Thursday, November 30, 2006

Pelosi's Rise Raises Italian-American Pride -Boston Globe

The ANNOTICO Report

Many Italians came to America's shores hungry, poor, and illiterate, in the wave of European immigration at the start of the 20th century . They had few job skills, and were escaping drought in their homeland. They arrived with almost nothing but each other.

In January, more than a century after their journey, one of their descendents -- Nancy Pelosi -- will become speaker of the US House of Representatives. The San Francisco congresswoman, like other third-generation Italian-Americans, can trace her roots to that historic migration from southern Italy .

Pelosi, born Nancy D'Alesandro , grew up in the Little Italy area of Baltimore. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., was the mayor of the city and a congressman, and her mother, Annunciata D'Alesandro , was an Italian immigrant.

When Pelosi officially takes the oath as speaker, she will be the first Italian-American in that post. And she will join Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as the highest-ranking Italian-Americans in the US government and will be second in line to the presidency, behind the vice president.

Every time a high-profile Italian-American reaches another milestone, it encourages others to reexamine their past.

Italians had to adopt American culture, but it came at a price. Many Italians lost their language and their culture. Today, third- and fourth-generation Italian [Americans] are going out of their way to learn about their culture.

That's substantially because, Italian-Americans long road to being fully accepted as Americans has been met with discrimination, stereotyping, and, until recently, exclusion. An Italian-American reaching an office so close to the presidency is a symbolic moment .

 

Elevation of House Speaker Speaks to Pride

Pelosi's rise cheers area's Italian-Americans

Boston Globe

By Russell Contreras, Globe Staff 

November 30, 2006

Many came to America's shores hungry, poor, and illiterate. They had few job skills, and were escaping drought in their homeland. They arrived with almost nothing but each other.

In January, more than a century after their journey, one of their descendents -- Nancy Pelosi -- will become speaker of the US House of Representatives. The San Francisco congresswoman, like other third-generation Italian-Americans, can trace her roots to that historic migration from southern Italy at the start of the 20th century.

When Pelosi officially takes the oath as speaker, she will be the first Italian-American in that post. And she will join Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as the highest-ranking Italian-Americans in the US government and will be second in line to the presidency, behind the vice president.

For many Italian-Americans in the Merrimack Valley, Pelosi's achievement is an honor and has been a topic of conversation, according to Richard Padova , a history professor at Northern Essex Community College. That's because, like Italian-Americans in New York, Chicago, and Baltimore, their long road to being fully accepted as Americans has been met with discrimination, stereotyping, and, until recently, exclusion. An Italian-American reaching an office so close to the presidency is a symbolic moment for how far a people have come, said Padova.

"There seems to be a general interest and pride" among Italian-Americans in the Merrimack Valley, said Padova, who is also Italian-American. "Even though many are not as liberal as she, they tend to overlook it because she's Italian."

Methuen Mayor William Manzi III said that although the era of rough-and-tumble ethnic politics has waned, seeing someone like Pelosi reach such a high office makes many Italian-Americans proud. "Barriers are falling daily," said Manzi. "And this is just another example."

Pelosi, born Nancy D'Alesandro , grew up in the Little Italy area of Baltimore. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., was the mayor of the city and a congressman, and her mother, Annunciata D'Alesandro , was an Italian immigrant.

Before this month's midterm elections, few knew anything about Pelosi, much less that if the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives, she was likely to become the first female speaker of the House. Now that Pelosi has been thrown into the national spotlight, many Americans are discovering the 66-year-old Democratic leader.

Her life story resonates with many Italian-Americans in Lawrence, said Nunzio DiMarca , an immigrant from Italy and a Lawrence city councilor.

"From the day we got off the boat, all we wanted to do was be part of the American world, the American environment," said DiMarca. "So when we see a Nancy Pelosi become successful, it's something we can relate to." DiMarca said Pelosi has been a topic on his Italian weekend radio show.

The Merrimack Valley, especially Lawrence, was one of the many areas where Italian immigrants settled upon arriving in the United States.

Most came to work in the now abandoned mills along the Merrimack River. Since then, many have moved out to such places as Methuen, Boston, or southern New Hampshire.

Today, more than 25 million Italian-Americans live in the United States. In Massachusetts, several cities have Italian-Americans as their mayor (Thomas Menino in Boston and Michael J. Sullivan in Lawrence, for example).

Yet, the rise of Pelosi raises the profile of Italian-Americans nationally and their story, said Kevin Caira , president of the Massachusetts chapter of the Order Sons of Italy.

"It's just a defining moment in the history of the US," Caira said. "There is a sense of excitement."

Caira added that, for now, excitement transcends party affiliation for many Italian-Americans. "It's not about whether you're a Democrat or Republican," said Caira. "Many of us are proud that she's an Italian-American and she's worked for it. She's broken the ceiling."

DiMarca said every time a high-profile Italian-American reaches another milestone, it encourages others to reexamine their past.

"We had to adopt American culture, but it came at a price. Many Italians lost their language and their culture," said DiMarca. "Today, I'm seeing third- and fourth-generation Italian [Americans] going out of their way to learn about their culture."

For those immigrants who braved the journey to America and experienced hard lives working the mills, Manzi said he believes many never would have thought they reached a point when one of their granddaughters would become speaker of the House. "But I don't think they would be totally surprised," he said. "After all, they wanted to be part of the American Dream."

Caira agreed, to a point. Some of those first immigrants might have expected even more by now.

"I think they would have expected an Italian-American to be president already," he said.

Russell Contreras can be reached at rcontreras@globe.com.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/a

rticles/2006/11/30/elevation_of_house

_speaker_speaks_to_pride/

 

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