As a family, we are very proud of our Italian heritage. Our first family members came to America in the 1890’s as part of a huge European immigration wave that landed on American shores in the late nineteenth century. The first family members joined many other Italians who were leaving behind the poor southern provinces, where farming was the way of life. They came to America in search of better lives for their families. "In 1880, the city (New York) had only twenty thousand residents of Italian heritage, most from the northern provinces, whereas new arrivals in the 1880s were largely agricultural workers from southern Italy." (Lankevich, 122). If we know the state of Italian economics and politics of the time, we can begin to understand the reasons why my ancestors chose to come to America. In a new land, my ancestors faced the same difficulties and hardships faced by other immigrant nationalities, which included prejudice directed at all foreigners, cultural customs and language barriers. Besides these, my ancestors faced additional hardships that temporarily forced them to turn away from this new land.

Before 1860, Italy had not been unified as a nation since the fall of the Roman Empire in the Fifth Century AD (Hearder). Italy was divided into competing city-states. During the Renaissance, the states of Milan, Florence and Venice developed into important commercial, cultural and military powers. With the discovery of the New World in 1492, Italy’s commercial importance to Europe declined. The Italian city-states became a battleground of French, Papal and Spanish interests and many Italians wanted a unified Italy. Between 1815 and 1848, nationalist feelings grew. Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, a statesman who led Sardinia from 1850-1860, believed in Italian unification (Barzini). At first, Cavour’s goals seemed unrealistic. Until 1859 he only sought to unify only the northern states and central Italy. Nationalists in central Italy rebelled and overthrew their rulers. They asked to be united with Sardinia. In 1860 Cavour united northern and central Italy. His plan for unification did not include the Papal States or Sicily.

Along with Cavour, Giuseppe Garibaldi also emerged powerful force behind the idea of Italian unification in 1860. He was a southern Italian who wanted to liberate the southern provinces and Sicily. Following Garibaldi’s leadership, the south voted to join Sardinia. The New Kingdom of Italy, which did not include Venice until 1866 or Rome until 1870, was a parliamentary monarch under King Victor Emmanuel II. Despite political unity, a large gap existed between the wealthy class, who owned property and the common people, the peasants who worked the land. There were many other differences as well. From an economic and regional point of view, major differences separated the industrialized north whose people, lived in cities and were better educated the southern peasants who lived on the farms they worked as tenant farmers. Culturally, Italian was a written language used mostly by intellectuals. Most of the people spoke regional dialects and had regional loyalties. If they could not speak a national language, then how are they supposed to communicate with someone from a different region? Massimo d’Azeglio summed up the problem by writing, "We have made Italy, now we must make Italians"(Hearder, 44). They had succeeded in unifying the country. Now they need to unify the people under a common language and beliefs.

In Italy, political representation through voting was based on taxation on owned property. In fact, the peasants who lived in the poorer southern regions, who didn’t own property, had no vote and no representation. The newly unified Italy was governed by a small, powerful political class, which was centered in the north and composed of the aristocracy and the wealthy middle class. "Italy is often characterized as a country of polarities, both socially and economically – the north versus the south…." (Shinn, 145). This ruling class imposed a series of new taxes that caused serious resentment among the politically silent Southern Italians, where there was bitterness and widespread resistance.

In the Italy of the 1880’s over 60% of the population was involved in agriculture. In the North industry and manufacturing were established and the land was fertile for agriculture. In central Italy, few aristocratic landowners dominated farming. The land in the South was less fertile and difficult to farm, because of widespread soil erosion. This was a region that alternated between flood and drought. The area contained tracts of swamp areas with malarial infestations. Crop failures that led to bread riots throughout the region were not uncommon. "There is much evidence for a generally worsening standard of living in rural Italy between 1870 and 1900" (Holmes, 238). Often the rioting would result in many deaths. "On average, three quarters of the income of peasant households were spent on food, and their diet was often barely sufficient to avoid starvation" (Holmes, 238).

According to my grandmother, Maria Assunta Reda, these were the conditions that led to the decision made by Serafina Broccoli and Jacinto Fata (my great great grandparents) in January 1898 to come to America. They had lived in Cosenza, Calabria, which is in southern Italy. There, they married and lived on a farm with their two children. They decided that they wanted to find a better life for their family in America. Serafina Broccoli and Jacinto Fata believed, as many other European immigrants did at the time that America’s streets were "paved with gold." In America there would be plenty of work and no starvation.

At the turn of the century, New York was America’s biggest port. Most Italians entered America through the Port of New York City. Some of them went to other states, but most of them stayed in New York City (Claghorn). The first Italian immigrants lived in former Irish neighborhoods. At the Mulberry "bend", a new Italian neighborhood had been formed and was called "Little Italy." Southern Italians lived in "Little Italy" and associated with people from their own provinces. "No more peaceable, thrifty, orderly neighbors could be found in these Italians…they do not beg and are quiet" (Claghorn). There was no resentment between the Irish and Italians or between Italians because the Italians knew that they were here to work and save money for their family. Jacinto and Serafina knew that the reason they were in America was to make money to support their family. Together they worked hard to achieve this goal.

