Monday,
June 04, 2007
Italians Contributions to Cincinnati,
OH & North Kentucky
Region
Interestingly
enough while Italian immigration to the Cincinnati area began earlier in the
1800s with a group of Genoese
merchants who crossed the Atlantic through the Gulf of Mexico
and arrived in New Orleans.
They made their way up the Mississippi River and settled on the banks of the
Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati.
The early success of these northern Italian immigrants led the way for more to
follow. The Italian population gradually built to more than 4,000 living in the
downtown area of Cincinnati
as early as 1892.
In
contrast, The Italians who settled in Northern
Kentucky were, for the most part, from the Southern regions of Italy - Abruzzi,
Calabria, Campania,
Molise and Sicily. They came to start a new life away
from the devastation brought about in Italy from earthquakes, poverty and
diseases such as malaria that ran rampant throughout the country. Most of these
new immigrants, who arrived prior to 1892, were processed through Castle Garden, New York
City, and later though Ellis Island,
N.Y., which opened in 1892.
Italians Contributed Richly to (Cincinnati) Region
Excerpt
from the Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky
Cincinnati Post - OH,USA
By Pamela Ciafardini Casebolt
It
has been well over 100 years since more than 4.5 million Italians immigrated to
the United States,
representing the last of the mass migrations from Europe.
Ultimately, the Italian immigrants totaled about 10 percent of the overall
population of the U.S.
That percentage excludes those Italians known as "birds of passage,"
who came here just to work to send money back home and ultimately return to Italy.
In Northern Kentucky, the Italians trickled in around the
mid-19th century; the mass migration to the area began around 1887 and
continued through 1924. The most common figure used is 4.1 percent of Newport's foreign-born residents were of Italian descent,
representing 2 percent of the city's
overall population...
By
contrast, the immigration to the Cincinnati area
began earlier in the 1800s with a group of Genoese merchants who crossed the
Atlantic through the Gulf of Mexico and arrived in New Orleans. They made their way up the
Mississippi River and settled on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati.
The
early success of these northern Italian immigrants led the way for more to
follow. The Italian population gradually built to more than 4,000 living in the
downtown area of Cincinnati
as early as 1892.
The
Italians who settled in Northern Kentucky were, for the most part, from the
southern regions of the country - Abruzzi, Calabria, Campania, Molise and Sicily.
They came to start a new life away from the devastation brought about in Italy from
earthquakes, poverty and diseases such as malaria that ran rampant throughout
the country. Most of these new immigrants, who arrived prior to 1892, were
processed through Castle Garden, New York City, and later though Ellis Island, N.Y.,
which opened in 1892.
Many
Italians worked their way to the Northern Kentucky area by way of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West
Virginia. Jobs were plentiful in the steel mills and
coal mines of these neighboring states. Italian immigrants were encouraged to
come to the area by employment brokers, who would visit their hometowns in Italy and recruit them to come to the U.S. This was
done especially for tailors and stonemasons. In those cases, some came directly
to Northern Kentucky and settled.
Those
who owned and operated their own businesses seemed to settle in the urban areas
of Newport and Covington, where they lived in a house or an
apartment above their store or business. Others, who were interested in
farming, or a more residential area, settled in Cote Brilliante.
The Italian settlement stronghold, however, was Clifton,
later known as South Newport.
Family
also influenced the migration to Northern Kentucky.
Some Italians came to buy property of their own. Once established, they would
sponsor other family members or neighbors to come. It was also a common
practice that parents prearranged many Italian marriages, often as early as
birth; children were promised to wed when they became of age.
For
these reasons, many of the Italians who settled in the areas of Cote Brilliante, Covington, Newport and Clifton
were related or knew each other. Examples of Italian immigrant families coming
from the same small towns are the Arcaro (famed jockey Eddie Arcaro), Armenti, Farro, Forde, Forte, Giancola, and Vacca families from the town of Castelpetroso,
in the province of Campobasso (now Isernia), in the region of Molise, Italy; the Greco, Pellillo and Ialungo families
from the town of Bagnoli del Trigno,
the province of Campobasso (now Isernia);
and the Ciafardini and Porfirio
families from the town of Trivento, in the province
of Campobasso, in the region of Molise, Italy. It is
easy to see how they came to settle in a concentrated area such as Clifton, a barren, undeveloped area, situated on a hill
that resembled many of these families'
hometowns in Italy.
