A lot of us went to school there. A lot of us did. In my time they didn’t believe in education at the time.

Segment Synopsis: James explains that many people in the gypsy community did not believe in education, that's why there was so much emphasis on becoming a musician. A change has gradually occurred where more young people are going to college instead of becoming musicians. This is good for the economic stability of their families, but some traditions are being lost.

Keywords: higher education

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture; Minorities--Education (Higher)--United States

Partial Transcript: How long did I live in Chicago? About 6 months. Because I just couldn’t take it… I couldn’t take it anymore.

Segment Synopsis: James Ziga was in Chicago for six months. He was pushed into going because of a romantic scandal. He had been dating a girl and was accused of having sex with her. The girl's reputation had been tarnished and he had to swear on a bible that nothing had actually happened.

Keywords: chicago; cultural norms; family

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture; Women, Romani

Partial Transcript: The girl’s father was a great musician too, he was a violin player.

Segment Synopsis: James explains that he was taught to play by the girl's father. There was a great tradition of music in the family throughout all the past generations. However, things have changed. James no longer really plays. Linda is not musically inclined at all, but one of their sons enjoys playing.

Keywords: family; music; traditions

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture; Folk music

Segment Synopsis: James Ziga talks about his brother's musical education and early work as a musician. The brother played with a band called the Dalton boys. Ziga also mentions a girl his brother used to date which leads to a description of a romani woman he later married.

Keywords: New York, Copacabana

Subjects: Family, religion, and culture; Folk music

Segment Synopsis: Linda Ziga takes a brief tangent to tell about the quantity of women in their family named Linda.

Segment Synopsis: Linda and James talk about traditional food served every Sunday as well as that served at weddings. They discuss the large community gatherings surrounding weddings, funerals, christenings, and other religious events. Linda brings up a strange baptism tradition.

Keywords: wedding, baptism, romani, gypsy

Subjects: As long as we both shall eat : a history of wedding food and feasts / Claire Stewart.

Segment Synopsis: Linda talks about sharing a home with James' parents and acting as a babysitter for his sister. She and James then mention the death of his sister's son and her present life in Vegas.

Segment Synopsis: Linda talks about the Lady of our Lord shrine in Euclid Ohio. A large number of gypsies would visit the shrine annually for the Feast of the Assumption.

Subjects: Religions of the world [electronic resource] : a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices

Segment Synopsis: Linda adds a story about an event at Euclid Beach put on every year by the Musicians Union. Entire families would attend, picnic, and dance late into the night. They discuss how the event petered out in the 70's after James' father died due to migration of the community.

Subjects: Religions of the world [electronic resource] : a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices

Segment Synopsis: James and Linda talk about women's involvement in romani musical life. They talk about a few women who were accomplished musicians, particularly violinists. However, they explain that women were usually not professional musicians but took part in singing gypsy songs and group music. James adds that music really was employment for the men, and talks little about his father's musical career in Cleveland.

Subjects: Roma Women Association Romania

Partial Transcript: Now, what about the tradition. You should tell them a brief story about the Christmas caroling.

Keywords: Christmas; caroling; music; tradition

Subjects: Christmas Story House (Cleveland, Ohio)

Partial Transcript: J: And at the weddings it was like that, the women were always trying to outdo the other ones and they’d, they’d spend hundreds—

L: They still do.

Keywords: dress; money; tradition; wedding

Subjects: Wedding clothing & dress

Partial Transcript: "We’ve been married almost 51 years."

Segment Synopsis: James and Linda go into the trips taken as a family and the pieces of their marriage that work. Emma asks a question about the scandalous nature of their relationship. They also discuss the involvement of their parents in their relationship.

Keywords: anniversary; children; courting; marriage; parents; tradition; traveling

Partial Transcript: "But there was there was something with a handkerchief and tying a knot over their hands..."

Segment Synopsis: Linda asks about a tradition involving a handkerchief and older members of the community coming together and binding the two members of an impending marriage together.

Keywords: handkerchief; tradition

Partial Transcript: "they were taught, they were taught to like the good boy. And getting married with a good girl was always with a good boy"

Keywords: marriage; musician; proper; support

Subjects: James explains the proper kind of marriages accepted within the gypsy community and the criteria looked for by the parents and families.

Partial Transcript: "they all got together, my mother and father and your mother and father and they were reasonable, very reasonable about it and they sat down and they said let’s let them get married"

Segment Synopsis: James and Linda talk about how reasonable their parents were considering the fact that Linda was not a gypsy and James was a very good and desirable gypsy boy.

Keywords: concession; marriage; parents; planning; wedding dress

Partial Transcript: " I am a perfectly adopted gypsy now, I mean no one has a problem with me being not a gypsy because I’ve been raised with these people and I know the customs and traditions"

Segment Synopsis: Linda talks about her acceptance into the gyp

Keywords: adoption; community; involvement; traditions

Subjects: Ohio. Office of Community Development

Partial Transcript: "It was a fun place to visit. But I would not live there with the drama that was going on."

Segment Synopsis: James starts talking about Chicago and the fun and dramatic community of gypsies that existed there. They also mention how they would never want to live there with all of the drama that came with the crazy women there.

Keywords: chicago; drama; show; women

Subjects: Women's Union (University of Chicago)

Partial Transcript: "Well thank you so much for sharing, it’s been great."

Segment Synopsis: Professor Macmillan says goodbye to James and Linda and thanks them for their time. Linda ends with a statement of longing for the old ways and traditions but stating her admiration for the wonderful new technology that comes with the modernity.

Keywords: Goodbye; new technology; preservation; tradition

Subjects: Middletown (Ohio). Historic Preservation Council; Ohio. Task Group on New Technology Application