From Unification to Exploration
An Annotated Bibliography
Through my research I have been able to dive deeper into the life of my great grandfather to fully understand the tough times he had to go through. The United States in the early 1900’s was a huge melting pot of all different cultures and backgrounds. However, the unique thing about living as an immigrant in the United States is the plethora of different ghettos, each serving as a comfort zone of sorts to the immigrants struggling to fit in. Luckily for my great grandfather, Pittsburgh served as one of the nation’s most popular regions for Italians to settle down, with one out of every six Pittsburgh residents being an Italian immigrant, thus serving as a hotspot for families like my own.
Although I may be able to hear about the vague specifics of life in Pittsburgh from my grandfather, who was very young at the time, my research has allowed me to get an in-depth look at the social life, work life, and family life in Aliquippa (only a couple miles from Pittsburgh) during my great grandfather’s upbringing. I have made it a goal of mine to piece together several sources regarding this specific information. Ever since I was a child, I wanted to find out what benefits Aliquippa, Pennsylvania offered my family, and why they chose to settle there in the first place. It is for these reasons that I have decided to make Aliquippa the center of my research, in which I will invest my time and effort into reading all about the social life of a blue-collar working man in the 1920’s.
Through the sources below, I have been able to understand what it means to be an Italian in Pittsburgh in the 1920’s, and how important it is to keep in touch with our Italian roots and family. What I have found to be true is that without family, we are reduced to nothing. Don Corleone says it best in “The Godfather”, “A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.” I imagine my great-grandfather lived by these words, as he always put family first, which allowed his children and grandchildren to be successful today.
“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.”
— Don Corleone
1. Italians of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
Ciotola, Nicholas P. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005. Print.
I can imagine Great-Grandpap John leaving his home in Aliquippa early in the morning to catch the train on the way to the steel mill. Breakfast had been laid out on the table by Stella, which John had quickly eaten before giving her a goodbye kiss on the cheek. Stella knew that John would not be home for a while, as he had a long day in the mills ahead of him. However, this did not matter to John, as he knew that hard work pays off, and nothing can cheer him up quite like coming home to a loving wife and three young children with a full Italian feast on the table. What made all this work worth it was his family, which is the most important thing in his life. For every Italian, family is the one thing that holds the world together because with family, there is always a shoulder to lean on and a smile to share.
The “Images of America” book by Nicholas P. Ciotola on the Pittsburgh tells the uplifting story of the work ethic that the Italian immigrants brought to Pittsburgh and how this laid down a foundation for family life and future generations to preserve it. While reading and observing the hundreds of pictures planted in this book, I noticed the common theme of unity among Italian families. In fact, the sections titled “Work” and “Community” take up most of the space in the book, symbolizing how the two go hand in hand. Although my great grandpap is not present in any of the pictures, I can imagine that some of his friends and family members might have been. There are several pictures taken in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, which is a predominately steel town, and I can picture my great-grandpap partaking in some of the groups and clubs mentioned, such as the “Sons of Columbus”.
However, one of the most important sections in my opinion is the titled “Family”, which, as the title implies, is the best illustration of how family life plays an important role in the lives of Italian immigrants. The Italian family life helped preserve many of the old-world culture and way of life, and served as a distraction from the constantly busy, new American life. It is in the homes where Italian families could congregate and socialize in their own native language, while sharing old family recipes with each other. Through the transition from Italy to America, family life played a very important role in easing this difficult and timely process.
2. La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience
Mangione, Jerre, and Ben Morreale. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Print.
One area of my project that has been significantly improved by my research is the push and pull factors that encouraged my family to leave Italy for America. I have had difficulty getting information from my grandpap regarding the push factors that drove my family out of Italy, so research has stepped in to help me out. Italy before and after unification is like two completely different worlds. Before unification, Italy was fragmented into eight separate states, with all but one being ruled by foreign governments or the papacy.
Upon unification, a celebration took place in the entire country as Rome was restored as the rightful capital. However, the celebration was short lived as a series of destructive events took place that brought a dark cloud over the South in Italy. There was a desperate antagonism of the South against the new authorities in the North, indicating that Italy had only been unified by name. Several revolts took place by the displeased southerners that pitted themselves against this so called unified nation. The unification took place around 1860, but an Italian statesman said it best about the unification that “although we have made Italy, we have yet to make Italians,” signaling that there was a clear disruption in peace. A decade after this “unification”, Italy saw an acceleration in emigration that reduced the population by nearly a third.