Charles
Graziani was one of the earliest immigrants to settle
in Campbell County. He was born in 1806 in the town
of Oneglia, in
northwest Italy near Genoa, immigrated around
1845, and died Aug. 6, 1866, in a steamboat accident aboard the General Lytle.
He was an accomplished artist, the son of the Count of Oneglia.
He married Emma Sanham, settled in Cold Spring, and
together the couple raised nine children. His youngest child, Benjamin Graziani, was born in Cold Spring and became an influential
criminal attorney, state representative and leader of Covington's
Italian community.
While
many Italian neighborhoods around the nation had groupings called "Little
Italy," Northern Kentucky had
"Spaghetti Knob." It was actually the city of Clifton, incorporated on Feb. 15, 1888.
Although the Germans and the Irish already occupied this city, a large
community of Italians began building homes in the area during the early 1900s.
It was
just the right place for the Italians to raise vegetables, grapes for their
winemaking, and goats, pigs and chickens for the dinner table. At the heart of
this Italian Roman Catholic community was the annual celebration of the Feast
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose feast day is celebrated on
Aug. 15. The Italians were accustomed to honoring their patron saints with
traditional feasts, street parades and festivals, customs they brought with
them from Italy.
The
Italians, with their devotion to the Blessed Mother and their flair for
pageantry, began their tradition of celebrating the Feast of the Assumption of
the Blessed Virgin Mary by carrying the statue of the Blessed Mother through
the streets of Clifton.
The feast was first celebrated on Aug. 14 and 15, 1926, and chaired by Eugene Giancola. A festival followed at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, and by the following year,
first generation Italian-American girls, dressed in authentic Italian costumes,
served as waitresses for the Italian dinner served in the school. The
celebration continued through the following decades, gradually ending in the
1960s.
One of
the most prominent and respected Italian-Americans was Eugene "Gene" Giancola. Eugene, the son of Archangelo
and Rufina Armenti Giancola, was born on a ship coming to the United States
in 1893. Gene held leadership roles in every facet of life in Clifton. He was the founder and editor of the
Hill Top Herald, a community newspaper he created during World War II to keep
the community and area servicemen informed of what was happening at home and
abroad. He married Rosina "Rosie" Porfirio
in 1916 and they resided at the corner of Ash and Main
streets....
Along
with the Italian families who immigrated came the introduction of Italian
cuisine to the public. Family-owned Italian restaurants opened throughout the
area, each with its own specialty. Forde's Restaurant, owned and operated by Michael
and Bernadette Testa Forde,
was famous for ravioli. Luigi's
Restaurant, which was known for its pizza, was owned and operated by Tony and
Helen Zechella. In fact, Tony's
father, Louis "Luigi," is said to be the person who first introduced
pizza to Northern Kentucky. Sam Santini operated Santini's Bar and Restaurant, which later became
known as Grandview Gardens in South Newport.
For
more than 50 years, John Michael "Colonel" and Johanna
"Jay" Coletta Pompilio
operated Pompilio's
Restaurant, a casual dining landmark in Newport
known for its authentic Italian spaghetti dinners. Of those mentioned, only Pompilio's
remains opened today; it is currently a family-run enterprise headed by Frank
C. and Peter F. Mazzei.
True
to Italian culture, life is worth celebrating, and the early immigrants availed
every opportunity to hold festivities. In addition to church and family
celebrations, Columbus Day was celebrated as early as 1892 in Cincinnati
and Northern Kentucky by all nationalities.
Full-scale replicas of the ships the Nina, the Pinta
and the Santa Maria passed by on the Ohio River.
The
festivities included elaborate parades with decorated floats and wagons. Local
militia and military troops from the Fort Thomas Military Reservation also
participated. In later years, Columbus Day in Northern
Kentucky was usually celebrated with a banquet. Today, the holiday
is organized and celebrated by the Cincinnati Chapter of the Order of the Sons
of Italy.
Italian
Day at Coney Island
Amusement Park was first
established in 1952 and held every year at the Coney Island Pavilion until the
park closed in 1971.
The
Newport Italianfest, a four-day celebration of
family, friends and entertainment, currently maintains the area's Italian heritage. The festival completed its 15th
year in 2006.
Excerpted from the forthcoming "The Encyclopedia of Northern
Kentucky," edited by Paul A. Tenkotte and James C. Claypool.
Visit www.nkyencyclopedia.org
on the Web.
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