Farms, Factories, and Families

Anthony V. Riccio

Description

Often treated as background figures throughout their history, Italian women of the lower and working classes have always struggled and toiled alongside men, and this did not change following emigration to America. Through numerous oral history narratives, Farms, Factories, and Families documents the rich history of Italian American working women in Connecticut. As farming women, they could keep up with any man. As entrepreneurs, they started successful businesses. They joined men on production lines in Connecticut's factories and sweatshops, and through the strength of the neighborhood networks they created, they played a crucial role in union organizing. Empowered as foreladies, union officials, and shop stewards, they saved money for future generations of Italian American women to attend college and achieve dreams they themselves could never realize.

The book opens with the voices of elderly Italian American women, who reconstruct daily life in Italy's southern regions at the turn of the twentieth century. Raised to be caretakers and nurturers of families, these women lived by the culturally claustrophobic dictates of a patriarchal society that offered them few choices. The storytellers of Farms, Factories, and Families reveal the trajectories of immigrant women who arrived in Connecticut with more than dowries in their steam trunks: the ability to face adversity with quiet inner strength, the stamina to work tirelessly from dawn to dusk, the skill to manage the family economy, and adherence to moral principles rooted in the southern Italian code of behavior. Second- and third-generation Italian American women who attended college and achieved professional careers on the wings of their Italian-born mothers and grandmothers have not forgotten their legacy, and though Italian American immigrant women lived by a script they did not write, Farms, Factories, and Families gives them the opportunity to tell their own stories, in their own words.
List of Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments

1. The Historical Roots of Southern Italian Women

2. Italian Women Journey to America

3. Italian Pioneer Women: A New Life in Connecticut

4. From Italy to Connecticut: The Sewing Tradition

5. Midwives and Giving Birth

6. Going to School

7. Betrothal and Marriage

8. Italian American Farming Women

9. Italian American Women Join the Production Lines

10. Italian American Women Raise Their Voices: Empowerment in the Union Movement

11. Women in Italy during WWII

12. While the Boys Were Gone: Italian American Women in Connecticut during WWII

13. Italian American Women Entrepreneurs: Businesses, Mutual Benefit Societies, and Charities

14. Italian American Women’s Success Stories: Education and Careers

15. Finding Her Voice: Italian American Women’s Narratives

Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Photographs

Sujets

• Migration
• Regional
• History of the Americas
• Region
• Local history

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 08 mai 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438452326
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Farms, Factories, and Families
Pasquale and Anna Perrotti on the Perrotti farm, Woodbridge, Connecticut, mid-1930s. Caccavalle family archives.
Farms, Factories, and Families
Italian American Women of Connecticut

Anthony V. Riccio
Foreword by
Mary Ann McDonald Carolan
Author photo © Robert Carlo
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2014 Anthony V. Riccio
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu
Production by Jenn Bennett Marketing by Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Riccio, Anthony V. Farms, factories, and families : Italian American women of Connecticut / Anthony V. Riccio. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-5231-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Italian American women—Connecticut—History. 2. Italian American women—Connecticut—Biography. 3. Italian American families—Connecticut—History. 4. Italian Americans—Connecticut—History. 5. Women—Connecticut—History. 6. Connecticut—Social conditions—20th century. I. Title. F105.I8R53 2014 920.00925’1—dc23 [B]
2013029956
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the many women, Italian and non-Italian, who helped me along my way.
Contents

List of Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
CHAPTER ONE The Historical Roots of Southern Italian Women
CHAPTER TWO Italian Women Journey to America
CHAPTER THREE Italian Pioneer Women: A New Life in Connecticut
CHAPTER FOUR From Italy to Connecticut: The Sewing Tradition
CHAPTER FIVE Midwives and Giving Birth
CHAPTER SIX Going to School
CHAPTER SEVEN Betrothal and Marriage
CHAPTER EIGHT Italian American Farming Women
CHAPTER NINE Italian American Women Join the Production Lines
CHAPTER TEN Italian American Women Raise Their Voices: Empowerment in the Union Movement
CHAPTER ELEVEN Women in Italy during WWII
CHAPTER TWELVE While the Boys Were Gone: Italian American Women in Connecticut during WWII
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Italian American Women Entrepreneurs: Businesses, Mutual Benefit Societies, and Charities
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Italian American Women’s Success Stories: Education and Careers
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Finding Her Voice: Italian American Women’s Narratives
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Photographs
List of Illustrations

Frontispiece
Pasquale and Anna Perrotti on the Perrotti farm, Woodbridge, Connecticut, mid-1930s. Caccavalle family archives. 1.1. Montuori family in the mountains of Matese, 1940s. 1.2. Marietta Scalzo Notaro (right) with sister Rosina (standing left) and Marietta, Gentile Soveria, Calabria, 1949. 1.3. Marietta Scalzo Notaro and her daughter Pina, 2009. 1.4. Giuseppina Brancati Naclerio in Agerola, standing third from left, 1920s. 1.5. Amodeo family in Terlizzi, Puglia, 1920s. 1.6. La Mietitura (The Harvest). Rose, Province of Cosenza, Calabria, late 1940s. Covello family archives. 2.1. Michele Smeriglio in the doorway of his home in Rose, Calabria (province of Cosenza) leaving on June 25, 1955 with his sons Mario and Luigi for Stamford, Connecticut. Ida (daughter) on the step, Melina Perri (sister-in-law) carries their accordion. Iolanda Iuso Smeriglio (daughter-in-law facing Michele), and Iolanda Ceci (black-and-white striped skirt) carrying their suitcases on their heads. The women crying with hankies drawn are neighbors. Smeriglio family archives. 3.1. Portrait of Sister Cecilia Adorni, age 103. Convent of the Sacred Heart. Anthony V. Riccio photo, 2010. 3.2. Becce Family at the Outdoor Oven, Waterbury, 1930s, Becce family archives. 3.3. Joe and Marie Criscuolo at their home, 2008. 3.4. Grandmother Maria Falbo with her son Ralph and husband Peter on the family farm in Seymour, Connecticut, 1930s. Criscuolo family archives. 3.5. Rita Restituta Ruggiero and her mother Pasqua Antonia and father, Pietro, 1920s. Ruggiero family archives. 3.6. Natalina Aiello making Easter pies on Wallace Street, March, 1951. Aiello family archives. 4.1. Sewing class taught by nuns in Melilli, Sicily, 1950s. Foreman family archives. 4.2. Antoinette Tommasi Mazzotta and Lucia Falbo Fulin, 2011. 4.3. Gaetana DeLaura at her home, 2008. 5.1. Josephine Rea, 1936. Baldino family archives. 6.1. Florence Fusco, 2007. 7.1. Flossie Dress Company, Stamford, Connecticut, August 18, 1941. Carcusa family archives. 7.2. Catherine and Ben Possidente, Possidente Summer Picnic, 2007. 7.3. Filomena “Phyllis” Christoforo Consiglio on the Christoforo farm in North Haven with her brother Charlie, late 1946. Consiglio family archives. 7.4. Antonette DeAngelo and son Frank, 2009. 8.1. Perrotti sisters on Easter, late 1940s. Caccavalle family archives. 8.2. Italian women working in tobacco sheds in Windsor, Connecticut, 1920s. 8.3. Rose Mastromarino’s farm expense records, late 1950s. Mastromarino family archives. 8.4. The Becce children, early 1920s. Clapps-Herman family archives. 8.5. The Becce family on the farm in Waterbury, 1920s. Clapps-Herman family archives. 8.6. Christoforo family farm, North Haven, 1940s. Consiglio family archives. 8.7. Luciani family in Woodbridge, 1920s: Ettore, Lena with two year old Ettore “Sheik,” Alexander “Sonny,” Agnes “Dolly,” Guerino “Goody,” Rose, Emidio “Midge,” Adolf, and Vito. DeFilippo family archives. 8.8. Cold frames on the Christoforo farm 1940s. Consiglio family archives. 8.9. Anna Perrotti Caccavalle on the farm in Woodbridge, Connecticut, 1960s. Caccavalle family archives. 9.1. Catherine Palladino, tennis making instructor, showing Claire Derby, a new operator, how to place the toe cap of a tennis shoe, U.S. Rubber in Naugatuck, early 1950s. Naugatuck Historical Society archives. 