In America, Jacinto and Serafina had six more children. One of these children was Eugene Fata, my grandmother’s father, who was born in January 1899. In 1901, tragedy struck the family. One of her sons named Natale, who was born in Italy in 1896, was kidnapped at the age of five. My Grandmother, Maria Assunta Fata, tells the story of how the kidnapping occurred: One cold day Natale and his older brother Luigi, age nine, went out to search the neighborhood for scraps of wood to burn as fuel for the apartment’s stove. The children’s fuel search led them to a woodworker’s shop. Inside the shop, the children met a stranger who convinced the older brother Luigi to bring back home all the wood the brothers had collected. In the meantime, the stranger would keep an eye on Natale and make sure that the younger brother wouldn’t get into any trouble. When Luigi returned for Natale, he could not find his brother or the stranger he had met. The New York City Police Department was called in to investigate. The police could not find Natale. It soon became clear the stranger kidnapped Natale. Meanwhile, Serafina and Jacinto placed newspaper ads asking for help in locating her son from anyone that had any information concerning Natale’s disappearance. Seven years after Natale’s kidnapping, Serafina, saddened by the thought of never seeing her son again, fell ill from heartache and grief. Jacinto couldn’t avoid seeing the effects their son’s kidnapping had on his wife’s health. He finally decided to move the family back to Calabria in 1908. He knew his wife could not stand to be here, in America, any longer where this horrible thing took place.

In a Brazilian city, a woman restaurant owner saw the one of the newspaper ads that Serafina and Jacinto had continued to place concerning their son’s kidnapping. The woman made a key connection. She knew a boy who often came to her restaurant for food. This lady began to question the boy. Who are you? Where were you born? He could not remember much but he told the restaurant owner that he had a grandmother in Italy. She showed the police the newspaper ad and told them she thought this boy was the same one who had been kidnapped in New York many years before. After an investigation by the Brazilian police, the boy’s parents, Serafina and Jacinto were contacted. Natale was taken back to Italy at age thirteen. The family learned that the kidnapper had taken Natale from New York to Brazil. In Brazil, the man worked as a street vendor, selling pots. Natale, too, was forced sell pots on the streets.

In 1916, at the age of twenty, Natale Fata, the son who was kidnapped and then returned, was drafted into the Italian army. During World War I, Italian political leaders committed troops without proper preparations or training. Almost five million men were called up, more than half of them peasants or agricultural workers. Southerners were on the front lines of the war, while the skilled northern workers were assigned to safer positions in the artillery or engineering corps. Six hundred thousand Italian men died. Whole provinces were devastated because most of the war was fought on Italian soil (Lange, 144). Natale survived and returned home.

In 1920 he decided to return to New York. At age twenty-two, he married. Six months later he became sick and died of cancer. At Natale Fata’s wake, the funeral parlor where he lay, caught fire and the building burned to the ground. The body of the ill-fated son of Serafina and Jacinto was consumed in the same fire.  During this time in Italy, Eugene Fata, my grandmother’s father, married Aquilina Ragusa in 1923. Born in America, Eugene was a U.S citizen. In southern Italy, the years that followed WWI were difficult. He wanted to return to America for a better life. In 1923, before he left, Maria Assunta Fata, my grandmother, was born. Eugene’s wife, Aquilina Ragusa never immigrated to America. In 1934, after eleven years away from his family, Eugene returned to Italy.

At the time that Eugene Fata returned from America, Mussolini was consolidating his control over Italian politics. In 1923, Mussolini headed a coalition Italian government. Mussolini had created the Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party). Fascism’s most intense followers were those who were hit hard by inflation and unemployment that had followed the end of World War I. The National Fascist Party enjoyed support from landowners, shopkeepers, clerical workers, and students. Mussolini was so popular because he wanted to bring back Italy to the way it was before, a strong Roman state. Eugene was a follower of Il Dulce because it was the landowners that were being taxed so harshly and Mussolini wanted to change this. Eugene, being a landowner in southern Italy, felt Mussolini could do something good for the Italians. Mussolini called for a constituent assembly, abolition of Senate, land for peasants and major tax changes. Labor unions were formed to ensure a peaceful resolution of conflict through the state. Fascism sought to preserve the capitalist system by appealing to nationalism as the basis for social harmony. Fascism believed that through the community an individual could fulfil his or her potential. Mussolini’s new doctrine was "Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." This meant that Italians would take care of their problems inside of Italy, without any outside interference. Mussolini’s political party, The Partito Nazionale Fascista, promoted this radical form of patriotism, a hatred of socialism, and allegiance to Il Dulce. "Fascism owed its success to many factors: to its novelty and appeal to the young, to the use of systematic violence which remained uncontested, to the weariness and lack of direction of the socialists (his opponents), and to certain divisions between economic groups…." (Holmes, 270).

