Book Read Free

The Italian Americans

Page 23

by Maria Laurino


  Mariani, John F. How Italian Food Conquered the World. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

  Meyer, Gerald. Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician 1902–1954. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.

  Mormino, Gary. The Impact of World War II on Italian Americans. New York: Bordighera, 2008.

  Murray, William. Janet, My Mother, and Me: A Memoir of Growing Up with Janet Flanner and Natalia Danesi Murray. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.

  Nash, Gerald D. A. P. Giannini and the Bank of America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.

  Nelli, Humbert S. The Business of Crime: Italians and Syndicate Crime in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.

  Nelli, Humbert S. Italians in Chicago 1880–1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970.

  Oberfirst, Robert. Rudolph Valentino: The Man behind the Myth. New York: Citadel Press, 1962.

  Orsi, Robert. The Madonna of 115th Street: Faith and Community in Italian Harlem, 1880–1950. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.

  Parini, Jay, ed. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies, suppl. 12. New York: Scribner, 2002.

  Pernicone, Nunzio. Carlo Tresca: Portrait of a Rebel. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

  Pernicone, Nunzio. Italian Anarchism, 1864–1892. Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2009.

  Petacco, Arrigo. Joe Petrosino. Translated by Charles Lam Markmann. New York: Macmillan, 1974.

  Pope, Paul David. The Deeds of My Fathers: How My Grandfather and Father Built New York and Created the Tabloid World of Today. Lanham, MD: A Philip Turner Book with Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.

  Porter, Katherine Anne. The Never-Ending Wrong. Boston: Little, Brown, 1977.

  Pozzetta, George E., ed. Pane e Lavoro: The Italian American Working Class. Toronto: Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1980.

  Puzo, Mario. The Godfather. New York: New American Library, Penguin Group, 1969.

  Puzo, Mario. The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions. New York: Putnam, 1972.

  Reppetto, Thomas. American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power. New York: Henry Holt, 2004.

  Ridley, Jasper. Garibaldi. New York: Viking, 1976.

  Riis, Jacob August. How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York. New York: Penguin, 1997.

  Ross, Edward Alsworth. The Old World in the New: The Significance of Past and Present Immigration to the American People. New York: Century, 1914.

  Rotella, Mark. Amore: The Story of Italian American Song. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.

  Sachs, Harvey. Arturo Toscanini from 1915 to 1946: Art in the Shadow of Politics. Turin, Italy: Edizioni di Torino, 1987.

  Sachs, Harvey. Toscanini. London: Robson, 1993.

  Sante, Luc. Low Life. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991.

  Santopietro, Tom. The Godfather Effect: Changing Hollywood, America, and Me. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2012.

  Santopietro, Tom. Sinatra in Hollywood. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008.

  Scirocco, Alfonso. Garibaldi. Translated by Allan Cameron. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007.

  Sforza, Carlo. The Real Italians: A Study in European Psychology. New York: Columbia University Press, 1942.

  Shulman, Irving. Valentino. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967.

  Silone, Ignazio. Fontamara. Translated from the Italian by Harvey Fergusson II. New York: Atheneum, 1960.

  Smith, Tom. The Crescent City Lynchings: The Murder of Chief Hennessy, the New Orleans “Mafia” Trials, and the Parish Prison Mob. Guilford, CT: Lyons, 2007.

  Stein, Leon. The Triangle Fire. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001.

  Stephenson, Gregory. Exiled Angel: A Study of the Work of Gregory Corso. London: Hearing Eye, 1989.

  Talese, Gay. Honor Thy Father. New York: Ballantine, 1971.

  Talese, Gay. Unto the Sons. New York: Knopf, 1993.

  Taylor, Nick. American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work. New York: Bantam, 2008.

  Terkel, Studs. Division Street: America. New York: Pantheon, 1967.

  Tuttle, William M., Jr. Daddy’s Gone to War: The Second World War in the Lives of America’s Children. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

  Vorse, Mary Heaton. A Footnote to Folly. New York: Arno, 1980.

  Ware, Caroline F., ed. The Cultural Approach to History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1940.

  Washington, Booker Taliaferro. The Man Farthest Down: A Record of Observation and Study in Europe. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1912.

  Watson, Bruce. Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and the Struggle for the American Dream. New York: Penguin, 2005.

  Watson, Bruce. Sacco and Vanzetti. New York: Penguin, 2007.

  Wilhelm, Maria de Blasio. The Other Italy: Italian Resistance in World War II. New York: W. W. Norton, 1988.

  Zinn, Howard. LaGuardia in Congress. New York: W. W. Norton, 1969.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Writing the companion book to the PBS documentary series The Italian Americans allowed me the opportunity to take part in a project that for years I had admired from afar, having shared cappuccino and conversation with a few of the people involved in its creation and development. As I dug into the project, the team at Ark Media, a group of smart, talented, and generous filmmakers, were always available and eager to share their voluminous material with me.

