The Welcome Chair
Rosemary Wells
- “An
- eloquent
- account
- of
- the
- American
- immigrant
- experience.”
- —Booklist
- (starred
- review)
“Deserves
- to
- become
- a
- modern
- classic.”
- —BookPage
- (starred
- review)
“A
- resounding
- welcome
- to
- immigrants.”
- —Kirkus
- Reviews
- (starred
- review)Based
- in
- part
- on
- a
- 100-year-old
- family
- journal,
- Rosemary
- Wells
- brings
- to
- life
- a
- story
- that
- the
- diary’s
- fragile
- pages
- tell.
- It’s
- the
- story
- of
- a
- wooden
- rocking
- chair
- handmade
- in
- about
- 1825
- by
- her
- great-great-grandfather,
- an
- immigrant
- Jewish
- boy
- who
- made
- his
- way
- to
- America
- from
- Germany
- in
- the
- early
- 1800s.In
- 1807,
- Sam
- Siegbert
- is
- born
- in
- southern
- Germany.
- Sam’s
- favorite
- pastime
- is
- carpentry,
- much
- to
- his
- father’s
- displeasure.
- His
- mother
- says
- he
- has
- a
- gift
- from
- God
- in
- his
- hands.
- After
- moving
- to
- America,
- he
- builds
- a
- wooden
- chair
- with
- the
- word
- WILLKOMMEN
- on
- the
- back.
- The
- chair’s
- back
- panel
- was
- later
- marked
- with
- welcomes
- by
- four
- generations
- of
- the
- family
- in
- four
- different
- languages.After
- the
- family
- lost
- track
- of
- the
- old
- chair,
- the
- author
- created
- a
- new
- life
- for
- it
- among
- new
- owners
- from
- other
- corners
- of
- the
- world.
- All
- the
- families
- who
- loved
- the
- chair
- came
- to
- America,
- escaping
- religious
- conformity,
- natural
- disasters,
- tyrannies,
- war,
- and
- superstition.
- In
- its
- lifetime,
- the
- rocking
- chair,
- with
- its
- earliest
- word
- WILLKOMMEN*,*
- stood
- for
- openness,
- hospitality,
- and
- acceptance
- to
- all
- who
- owned
- it
- or
- rocked
- safely
- in
- its embrace.
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