Thursday, February 15, 2024

The Italian Honor Roll- 1942 and 1943

Memorial Day is still a few months away but every day is the right day to honor our veterans.  The Italians of Omaha were well represented in the Armed Forces during World War II.  We discussed these two newspaper pages at our last Zoom meeting and spent a good deal of time looking for relatives who served during World War II.

The American Citizen was dubbed the official organ of the Italian Americans of Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs.  The Library of Congress offers the following notes about this newspaper:

  • -  Quarterly,
  • -  Began 1923 ; ceased Dec. 1985.
  • -  "A.C. Pini - Founder-Publisher, 1923-1957," Cf. pub. statement, 1971.
  • -  "An independent Italian language newspaper established in 1923 for Nebraska and W. Iowa," <1971-73>.
  • -  "La nostra modesta opera per tener viva la nostra lingua," <1971-73> ; trans." Our modest effort to keep our language alive."
  • -  Masthead ornament: Title emblazoned across the Statue of Liberty.
  • -  "Official organ of the "Order Sons of Italy in America" .
  • -  Available on microfilm (1938-1985) from Nebraska State Historical Society. [Also available at Omaha Public Library and on Newspapers.com.
  • -  English and Italian.
  • -  Description based on: 58th year, no. 9 (July 30, 1981); title from caption.
  • -  Latest issue consulted: (July 30, 1981).

See if you can find your surnames represented amongst the soldiers and sailors on these two lists. You may need to download the image to zoom in depending on the type of device you are using to view these images. On a PC, I recommend that you right click on the image and save it or open it in a new window.  This will allow you to see the image at its full size.






Monday, February 12, 2024

Arrival Story 1960- Vacanti Siblings Together Again

Do you have arrival stories about your immigrant ancestor?  We are looking for stories about how your immigrant ancestors arrived in the United States.  We are assuming that most immigrants traveled by train to one of the major ports including Palermo, Messina and Naples. I was searching the newspapers for arrival stories and found this one that my friends in Omaha might appreciate. The text from the newspaper article is transcribed below the image for easier reading.

‘Kid Brother’ in Italy Joins Family

-World-Herald Photo Caption: Mrs. Randazzo, Mrs. Anzalone, Yano, Joseph Vacanti... Happiest Christmas in 40 years

One of the happiest Yule-tide seasons in 40 years will be observed at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sam Randazzo, 2422 South Nineteenth Street The reason: Arrival Friday night of Yano Vacanti, Mrs. Randazzo’s brother from Italy.

Another sister and a brother in Omaha will also share in the Christmas gladness. 

They are Mrs. Nancy Anzalone 2516 South Eleventh Street and Joseph Vacanti 1718 Martha Street. 

It was 40 years ago that Mrs. Randazzo, Mrs. Anzalone and Mr. Vacanti left their native land to seek opportunity in America. 

Yano was only five years old so he stayed behind with his parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Anzalone visited Italy nine years ago so had no difficulty recognizing Yano when he stepped off the train with his wife and two sons. 

Though the entire family originated in Carlentini, Yano has been making his residence in Palermo He is a bricklayer. 

Yano said through an interpreter that it has been nine years since he initiated his attempt to get to this country.

“Everything looks good to me” he said. 

What will he do for employment in Omaha? Lay bricks of course. 

He will go to' work for his brother and brother-in-law. They have their own I brick-laying contracting company. 


Omaha World-Herald
18 Dec 1960
Page 26

Thursday, December 14, 2023

The Streets of Lentini [Le strade di Lentini]

As most of you know, I am a genealogist.  When I research the birth and death records, I like to note the name of the street where the birth or the death occurred.  If someone is planning a trip to Lentini or Carlentini, I recommend that they visit the street address where their ancestors were born or died.  Sometimes, I have difficulty recognizing the names of the street in the old handwriting.

Here is a list of the streets of Lentini to help my research.  Please review this list and let me know the names of any streets that I have missed.  If you know the original names of the streets before they were changed to the current names, please let me know.

If you have any history or stories about these streets and the people that lived on them, please let me know.

TRANSLATION: Le strade di Lentini

Come molti di voi sanno, sono un genealogista. Quando cerco i documenti di nascita e di morte, mi piace annotare il nome della strada in cui è avvenuta la nascita o la morte. Se qualcuno sta programmando un viaggio a Lentini o Carlentini, gli consiglio di visitare l'indirizzo dove sono nati o morti i suoi antenati. A volte ho difficoltà a riconoscere i nomi delle strade nell'antica grafia.

Ecco un elenco delle strade di Lentini per aiutare la mia ricerca. Per favore controlla questo elenco e fammi sapere i nomi di tutte le strade che ho perso. Se conosci i nomi originali delle strade prima che venissero cambiati nei nomi attuali, faccelo sapere.

Se avete qualche storia o storie su queste strade e sulle persone che vivevano su di esse, fatemelo sapere.

LIST OF STREETS [ELENCO DI STRADE]

Cortile: [Courtyard Ronco in Carlentini]

Alassio, Aquila, Ausonia, Brà, Canova, Demma, Foligno, Melingi, Palma, Panezio, Pantelleria, Sondrio, