Phonetics lesson
which appeared in an English handbook for Italian immigrants.

Sign
(c. 1918) on display in the former shoe store of Luigi DiMarco at 764 South 9th St. in South Philadelphia.

The 800 block of Christian Street
in South Philadelphia, c. 1920

Mr. And Mrs. Corrado Amabili
in front of their mushroom house in Hockessin, DE.

Vincenzo Varsaci with his orange tree
in a greenhouse on his farm, Beverly, NJ, 1947

Rosaries
made especially in Italy for the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast in Hammonton, NJ, July 1985

Italians came to America with some hesitation. As immigrants to Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, they were latecomers with persistent misgivings about their eventual success in America. They realized that as aliens they were a new breed who had to work harder and struggle more than those ethnic groups which had preceded them. The struggle took place in the anthracite coal mines of Scranton and Wilkes Barre, in the slate quarries of Roseto, in the cranberry bogs and the fruit orchards of South Jersey and in urban Philadelphia, where they settled in great numbers between 1880 and 1920. In these locales, as diverse one from the other as their own "paesi" in Italy, the newly-arrived immigrants tentatively laid the foundations for a vibrant Italian-American community. Bound by the ties of family and "paesani," many Italian immigrant men were destined to make their homes in the Delaware Valley. Calabresi, Abruzzesi, Siciliani, and Pugliesi identified themselves not only by the region from which they had emigrated, but more specifically by the province and finally by the town where they were born, a town about which they would speak with intense loyalty and undying affection. Despite the brutal economic straits which forced their evacuation, they were emotionally bound to their "paesani" in such a way, so they believed, that only they could understand. These ties ran through their songs, their superstitions, their ceremonial traditions, their dialects. During the uncertain years following immigration, familiar faces and familiar words brought comfort to those who had travelled alone, anticipating, of course, that enough money could be earned in just a few years to secure the passage of a wife and children, a mother or a father.

The Italian community grew in the environs of Christian Street in South Philadelphia, Garibaldi Street in Roseto and Scott Street in Wilmington. With the mother as the central figure, social life took the form of family, club and church. Although they recognized existing class distinctions among themselves, Italians speaking a common language could fraternize in a "Little Italy" which existed as a semi-independent universe all its own. This fraternal spirit encompassed weddings and christenings, street processions in honor of a patron saint, and outings where "stornelli" would resound from mandolins and bocce would be played on an outdoor court. Likewise, culinary traditions brought families together, variety in the structure of the Italian meal and the claim of superior regional preparations of pasta, tomato sauce ("gravy" in Philadelphia) and holiday pastries further supported the tendency to feast with one's own. A burgeoning Italian community resulted in the demand for imported products (coffee, olive oil, salami) and the expansion of business opportunities for grocery store owners. Butchers and bakers who could cater to the particular tastes of their clientele were also in sudden demand, and under the canopies of their shops "paesani" continued to socialize.

Bankers who were often bilingual operated early on as steamship-ticket agents, realestate brokers and business advisors. They were especially useful to the illiterate who could not manage to handle their own correspondence to family and friends. V. D'Ambrosio Company at Eighth and Fitzwater and C.C.A. Baldi and Brothers on South Eighth Street were two of many such establishments in Philadelphia's "Little Italy."(1)

Finally, for those who were literate, Italianlanguage periodicals such as "L'Opinione" in Philadelphia and "Il Minatore" in Scranton announced births, deaths, and marriages, honors received by outstanding scholars, musicians and professionals, meetings and festivals of local clubs, and the latest news from Italy. Numerous Italian radio broadcasts of the 'thirties and 'fourties served a similar purpose, as Italians of all educational backgrounds could enjoy the entertainment and news they provided.

Philadelphia has the distinction of being the first city which attempted to recoup the loss of the Italian faithful with the establishment of a "national parish." In August, 1852, Bishop John Neumann granted Italians regular use of Cathedral Chapel for masses in their own language; a month later he purchased land on Montrose Street, near Seventh, for the construction of St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi Church.2 Later Italians would see the establishment of similar parishes in the city, Saint Lucy's in Scranton, Saint Joseph's in Hammonton, New Jersey, and Our Lady of Pom - pei in Vineland. Each attempted to unite the Italian community across regional and social lines. Through new associations fostered by the church some Northern Italians married those from the "Mezzogiorno" and the wealthy joined the poor in worship. It was probably as a result of this institu tion, more than any other, that immigrants from all regions came to identify themselves as Italians.