The vast emigration relied predominantly upon one factor, economic survival in the South. Northern Italy was the center of the unification movement, and they implemented laws that clearly benefitted areas north of Rome, so all of Southern Italy was left to fend for itself. This push factor was lead by increasing taxes imposed by the areas north of Rome on those in the South, making it very difficult for unskilled laborers to find a comfortable lifestyle. In fact, at least four-fifths of emigrants hailed from seven regions south of Rome, two of the areas being Abruzzo and Basilicata, which are the two regions in which my family lived for several generations. Great-Grandpap John’s family consisted of unskilled laborers, so the push factor was clearly the Italian unification that prompted a quick exodus from their previously beloved country. With the high economic promise coming from America, my family made an easy choice to leave the turmoil in Southern Italy for a better life in America.
3. Emigrant Nation: The Making of Italy Abroad
Choate, Mark I. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008. 72+. Print.
One of the most important aspects of immigrant life in America is the connection back to the homeland from which one immigrated from. Much of an immigrant’s life in his/her new country revolves around the community and a shared ideology. For Italians in America, the connection back to Italy plays a very important role in survival in this new, foreign land. Although the process of leaving may be abrupt and crude, every family that leaves Italy still feels an emotional connection to the strange, boot shaped nation. For my family, Great-Grandpap John and his wife, Stella, carried on several Italian traditions, specifically those involving food and religion. Thankfully so, Great-Grandpap taught his children the importance of roots and family, which has impacted my life today as we still make Italian food almost every other night. When I visit both my grandpap’s and my great aunt’s house in Aliquippa, several relics of Italy still remain, including the infamous family cook book.
Mark Choate, the author of Emigrant Nation, illustrates the importance of the fundamental tenets that each Italian should follow in their daily lives. The “New Ten Commandments of Italian Emigrants” provides a guide that each Italian immigrant should follow in their new country. His tone is that of an army general about to send his troops off to war and giving them his final orders. These commandments follow a simple guideline: remember and honor your roots. Although most of my relatives have never seen these commandments, they unknowingly follow them, which shows how important of a role Italy plays in the life of an immigrant family. There are two commandments that particularly resonate in my mind: “1. There is only one Fatherland, and your Fatherland is Italy. You shall love no other country as much as Italy. 2. Remember the national holidays, wherever you might be. On these occasions, at least, forget your political party and religious faith; remember only that you are Italian.” Although we are taken away from Italy physically, it shall always hold a special place in our minds. The fact that we unknowingly follow these commandments without ever seeing them before shows the deep connection that Italians hold to their homeland.
From my great-grandpap’s point of view, Italians must stick together in America in order to survive. The connection to Italian traditions is what grounded him and his family. Even the Italian language was spoken in his home, indicating his love for his old country. Although he was living hundreds of miles away from Italy, the old culture still thrived in his small town of Aliquippa.
4. The American Mafia: The History of Organized Crime in the United States
Hunt, Thomas P. “Pittsburgh Bosses.” N.p., 2017.
Although Italians have always peacefully congregated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one can easily be tempted to the “dark side”, as some might call it. The Pittsburgh mafia has historically been associated with the Genovese Crime Family of New York City and the Cleveland mafia. Independent Mafia organizations have sprung up all over the place in Western Pennsylvania, offering “economic” opportunities for Italians struggling to make a living in America. The mafia in Pittsburgh emerged out of impoverished Italian ghettos struggling to survive in an American society that was largely anti-Italian.
Thomas P. Hunt, the author of this website article, describes the heads of several Italian crime families in Pittsburgh around the early to mid 1900’s. Sebastian LaRocca served as the supreme boss of the Pittsburgh crime families around 1956. LaRocca heavily influenced the mafia’s involvement in Pittsburgh area labor unions, which I presume include the labor union that my great grandpap was a part of. The crime families served as a powerful threat that many Italian families feared. However, the recruiting process for the mafia started with children that were just into their teenage years, which is the reason that I bring up the mafia in my research.
