Casa Emigranti Italiani 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS THAT YOU MAY FIND OF INTEREST ON KEY ISSUES OF EARLY ITALIAN MIGRATION INTO HARTFORD.

Joe Flattery submitted this 1920 photo . The older girls last name is Calabrese (Mother's first marriage - husband died). The parents and younger Children are Cresenzo. The Mother, Antoinette was born in Potenza, The Father John was born in Pofi, Italy.

The Deleo are reported celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 1935. According to the article they were married in Aliano, Basilicata, Italy and came here in 1885, a few months after their wedding, making them some of the earliest Italian immigrants to settle in Hartford.

 Not sure if their name is spelled correctly. D'Bello, but this 1922 article shows the parents and their 10 children. The parents were married at St. Anthony church in 1898!

HARTFORD COURANT, 1915

THE ITALIANS IN HARTFORD

Q&A

FEBRUARY, 2014

      Q: WHEN DID THE FIRST ITALIANS REACH HARTFORD?

      A: DIFFICULT TO SAY WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY BUT ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE DATED AUGUST 1915 FROM THE HARTFORD COURANT IN 1871 HARTFORD HAD ONLY TWO ITALIAN FAMILIES LIVING HERE, THE GARIBALDI’S AND THE BRACIERI. THE FAMILY OF NICOLA PALLOTTI CAME NEXT FOLLOWED BY DONATO D’ESOPO AND HIS FAMILY WHO ARRIVED SHORTLY THEREAFTER!

      HOW DID ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS CHOOSE TO COME TO HARTFORD? WHAT WAS THE PADRONE SYSTEM?

      MOST LIKELY THE FIRST ITALIANS CAME HERE AS PART OF LARGE GROUPS, “GANGS” OF LABORERS, WHO HAD BEEN RECRUITED BY ANOTHER ITALIAN OFTEN KNOWN AS “PADRONE,” OWNER OR MORE APPROPRIATELY BOSS. PADRONES WOULD BE HIRED BY FIRMS WORKING ON LARGE PROJECTS TO ORGANIZE SUCH GROUPS AND WOULD OFTEN COME FROM NEW YORK EITHER BY BOAT OR TRAIN. IT WOULD APPEAR LOGICAL TO DEDUCE THAT SOME ITALIANS SIMPLY STAYED PAST THE COMPLETION OF A SPECIFIC PROJECT. 

      WHAT WAS THE COMPENSATION SYSTEM LIKE?

      ITALIAN LABORERS WOULD PAY A RECRUITMENT FEE TO THE BOSS. ADDITIONALLY THE BOSS MAY FORCE LABORERS TO PURCHASE SUPPLIES FROM HIM AS WELL PAY FOR LODGING! NORMALLY THE FIRMS WORKING ON THE PROJECTS WOULD PAY THE BOSS WHO WOULD THEN PAY THE WORKERS! WORKERS WOULD EARN BETWEEN $1.50 AND $2.00 PER DAY!

      WAS THE PADRONE SYSTEM EFFECTIVE?

      UNFORTUNATELY MUCH TOO OFTEN THESE PADRONES OR BOSSES WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NEWLY ARRIVED IMMIGRANTS WHO COULD NOT FIND WORK ANY OTHER WAY. PHONY BOSSES WOULD COLLECT FEES ONLY TO DISAPPEAR LEAVING THE WORKERS WITH NO WORK AND OFTEN IN DEBT FOR THE FEE THEY HAD BORROWED! IN 1895 CONNECTICUT PASSED LEGISLATION ABOLISHING THE PADRONE SYSTEM.

      WHAT TYPE OF WORK DID THE EARLY ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS PERFORM?

      ITALIANS IMMIGRANTS WORKED ON JUST ABOUT ALL MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS SUCH AS RAILROAD, BRIDGES, ROADS, ETC. ADDITIONALLY WE WOULD FIND STORE OWNERS, VENDORS, ETC. , USUALLY FOCUSED ON SUPPLYING THEIR COMPATRIOTS! WORKING CONDITIONS IN SOME OF THE LARGE PROJECTS WERE NOT SAFE AND MANY EARLY IMMIGRANTS PAID WITH THEIR LIVES AND LIMBS! 

      WHAT WERE THE LIVING CONDITIONS LIKE?

      PRIMITIVE AT BEST. LODGING HOUSES OWNERS WOULD PACK ROOMS WITH 8 TO 10 BEDS AND IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR MEN TO SLEEP IN THEIR CLOTHES! THESE TENAMENTS HAD NO FACILITIES (THE TERM “U BACKAUSE” OR BACK OF THE HOUSE WAS COINED THEN). THE EAST SIDE OF HARTFORD, AND ESPECIALLY FRONT AND CHARLES STREET, WERE LARGELY OCCUPIED BY ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS!

      HOW WERE ITALIANS PERCEIVED?

      An 1888 REPORT BY THE CT LABOR DEPARTMENT DESCRIBES ITALIANS AS COMING HERE TO ACCUMULATE MONEY AND RETURN TO THEIR HOMELAND WHERE THEY COULD LIVE COMFORTABLY AND THEREFORE NOT INTERESTED IN BEACOMING U.S. CITIZENS OR LEARNING ENGLISH.

      WERE ITALIANS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST?

      LIKE ALL OTHER IMMIGRANTS GROUPS, ITALIANS WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST. ORGANIZED LABOR GROUPS PASSED RESOLUTIONS ATTACKING BUSINESSES WHICH HIRED ITALIANS AND “ITALIANS NOT WANTED” POLICIES WERE UTILIZED AT A NUMBER OF FACTORIES.

      HOW LARGE WAS THE ITALIAN POPULATION IN HARTFORD?

      ACCORDING TO THE U.S CENSUS IN 1880 THERE WERE 158 ITALIAN BORN PEOPLE IN HARTFORD. BY 1920 THAT NUMBER WOULD GROW TO OVER 20,000 ( NOT COUNTING THE CHILDREN OF GRANDCHILDREN BORN HERE)!

      HOW QUICKLY DID THE ITALIAN POPULATION RISE UP THE ECONOMIC LADDER?

      ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE IN THE HARTFORD COURANT DATED AUGUST 1915, ITALIANS HELD PROPERTY VALUED AT ALMOST 10% OF THE CITY’S GRAND LIST! AN ASTONISHING ACHIEVEMENT IN SUCH A SHORT TIME FRAME OF SOME 30 YEARS!