After only six months in Italy, Eugene wanted to return to America. In New York, Eugene was employed by the New York Central Railroad. He drank heavily and suffered from alcoholism. Eugene had never been financially supportive of family he left behind. In 1946, Eugene Fata died. My grandmother, Maria Assunta Fata, was raised by her grandmother and grandfather (Jacinto Fata and Serafina Broccoli). My grandmother’s education was limited. She didn’t have much time for schoolwork. She was expected to help her grandparents with the work that needed to be done on the farm. At age eighteen, she married my grandfather, Giovanni Reda.

My grandfather, Giovanni, was the son of Domenico and Rosina Reda who had married in 1884. They had six children. Domenico came to America several times but decided not settle there permanently. To come to America Domenico scrapped together whatever money they had from selling their crops or animals. My grandfather, Giovanni Reda, was born in 1918. Like my grandmother, he received little more than a very basic education. Like my grandmother, he too was expected to work the farm planting wheat and tending the animals. In 1939 he was drafted into the Italian Army. He served only a few months in the army was released because of sickness. In 1941 he married my grandmother. They were wed on December 7,1941 the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan. In 1941, Giovanni Reda and Maria lived with her grandparents on their small farm. In 1942 their first daughter, Rosina, was born. In 1945 their second daughter Frances was born. In 1948, their last child and my father, Domenico was born.

Giovanni worked the farm from 1941-1952. In 1950, my grandparents were informed that they were eligible to immigrate to America because my grandmother’s father was an U.S. citizen, which gave them special privilege. My grandfather made a trip to Naples to file his application to make the trip to America. The whole family was supposed to leave together for America, but Rosina, their oldest daughter fell sick. My grandfather left for America, alone. On April 12, 1953 he sailed on a passenger ship named "L’ Independencia".

Many Italians living in "New Italy" were men without families. Southern Italians like my grandfather had to overcome two large obstacles. First, unlike other immigrants who lived in cities, the majority of Southern Italians lived a rural lifestyle in their native land. They were unaccustomed to the crowded tenement style of living and found the adjustment difficult. Unlike the Irish and other English-speaking immigrants, they faced the same language barriers faced by other non-English speaking nationalities. The Italian men were not very selective about the type of work they performed because they couldn’t afford to be choosy. The Southern Italians were mostly unskilled. They held down various jobs that spanned all professions, from bakers, day laborers, factory workers, shoemakers, tailors and trades workers. In fact, the Italians were glad to take whatever jobs were available. The greater part of their salaries was usually sent back to Italy for support of their families. When the men were settled in the new land with regards to employment and adequate housing, they then would send for their families to join them.

Giovanni Reda worked in New York for one year and then sent for his family to join him. During this time he worked two jobs. From four o’clock to seven thirty in the morning, he performed cleaning and janitorial services, a job he held for ten years. At eight o’clock he would arrive at his full time job in a jewelry factory, a job he held for almost twenty-eight years, polishing and grinding rings. Sometimes, he would not get home from work until seven at night. In 1981, my grandfather retired at the age of sixty-two. In 1962 he bought a house in the Bronx. In 1966 his neighbor moved to Cleveland and purchased that house, too. He still continues to own both of the houses today.

Like my grandfather, my grandmother worked two jobs as well. Her first and most important job was to raise her three children. For her second job, she worked for the Hertz Company, which made paper products such as paper cups, napkins, toothpicks and straws. She worked there for twelve years. After twelve years the factory relocated. Six months later, she went to work for the Old London Company Division of Borden Inc., also for twelve years. After twelve years she left the company because of a job-related disability in 1979.

My grandparents, my father, and my aunts are very proud of their heritage. My grandparents still carry out their customs carried over from Italy. These include winemaking, tomato sauce canning, and the making of other specialty foods. My grandfather buys many cases of wine grapes and uses this really old looking machine to make the wine. He lets it ferment in barrels in my garage and then he bottles them and drinks it. My grandfather and grandmother are very traditional. In fact, I don’t think they have never been in a McDonald’s Restaurant. My father believes that our future success is based in education. We are Italian-Americans and very proud of our identity, who we are and where we came from. I take part in all of these traditional customs, including the making of tomato sauce. I help cut up the tomatoes, boil them, and jar it. I take pride in my family history and I want to carry out these traditions when I have my children, otherwise they will not have any link to their past. My grandparents have often gone back to Italy, but they say their real home is here, in America. I think the struggle for a new life in a new land has succeeded.
 
 

Barzini, Luigi. From Caesar To The Mafia. New York: The Library Press, 1971.

Claghorn, Kate. "The Foreign Immigrant in New York City."  Reports of the Industrial
Commission. Washington DC, 1901. 465-492

Hearder, Harry. Italy: A Short History. Cambridge: University Press, l990.

Holmes, George. The Oxford History of Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Lange, Peter and Sidney Tarrow. Italy in Transition: Conflict and Consensus. Great Britain: The Bourne Press. 1980.

Lankevich, George J. American Metropolis: A History of New York City. New York
University Press: New York & London. 1998

Reda, Giovanni and Maria. Oral interview, March 10, 1999.

Shinn, Rinn-Sup. Italy: A Country Study. Washington, D.C.: American University, 1985.

Return to Author List

Return to Home Page