Many Italian immigrants in America struggled to make ends meet, and thus resorted to the American crime families as a source of income, but once you’re in, there’s no getting out of “the life.” My great-grandfather was once tempted to join the mafia. In fact, he was around thirty years old when one of his friends asked him if he wanted to join, to which he quickly replied “no.” The mafia was all around in Pittsburgh at the time, so it was hard to avoid. However, Italians in Pittsburgh were always looking out for each other, so my great-grandfather was never asked to join the mafia again, and was never bothered by them. Luckily for me, my great-grandfather said no and chose to be a hard working, Italian-American citizen.
5. “Part I: The Life and Slow Death of a Former Pennsylvania Steel Town”
Crowder, Nicole. The Washington Post. WP Company, 04 Nov. 2015.
Some of the pull factors that brought my family to America were the higher wages and lower taxes that working in a Pittsburgh steel mill had to offer. As an unskilled laborer, there was not much available work in Italy, but the United States offered hundreds of opportunities for unskilled laborers to find a job and seek improved wages. The steel mills of Pittsburgh created thousands of jobs that immigrants quickly hopped on, including my great-grandfather. Aliquippa was a steel mill powerhouse of Pittsburgh, consisting of the largest steel mill in the world. There could not have been a better town for my great-grandpap to settle in than Aliquippa, which offered him not only a comfortable job with room to grow, but a largely Italian community.
In this article, Nicole Crowder is interviewing Pete Marovich, who documented the slow collapse of Aliquippa over several months in 2015. The J&L Steel Mill was one of the largest and best steel mills in the country, and my great-grandpap worked for them almost his entire life. In the 1940’s, the town’s population grew to over twenty seven thousand people, and almost a third of them were employed at a steel mill called Aliquippa Works. In 1909, the J&L Steel Corporation expanded it’s land holding along the Ohio River, while expanding the town at the same time. They built homes and businesses to accommodate the workers of what would soon be the largest steel mill in the world.
My great-grandpap came to America around the same time that J&L was expanding it’s corporation. Therefore, there were hundreds of jobs available for immigrants to take, and the new homes and businesses built along with the new mills would serve as a cultural hotspot for Italians to settle upon. This growth of J&L is the primary pull factor that brought my family to Pittsburgh, as J&L was heavily recruiting new workers who would be given higher wages than that in Italy.
6. “The Great Arrival”
Italian Immigration. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web.
When researching the push factors of Italian immigration to America, there were several sources that all agreed upon the same factor: Italian unification. In the late 19th century, Italy had been unified under one flag, but the land and the people were quite the opposite. After several decades of revolutions between different groups of opposing views, there was an internal strife that was left, leading to a disruption in peace between the North and South in Italy. There was a significant effort to industrialize the North, and the South was basically left to fend for itself. The peasants in the South lived in primarily poor, rural areas with little to no job availability. The vast majority of people living in Southern Italy consisted of farmers and laborers, so in a time of industrialization, these people were left out in the cold, as there was no demand for that particular type of labor.
The land in the South was primarily owned by tenants who could essentially tax the people living on their land at no set price, sending the South into turmoil. My great grandpap’s father was an unskilled laborer, which was the worst occupation to have at the time in Italy. He struggled to make ends meet, and was forced to look elsewhere in order to provide a comfortable, sanitary lifestyle for his family. America offered the perfect escape for my great grandpap’s family, and after several years of trying to make their situation work out in Italy, they finally immigrated to the United States, where laborers were in high demand.
Not only was the economic situation significantly improved in America, but my family was able to settle down in the quiet town of Aliquippa, where about a fifth of the population consisted of Italian immigrants. With both the home life and work life improved, America gave my family the best of both worlds.
7. “Making Steel”
Stories from PA History. ExplorePaHistory.com, n.d. Web.
Andrew Carnegie played a considerably large role in increasing the roles of steel mills in American society starting around 1875. In this year, Carnegie bought his first iron furnaces and rolling mills, called the Edgar Thomson mill, starting his empire in steel. Carnegie was able to cut costs and make massive investments in technology for producing steel. Along with Carnegie’s investments, the steel towns changed drastically after the arrival of immigrants from all over Europe, specifically Southern Italy. Steel companies often times recruited immigrants directly from their home countries.
Towns such as Aliquippa were completely engulfed by the steel mills located there. Often times, steel companies would exert their power over mill towns by paying for public buildings and essentially controlling the town. These companies had so much influence that people felt threatened to vote against the steel mills in town meetings or even official government councils.