Linguistic exclusivity and the alienation from "americani" which often accompanied it led most early Italian immigrants to affiliate by means of fraternal, civic and religious organizations. These clubs, along with the Italian newspapers and theatrical groups, helped to ease the confusion of life in the New World, yet in a way contributed to the continued segregation of the community. The Serro and Calvaruso Society, which held meetings for over sixty years, claimed members only from the two towns in the province of Messina from which it took its name. Mutual benefit societies, such as the Napoleone CoIianni and the Basilicatese of Philadelphia, the Societa San Cataldo of Dunmore, and Vineland's Nord Italia Society (which at its peak claimed over 150 members), functioned expressly for the immigrants in need. They intended to provide a decent funeral for their members, assist in case of illness and raise money for the passage to America of friends and relatives, Italians, it would seem, could trust none other than their "paesani" with such matters, as early immigrant attitudes mimicked those in Italy,

"Beyond the family clan with its blood allegiances, the villages and the parish church, there was no friend and no guarantee of justice and respect."(3)

Certain of these societies even helped found settlement houses which conducted programs specifically designed to introduce the immigrant family to American ways of life. Classes in reading, writing and general hygiene were offered by competent instructors who understood the nuances of the conflicting culture. But with very few exceptions, these societies ceased to fill a void for second and third-generation Italians and so gradually evolved into social clubs which sponsored dinners and dances for their members who continued to seek fraternity with their respect. Palumbo's Restaurant, which had once served as a boarding house for immigrants from the Abruzzi, was often the setting for such affairs. Here on Catherine Street an Italian band--perhaps the celebrated Verdi Band of Norristown--might perform, and one of the many Italian-run photo studios along South Broad Street would be present to record the festivities.

Larger fraternal orders, such as the Order Sons of Italy and the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, afforded Italian-Americans greater opportunities in the community at large. No longer divided regionally, Italian-Americans presented programs which attempted to, acknowledge the cultural traditions of their "patria", yet glorify their achievements here in America. In addition, these larger organizations promoted a strong defense against intolerance and "character assassination" directed towards them by the American media.

However, even among the first generation there were those who shied away from exclusive Italian organizations and instead joined mixed societies, such as the Foresters of America. Among the second generation this tendency was accentuated, so that as the non-immigrant sector of the Italian population became proportionately larger, the importance of the Italian organization declined.(4)

Although significant settlements of Italians existed in West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia (near 22nd and Indiana), Frankford, Germantown, Chestnut Hill and Camden, New Jersey, the greatest concentration of Italian immigrant families in the Delaware Valley was then, and is today, in South Philadelphia. By the beginning of the 20th century, the "City of Brotherly Love" was very much a city of isolated neighborhoods, each with its own character determined by the kind of work done there and the ethnicity of its residents. On the Italian-occu pied streets of the city, homes were an enormous source of pride to those whose former peasant status had left them unable to own the land on which they toiled. Through centuries of domination by invaders who enslaved them on their own soil, they had remained powerless, landless and consequently hopeless. In the United States they would distinguish themselves as barbers, tailors, shoemakers, stone cutters, masons, carpenters and ironworkers. Many of these men formed their own societies centered around their work. In Chestnut Hill the Filippi and Marcolina families, from the Alpine region near Friuli, made their mark as perhaps the finest iron and stone craftsmen in the Delaware Valley.

The railroads attracted a substantial number of unskilled Italians who laid track in Germantown, South Philadelphia, and the outlying areas of Conshohocken, Norristown and West Chester.(5) Highly skilled Italian glassblowers in South Jersey furnaces were noted and emulated by their co-workers who hailed from other European countries. Great opportunity was also to be found in Philadelphia's clothing industry. Though Italians would not make their fortunes here, they generally earned a decent living and provided well for their families.

"Downtown," in South Philadelphia, many Italians seized the opportunity to establish a retail shop on the ground floor of their homes, as row houses were easily transformed into combined store/dwellings. The DiMarco, Monticelli and Fiorella family businesses represented only a few of the many hundreds of such businesses which flourished in "Little Italy" South of Philadelphia, in the rural community of Hockessin, Delaware, Italians were drawn to cultivate* mushrooms after the arrival of Corrado Amabili. A former Pittsburgh coal miner, Amabili had inspected the area of Hockessin in the late twenties and, with his "paesani". the Antonini family of Wilmington, had found it desirable for the production of mushrooms.(6) Amabili's return to Italy for a bride was followed by enormous growth and prosperity in the new "colony," as other Italian families joined them in the highly specialized enterprise.