  Special thanks to Maia Harris, who reached out during the project’s earliest stages; Jeff Bieber at WETA Television, who offered ideas and encouragement; and WETA’s intrepid interns Robert Gabriel and Lyndsi Bosco. My talented research assistant, Shayna Garkofsky, delved deep into the subject matter, gamely tackling historical and contemporary research. At Ark Media, Julia Marchesi and Muriel Soenens were the source of many engaging discussions, along with Josh Gleason, whose commanding memory aided my own. The illustrations in this book are possible only because of the tenacity and skill of Ark Media’s wonderful Hannah Olson, who always seemed to have photos and facts at her fingertips, along with Michael Shorris, who applied his walker-in-the-city photographic eye to my research requests and, in an unforgettable feat, tracked down from a photograph the city bus on which I had left a canvas bag with all of my notebooks for this project. And most of all, my thanks to Ark Media’s John Maggio, who not only created a superb documentary film, but generously offered his advice and friendship, always accompanied by lots of laughter, making this companion book a joy to write.

  Friends and colleagues provided excellent ideas, observations, facts and figures, and objects that made their way onto these pages. My thanks to Stefano Albertini, B. Amore, Wayne Barrett, Paul Berman, Mary Brown, Alan Christian, Rose Marie Cleese, Adam Cohen, Lawrence DiStasi, Geoffrey Dunn, Laurie Fabiano, Donna Gabaccia, David Giovannitti, Edvige Giunta, Joanna Clapps Herman, Aldo Mansi, Tom Robbins, Stephanie Romeo, Joseph J. Salvo, Matthew Santirocco, Joseph Scelsa, Joseph Sciorra, Anthony Tamburri, and Andrew Zambelli. A special thanks to Wallis Wilde-Menozzi for cherished lunches discussing Italian and Italian-American culture.

  My thanks to friends and family for hand-holding during the course of an intense year: Jennifer Brown (who held stepladders, too, in pursuit of this project), LynNell Hancock, Gary Lang, Ruth Pastine, and Vincent Santoro. Thanks to my mother-in-law, Sylvia Shorris, who provided additional Mediterranean wisdom; James and Cindy Shorris; my brother Bob, for his love, good humor, and continued encouragement of my work; and my late mother, Connie, who enthusiastically supported this project.

  I couldn’t find a better advocate—and friend—in my agent, Susan Ramer, whose constant support and reassuring presence guided me along the way. Anna Mageras at W. W. Norton always graciously offered her assistance and answers to my many, many questions. Designer Chris Welch and copy editor Stephanie Hiebert each provided an elegant and attentive eye to every page. Alane Salierno Mason was, quite simply, the perfect editor for this book. I’m always grateful f
or Alane’s intelligence, insights, and graceful editorial suggestions, but this illustrated project gave us the opportunity to search for objects from Italian-American childhoods long ago, finding a shared madeleine in homely nutcrackers and pastel-colored wedding almonds.

  There is no greater gift than imagining the meaning and lessons of the past with the people who guide you through the present, and whose presence adds meaning to each day. My son Michael, my joy, my husband Tony, my love, thank you for teaching and inspiring me.

  CREDITS

  Text:

  “The Odyssey of a Wop” (excerpt of about 500 words from pp. 138–39) from The Wine of Youth: Selected Stories by John Fante. Copyright © 1940 by John Fante. Copyright © 1985 by Joyce Fante. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

  Images:

  Ship manifest: Laurie Fabiano personal collection

  Group at table: Laurie Fabiano personal collection

  Italian couple: Alan Christian personal collection

  Italian-American family in kitchen: Maria Laurino personal collection

  Cassata Siciliana: Photograph by Paul Cary Goldberg

  Eataly counter: Photograph by Virginia Rollison

  Roseto banner: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  Men in box being lowered: Photograph by Steve Schapiro

  Women working at sewing machines: Photograph by Steve Schapiro

  Baker holding two bread loaves: Photograph by Steve Schapiro

  Gold horn (cornetto): Photograph by Chris Leary

  Woman in crown and white dress: Photograph by Steve Schapiro

  Girl in white dress: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  Prosecco glass: Shutterstock stock photograph

  Adriana Trigiani: Photograph by Tim Stephenson

  Espresso pot: Photograph by Chris Leary

  Two women on donkey: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-73453]

  Peasants and donkey in courtyard: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-73730]

  Family of peasants: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection [LC-USZ62-93129]

  Peasants picking lemons in Sicily: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-73485]

  Italian peasant girl: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ppmsca-08349]

  Waiting to board ship: Paolo Cresci Foundation

  Garibaldi on horse: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-pga-02437]

  Peasants on street: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-73454]

  Two men hanging: Special and Digital Collections, Tampa Library, University of South Florida

  Banana vendors: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-131516]

  David Hennessy: Courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection, Acc. No. 2006.024.11

  “To Hunt the Assassins” newspaper clip: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  “Assassinated” newspaper clip: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  Mafia cartoon: © Bettmann/Corbis

  “None Guilty” newspaper clip: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  Parish prison: Courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection, Acc. No. 1974.25.3.259

  Inmates in courtyard: Courtesy of The Historic New Orleans Collection, Acc. No. 1974.25.25.228

  Mulberry Street: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZC4-1584]

  Immigrants waiting on dock: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-11203]

