Central Library hosts ‘Voices of Rhode Island’s 'Italian-Americans'

Pam Schiff
Posted 11/7/13

Barbara R. Carroll and Marge Caprara, members of the Italian American Historical Society, presented a short video and spoke about the book, “Voices of Rhode Island’s Italian-Americans,” on …

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Central Library hosts ‘Voices of Rhode Island’s 'Italian-Americans'

Posted

Barbara R. Carroll and Marge Caprara, members of the Italian American Historical Society, presented a short video and spoke about the book, “Voices of Rhode Island’s Italian-Americans,” on Tuesday evening, Oct. 22.

Caprara gave a brief explanation of how the book came to be. “The Italian American Historical Society of Rhode Island [IAHSOFRI.org] wanted to preserve the culture of Italy in Rhode Island through oral histories,” she said.

Approximately three years ago they sent out interviewers armed with tape recorders and a list of questions.

“We wanted future generations to know what life was like for the earlier generations,” she said.

After reviewing thousands of pages of interviews, they selected the 62 best excerpts and put them into the video, with 200 excerpts going into the book.

“Each story is so unique, so different, the only piece they have in common is they left Italy,” she said.

Realizing they had such extraordinary information, they selected some of the interviews to go into a video presentation as well.

In the video presentation, family members of immigrants recall stories of their families and their reasons for coming to Rhode Island.

Caroline Pitman explained that her family came due to economic hardships.

“They lived in poverty. Without being a landowner, there was no consideration for peasants,” she said.

Even though financial straits sent many to the U.S., there was diversity in the reasons for some coming. Not everyone was poor; some people were looking for adventure.

Lou Pezzullo spoke of the Thornton area near Plainfield Street in Johnston.

“The Thornton Community was where everyone cared for and about everyone else. There was a tremendous warmth and respect to the neighborhood,” he said.

Bob Vacca told a story about growing up in a tenement house with several families in it.

“I would come home from school and ask my mother what she was making for dinner. I would then go across the hall to my grandmother and ask her. Then I would go upstairs and ask my aunties what they were making. It was a wonderful place to get to pick where I wanted to eat and what I wanted to eat,” he said.

Anna Jones recalled the stories of her mother making zeppolle and coming home to the wonderful smells and the kitchen table covered in brown bags.

“Who are they for?” she asked her mother.

“They are for Joe.”

“Which Joe?” she said.

Everyone was named Joe back then.

One of the hardships that faced immigrants was the lack of work for the skilled workers. The men did what they had to do to support their families. Service workers had to get jobs in the mills. Another big obstacle they had to face was dealing with discrimination.

The book is broken down into three sections; leaving Italy, settling in Rhode Island and returning to their roots. There are different themes throughout the book as well. The women who comprise about 80 percent of the book were called “Brides of Passage.” They had to stay behind in Italy while their husbands and fathers came to the U.S.

“When the men were here, they only made poor laborer’s wages; it would take years to raise and save the money to send for family,” said Barbara Carroll.

“We encourage people to write down family stories. We dedicated this book to our young people. We want them to get the message of values, love, cooperation and the legacy they are living here in Rhode Island,” said Carroll.

For more information about the book, visit www.iahsofri.org.

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