In Northeastern Pennsylvania, only immigrants from the villages of central Sicily (San Cataldo, Caltanisetta, Canicatti) joined the Irish, Welsh, Poles and Slovaks in the mines; Italians from other regions worked in the trades and industry and opened their own shops, as did their "paesani" in the larger urban centers. As islanders, the central Sicilians and their fathers had worked in the sulphur mines and were thus prepared for the insufferable heat and unpredictable conditions of the mines. Until World War II, the Lackawanna and Luzerne County railroad yards were filled with hundreds of tons of anthracite coal which was then shipped to New York State and elsewhere. It is not surprising that Italians from many regions settled in the lively and bustling towns of Scranton and Wilkes Barre, where on weekends Italian musical and theatrical groups from New York City and Philadelphia performed for an appreciative audience.

Many of Philadelphia's Italian tailors, barbers, and craftsmen brought their families to South Jersey during the picking season, but the opportunity to buy an expanse of land, to earn a living in the same fashion as they had in Italy, proved irresistible to certain immigrants. In the late 1800's substantial settlements arose in Hammonton, Vineland and throughout the southern portion of the state, where Italians cleared the pine barrens.

After years tending to an always ailing wife, Philadelphian Vincenzo Varsaci was advised by his Italian-American physician to "take her to the countryside where she will breathe some fresh air and drink some good wine."(7) It was an opportune time for significant change, as Varsaci had laid trolley track, worked in the shipyards, on the railroad, and in a paint factory downtown. He had even returned to Italy at age 21 to fulfill a three-year tour of duty in the Italian army. However, it was only after his success as an American farmer that he felt himself to be in control of his destiny. The mark of true success was his farm, replete with peas, stringbeans, potatoes, peaches and corn; the mark of his identity was the one orange tree he kept in a greenhouse--a symbol of his link to the citrus groves of his native Sicily from which he had departed at age eighteen.

The town of Roseto, founded in the 1880's by immigrants from Roseto Valfortore (Apulia), rose to national attention in the late 1950's when a team of physicians headed by cardiologist Stewart Wolf found that the Italian community along the slate belt of East Central Pennsylvania was virtually immune from heart disease. This, they were sure, was due not to a particular lifestyle or routine (Rosetans were generally overweight and lacked exercise) but rather to the cohesion of families with relationships based on mutual support. Folk beliefs, traditional songs and even the Our Lady of Mount Carmel feast in July helped keep them brimming with good hearts and sound minds. However, in the decades since the initial study, as younger Rosetans abandoned the principles of mutual support and the solidarity of the community was tested, a dramatic deterioration in general health was observed. The process of Americanization, at least in Roseto, has had negative consequences.

To a larger degree various stages of rebellion among second and third-generation Italian-Americans have resulted in positive gains. Throughout Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, and elsewhere, children and grandchildren of Italian immigrants are emerging as leaders in the fields of law, medicine, business and the arts. And inroads in the sphere of politics are seldom subjected to the suspicious eye of those who would easily associate Italian-Americans with factions of organized crime. Moreover, there is evidence that Italian-Americans are enjoying the sudden discovery of "Italian culture" by the general public. As the media focuses its attention on traditional Italian cooking and the masters of fashion and automobile design, Americans of Italian descent exhibit a greater willingness to explore their own cultural traditions. The Italian Folk Arts Federation of America claims a revival in regional folk song and dance, with four groups already established in Eastern Pennsylvania alone. And in the quiet town of Jessup, just north of Scranton, the descendents of immigrants from Gubbio have fashioned a "Race of the Saints" to take place each spring in accordance with regional tradition. The celebration of Italian ethnicity and the various forms it takes have led to a more complete definition of the richness of Italian-American life.

Grace Russoniello
Guest Curator

1. Richard N. Juliani, "The Origin and Development of the Italian Community in Philadelphia," in The Ethnic Experience in Pennsylvania, edited by John Bodnar (Lewisburg, PA, 1973), p. 251.

2. Juliani, ibid., p. 234.

3. Silvano M. Tomasi, "The Ethnic Church and the Integration of Italian Immigrants in the United States," in The Italian Experience in the United States (New York, 1970), p. 177.

4. Lawrence F. Pisani, The Italian in America (New York, 1957), p. 159.

5. Juliani, "The Origin and Development of the Italian Community in Philadelphia," p. 237.

6. Priscilla Thompson, Pockets of Settlement, The Italian-American Experience in Delaware (Wilmington, 1983), p. 42.

7. Martha Carina, in a conversation with the author, July 1985.