In the steel mill towns of Pennsylvania, sons and daughters of peasants, farmers, and poor immigrants were given the opportunity to become hard working Americans through the tough but rewarding life of a steel mill worker. In the early 20th century, Pittsburgh was on the rise as one of the highest outputting industrial cities in the United States, all due to the new era of steel mills. Pittsburgh was unlike the big cities of New York and Chicago due to the fact that it consisted of several small, steel mill towns located along its three rivers, the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio. It was in one of these small towns called Aliquippa where my great-grandpap decided to settle down with his family, and if it wasn’t for Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, who knows where my family would be right now.
8. “At Work”
EHistory. The Ohio State University, n.d. Web.
At the rise of the steel mill industry in the northeastern United States, working conditions were poor and the employees were often in severe danger on the job, whether they are skilled or non-skilled laborers. Many people nowadays have no idea how dangerous it was to work in one of the biggest steel mills in the world. The hours were long and the work was grueling, but if you had the mindset and work ethic to commit yourself, you would be rewarded with a comfortable paycheck. My great-grandpap grew up in a family that revolved around the steel mill, so it came as no surprise when he started working for the Jones and Laughlin Company around 1930 at around twenty years old. The steel mill could be a very rewarding place for those who were dedicated to both their families and an effort to climb the ladder economically. Coming from Italy, the wages in the United States were far superior to any job my great-grandpap would have found in Italy. However, there are certain risks that must be taken when working at the steel mill, because at any moment one’s life could be in danger.
In this article from The Ohio State University, there are several pictures of the Jones and Laughlin Company Steel Mills from the early 20th century. In these pictures, it is obvious to see the complicated and very large machinery that the employees were working with twelve hours a day, six days a week. The Jones and Laughlin Company became the largest steel mill in the world, engulfing the small town of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. Therefore, one should expect them to have the largest, most advanced forms of technology used for making steel. As can be seen in the pictures on this website, workers would be using their bare hands to handle these intricate machines. It only takes one slip up or one error to be severely injured, which can clearly be seen in this picture of a man right next to a steel pourer’s platform.
Luckily, my great-grandpap was a very steady, careful man who was always on the lookout, which allowed him to rise the ranks in the steel mills to eventually become superintendent for the J&L Steel and LTV Steel Mills. Through his work ethic, he was able to provide a comfortable home for his family of five. Not only this, but he was able to send his only son off to Duke University, becoming the first Manfredi to go to college. I can only imagine the joy this brought to my great-grandpap and his wife after such a long, but rewarding journey. It is for these reasons that Aliquippa will always be a special place for each member in my family.
9. “Progressive Era Investigations”
United States Department of Labor. N.p., 31 May 2016. Web.
With the rise of the steel mill town in the Progressive Era in American history, many dangers became present to the government of which they were clueless about before. President Theodore Roosevelt played a crucial role in broadening the Progressive Era scope to include saving lives, with the lives of industrial workers knocking right on his doorstep. Many journalists gave nationwide publicity to the dangers of working in the unsafe conditions of the steel mill through several disturbing articles, which the American people were blind to before these articles.
Working in a steel mill is very dangerous, and some of the dangers include: liquid hot metal spills, unprotected machinery injuries, getting caught in moving belts, getting dragged into sharp machinery, etc. One of the most violent accidents occurred in a steel mill in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a heavy pot of hot liquid metal spilled molten steel down on the workmen and created a large explosion, where some were completely engulfed in liquid steel. In this single accident, four men died and another thirty were severely injured. The explosion shook the buildings in the town, causing panic to ensue. The steel industry came under intense scrutiny after more of these accidents, and many wondered whether it was worth it to work in the steel mill
These are just some of the risks steel mill workers agree to take before putting on their uniforms every morning. For many, the reward is worth the risk, as the paycheck for these sons and daughters of immigrants allows families like mine to climb up the social ladder in America, and reach the American Dream. Immigrant steelworkers, such as my great-grandpap, were more than willing to put up with the long hours, hard work, and poor working conditions because the steel mill offered them steady employment.
10. The Godfather.
Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. By Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Prod. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Al Pacino, Marlon Brando. Paramount Pictures. Alfred Productions, 15 Mar. 1972. Web.