9.2. Francesca Amodeo Grillo with her son Sam in Norwich, early 1940s. Grillo family archives. 9.3. Rachela Proto Amatruda (left) and Madeline Grazio (right) on Fairmont Avenue, New Haven, 1920s. Acquarulo family archives. 9.4. Italian American women in the Stitching Room at U.S. Rubber. Naugatuck Historical Society archives. 9.5. Fashion Dress Shop, Vernon Street, New Haven, 1930s. Russo family archives. 10.1. Portrait of Jill Iannone, 1940. Iannone family archives. 10.2. Deanna San Angelo on the production line at U.S. Rubber, 1950s. Naugatuck Historical Society archives. 10.3. Rita Restituta Ruggiero at her union office in Naugatuck, 1961. 10.4. Mary Altieri at her sewing machine in 2007 at age 95. 10.5. Louise Bombace Savo reading at her home, 2007. 10.6. The Amalgamated bowling team. from: left Louise Aiello, Mary Christofano, Jennie Alfano Aiello, Ann Ardigliano, Natalie Aiello, and Rosalie Gambardella, 1940s. Aiello family archives. 10.7. Portrait of Carol Paolillo, 1920s. Pompano family archives. 10.8. Natalie Aiello and Angela Sansone at work at the Brewster’s, 1940s. Adamczyk family archives. 11.1. Giorgina deLeon Vitale on a farm in Piea d’Asti, 1943. Vitale family archives. 11.2. Luigella Pacelli Rapuano seated at center of the Rapuano family, San Salvatore Telesino, 1940s. Rapuano family archives. 12.1. Italian American women during WWII on the production line at Winchester. Ludwig family archives. 12.2. Cecilia Ferrara Asor, 1943. Piontek family archives. 13.1. Rosalie Mele’s grocery store on Wallace Street in New Haven, early 1900s. Mele family archives. 13.2. Stella Del Monaco and daughter Vittoria Suppa at Del Monaco’s Restaurant on Wooster Street in New Haven, early 1970s. Suppa family archives. 13.3. Molly (first on right) and Betty Chessa Scioscia (fourth on right) at Molly’s Tavern, February 2, 1946. Scioscia family archives. 13.4. Maddaléna Manzi at her store “P. Manzi” on 11 Collis Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 1930s. Parise family archives. 13.5. Italian Motherhood Club, Hartford, Connecticut, 1940s. Photo list Coburn family archives. 13.6. Founders of the Saint Andrew Ladies Society, 1923: top row—Vincenza Esposito Volpicelli, Raffaela Invingible, Raffaela Amici, Anna Gargano Buonanno, Mary Pomarico, Julia Leone Farace, Anna Amici, Carmella Verderame Catuogno; Middle Row—Maria Amodio Pascale, Rose Sapiente Del Pizzo, Margaret Cleto Jerolmand, Theresa Lucibello Falanga, Lucy Amodi Taddei, Anna Amodio; Bottom Row—Anna Invingible, Rose Alfone Proto, Rose Lucibello Esposito, Carmel Leone. Argento family archives.
Foreword

With Farms, Factories, and Families: Italian American Women of Connecticut , Anthony Riccio has assembled a rich array of stories about the transition from the old world to the new, Italy to America. This expansive volume offers new insights into the Italian American experience as it focuses on stories about women in Connecticut. Continuing in the genre of his two earlier volumes on Boston and New Haven, Riccio offers the reader oral histories, mainly from a female perspective, with contributions from men about their grandmothers, mothers, aunts, or sisters. Markedly different from the “official” history of textbooks, this collection of conversations, now preserved in written form, gives voice to