  Inspection of arriving immigrants: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZC4-4656]

  Laborer shoveling: Center for Migration Studies

  Derogatory sheet music: “I Break-a da Stones” sheet music, Balch Institute Sheet Music Collection [3141], Historical Society of Pennsylvania

  Women working in silk mill: Center for Migration Studies

  Workers at macaroni factory: Center for Migration Studies

  Collage of immigration photographs and documents: Courtesy of B. Amore

  Ancestor panel (great-grandmother): Courtesy of B. Amore

  Nineteenth-century artifacts: Courtesy of B. Amore

  Ancestor panel (great-grandfather): Courtesy of B. Amore

  Clam vendor: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-D401-13642]

  Bread sellers: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-63005]

  Black Hand members: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  Lt. Joseph Petrosino escorting a Black Hand criminal with other police officers: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-137644]

  “Bomb shakes” newspaper clip: Laurie Fabiano personal collection

  Angelina Siena: Laurie Fabiano personal collection

  Giuseppe Petrosino: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-03609]

  Black Hand letters: Courtesy of The Italian American Museum

  Main Street, San Francisco: J. B. Monaco Photograph Collection, San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

  Crab fisherman: © Bettmann/Corbis

  Man with fish on line: Geoffrey Dunn personal collection

  Grocery store: Courtesy of the California Historical Society, CHS2014.I60

  San Francisco earthquake: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-47147]

  A. P. Giannini: J. B. Monaco Photograph Collection, San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

  Souvenir scavengers: U.S. National Archives

  Bank of Italy: J. B. Monaco Photograph Collection, San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

  Spoons: Photograph by Chris Leary

  Mother with three children: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection [LC-DIG-nclc-04116]

  Rolling pin and ravioli cutter: Photograph by Chris Leary

  Social worker visiting family: © Underwood & Underwood/Corbis

  Family in crowded home, Providence, Rhode Island: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection [LC-DIG-nclc-02721]

  Leonard Covello: Portrait of Leonard Covello, Leonard Covello Papers [MSS 040], Historical Society of Pennsylvania

  Passport: Alane Salierno Mason personal collection

  Schoolboy: Library of Congress, Prints & Photograph Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-14196]

  Schoolgirls: Library of Congress, Prints & Photograph Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-14198]

  Embroidered heart: Courtesy of B. Amore

  Family in front of store: Courtesy of The Italian American Museum

  Rudolph Valentino: Library of Congress, Prints & Photograph Division [LC-USZ62-90327]

  “A Wop” cartoon: Stock Montage/Archive Photos/Getty Images

  Lawrence strike meeting: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-10185]

  Striking millworkers: Walter P. Reuther Library, Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs, Wayne State University

  Giovannitti and Ettor postcard: David Giovannitti personal collection

  Children of Lawrence strikers: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-98168]

  Children’s exodus: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-ggbain-10241]

  Child working in mill: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection [LC-DIG-nclc-01668]

  Group of child millworkers: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, National Child Labor Committee Collection [LC-DIG-nclc-02370]

  IWW “Bread or Revolution” hat card: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-22190]

  Giovannitti writing collage: David Giovannitti personal collection

  San Gennaro festival: Photograph by Michael Shorris

 
Communion girls: Alan Christian personal collection

  Communion boys: Alane Salierno Mason personal collection

  Our Lady of Sorrows: Photograph by Michael Shorris

  Our Lady of Mount Carmel procession: Alane Salierno Mason personal collection

  Communion collage: Photograph by Chris Leary

  Crucifix: Photograph by Chris Leary

  Our Lady of Mount Carmel float: Courtesy of The Italian Americans documentary

  Madonna and bread loaves: Photograph by Paul Cary Goldberg

  Ransacked room: Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University of Michigan

  La Cronaca Sovversiva pamphlet: Center for Migration Studies

  Anarchists marching: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-33538]

  Gruppo Autonomo pamphlet: Center for Migration Studies

  Palmer house after explosion: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-DIG-npcc-33288]

  Sacco and Vanzetti: © Bettmann/Corbis

  Sacco and Vanzetti poster: Daily Worker/Daily World Photographs Collection, Tamiment Library, New York University

  Angela Bambace and mother: Mindy Camponeschi personal collection

  Angela Bambace and sons: Mindy Camponeschi personal collection

  Dumping whiskey during Prohibition: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-12142]

  Women at a speakeasy: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

  Italian-American social club: Alane Salierno Mason personal collection

  Genna family: Popperfoto/Popperfoto/Getty Images

  St. Valentine’s Day massacre: © Bettmann/Corbis

  Nut cracker and picks: Photograph by Chris Leary

  La Guardia and Rossi: Rose Marie Cleese personal collection

  Tammany Tiger: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division [LC-USZC4-10303]

  La Guardia with wife and child: The La Guardia and Wagner Archives, La Guardia Community College/The City University of New York

  Organ grinder: © Bettmann/Corbis

  Sewing machine and dresses: Courtesy of B. Amore

  La Guardia pouring alcoholic beverage: © Bettmann/Corbis

  La Guardia and Vito Marcantonio: Gerald Meyer collection

 

‹ Prev