Although many Italian-American immigrants choose to earn their living through legal matters, the temptation to earn money through the Italian-American mafia, or as it’s commonly called, La Cosa Nostra, is always in the back of every Italian’s mind. The mafia’s presence could easily be felt in any Italian community in the United States, and often times the mafia controlled many of the small town businesses as well. For my great-grandpap, I have heard stories that some of his friends got involved in the mafia, and once he was even asked to do a favor for the mafia, which is the same as an invitation to the Cosa Nostra. It was at this point that my great-grandpap had to make a decision, to which he said no and was never bothered or asked to do anything again.
The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola following the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, while also including true details as well. This movie shows the power that the American mafia families held during their prime. These families controlled businesses through criminal acts, allowing them to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars. The first movie in this three film feature shows the transformation of Michael Corleone from a family member refusing to get involved in the mafia to the ruthless mafia boss. Although Michael Corleone was already the son of the head of a crime family, it did not take much effort at all for him to get fully involved in the mafia’s criminal activity, showing how easy it was for an Italian-American, like my great-grandpap, to get involved.
11. GoodFellas.
Dir. Martin Scorsese. By Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi. Prod. Irwin Winkler. Perf. Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, and Joe Pesci. Warner Bros., 1990. DVD.
Not only was it very easy for an Italian-American to get started with the mafia by doing small jobs, but it was also very tempting. High ranking bosses, capos, and associates (made men) were making more money than they knew what to do with. Many young Italians choose to get involved with the mafia because they see these made men making tons of money, and all they had to do to make a little cash on the side were a couple of favors for some high ranking members. Just like that, you were instantly involved in the mafia. The mafia was very tempting to many young Italians who were struggling to make a living in the United States, to which they were very foreign to and often times were considered outcasts. Some of my great-grandpap’s friends were in the mafia, yet he was never asked more than once to start doing favors for this empire, and luckily he never became jealous over the money his friends were earning.
GoodFellas is another American crime film directed by Martin Scorcese about the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends from 1955 to 1980. This movie is great at illustrating the fame and fortune that a mafia member can create for themselves through a few criminal acts. The Italian gangsters were often idolized in the mid-20th century, blue-collar, Italian-American neighborhoods. There were many perks to their criminal life, as Henry Hill and his friends spent most of their nights at nightclubs with women right by their side even though they were married. Even Hill’s wife becomes seduced by the mafia lifestyle after seeing how glamorous it could be.
For many, including my great-grandpap, it was easy to turn down the criminal lifestyle based on their own ethics of earning a fair living in the United States. He knew that the American Dream was not achieved by participating in illegal activities. Rather, my great-grandpap turned down his friend’s offer and stuck his nose to the grindstone in order to achieve a comfortable lifestyle.
12. Playing Through the Whistle: Steel, Football, and an American Town.
Price, S. L. New York: Atlantic Monthly, 2016. Print.
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania became the melting pot of Pennsylvania as it attracted many families from the Jim Crow South and immigrant families to work in this small steel mill town. However, this book focuses on the cultural aspects that brought this small town together, specifically football and sports behind the eyes of Mike Ditka. Although Mike Ditka is the formerly renowned coach of the Chicago Bears, he actually grew up in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania his whole life. Born in 1939 in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, Ditka went to school at Aliquippa Senior High School, considered the breeding ground for many professional athletes including Darrelle Revis, Ty Law, Tony Dorsett, and Doc Medich. Little did I know, but my grandpap went to high school with Mike Ditka in the same grade. Both Ditka’s and my grandpap’s parents worked long hours in the steel mill, as did most of the parents of Aliquippa High School students. Aliquippa was the location of one of the largest steel mills in the world, so it’s no surprise that every family had some connection to the mill.
Sports played a huge role in the social life in Aliquippa, offering an escape from the enduring hours in the steel mill. The whole city revolved around Aliquippa High School football every Friday night. Even Ty Law, one of the NFL’s best cornerbacks during his prime, said some of his toughest losses were not in the NFL playoffs, but as an Aliquippa Quip. Not only was football admired, but baseball played an equally important role. It was on the baseball field where my grandpap and Mike Ditka played in the outfield together. However, if it was not for their hard working parents in the steel mills, Ditka and my grandpap would never have had the opportunity to grow up in this environment. Thankfully, Aliquippa has served as a booster for my Italian immigrant family through the dominating steel mills.
