Thursday September 18, 1930

This last day at sea was an uneventful one. The enjoyment Josephine had experienced at the Captain’s Farewell Dinner last night was another memory for her to treasure.

After daily Mass, perhaps Josephine spent the day making one final visit to all of her favorite places on the SS America. She enjoyed for the last time all the fancy food to be eaten, from breakfast to a mid-morning snack of bouillon and crackers followed by lunch and then tea and crackers at mid afternoon. Finally there was the excellent and generous amounts of opulent food at dinner.

Some time during the day, Captain Funk and his aides returned to the pilgrims their passports (which, on their arrival in New York, the Army collected from them for safekeeping) – they would need their passports to enter America. Mrs. Fannie Fine wanted to know why she wasn’t asked for her passport on the trip to Europe. It was explained that the pilgrims needed their passports only when they returned to America, not when they had sailed to Europe.

Josephine and the other pilgrims took this opportunity to say goodbye to the Army officers and escorts who had sailed with them to France on the SS George Washington and were now returning with them to America aboard the SS America. It was hard to tell them goodbye. These escorts had shown Josephine and the other pilgrims every courtesy and service and had made their stay in France so pleasant.

After dinner, the pilgrims went on deck and saw the sky line of Hoboken. At 9 pm Josephine and the other pilgrims saw the light from the Statue of Liberty. How happy they were to be nearing American shores. They eagerly watched for the pilot who would guide the ship into port. After he climbed aboard, Josephine and most of the others retired to their cabins – this was their last night on board the SS America.




Source: written by Carolyn Ourso