TERRE HAUTE — Jian Du tried to steady a video camera in one hand while holding his 21⁄2-year-old son, Matthew, in the other.
His wife, Liqin “Linda” Zhang, was about to take an oath to become a U.S. citizen. She was among 55 people Thursday to take part in the first and last federal naturalization ceremony in the federal courtroom at Seventh and Cherry streets.
Indiana State University is slated to take over the building for use as the College of Business and the federal courts will move into a building under construction near Ohio and 91⁄2 streets in the near future.
“I feel great and excited,” Zhang, a native of China, said after the ceremony. “Finally now I become a U.S. citizen so I can vote.”
Zhang, who has a master of business administration degree, said she has wanted to work for the federal government, but discovered she must be a citizen. “I was very busy and never thought about it. I used to work for an insurance brokerage firm and after moving to Indiana [in 2004], we had this little one,” she said, pointing to Matthew.
Now she plans to seek a job as a financial analyst.
Du came to the United States in 1993 to study at New York State University. Du, who has a doctorate in molecular biology and works at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, also is applying to become a U.S. citizen.
“We have been in the U.S. for 16 years now. We like this country and it has given us a lot of chance and really taken care of us,” Du said. “I think it is time for us to become citizens.”
The couple have two children, both born in the United States.
Those who took the oath came from diverse origins, countries such as Morocco, India, the Philippines, Mexico, China, Colombia, Jamaica, Iraq, Korea, Brazil, Bosnia, Israel and Russia.
Ramdai Samaroo was born in Guyana, South America.
“I like living in America. It’s such a wonderful experience and such a wonderful opportunity for our family,” she said. “It was quite a touching ceremony for me, very moving. I just am very happy inside. You have different feelings that you have come so far.”
Her husband, Deonauth Samaroo, will become a U.S. citizen during a ceremony March 5 in Indianapolis. They came to the United States and settled in Indianapolis in 2001. They have two daughters who married and live in Indianapolis. Two other children live overseas, in Switzerland and Holland.
“We want to be with our children and grandchildren,” she said. The couple had previously lived for 17 years in Barbados.
Reham Hewedak was born in Egypt. She came to the United States three years ago after marrying her husband, Wesam Elramahi, who was born a U.S. citizen. They both now live in Evansville.
“I love America and I want to be officially part of it and contribute to the society as an official member of it,” Hewedak said. “I had a son nine months ago. He is American, too, so it is natural that I should become also American like the rest of my family.
“I am very excited it is finally done and am very happy. It is a dream come true,” she said.
The nearly 11⁄2 hour-ceremony also held a bit of history, conducted on the exact date of the 74th anniversary of the dedication of the federal building in 1935. Little has changed in the courtroom since — original benches remain, as does the judge’s bench.
The courtroom also has its own unique character with a large mural, painted by Frederick Webb Ross, behind the bench depicting the signing of Magna Carta, a document that granted rights such as habeas corpus and the right to a jury trial to residents of England.
Magistrate Craig M. McKee pointed out an error on the mural, which has the wrong date of the signing as June 15, 1214. It was actually signed in 1215. “He was a fine artist, but a poor history student,” McKee joked of Ross.
McKee said the courthouse was built as a result of the “last stimulus package — the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. At that time, there were buildings being constructed all over the country.”
McKee pointed to several famous naturalized citizens who have contributed to the United States, such as entertainer Bob Hope, physicist Albert Einstein, hockey player Wayne Gretzky, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and even James Naismith, inventor of basketball. “We in Indiana are very grateful for that,” McKee said.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
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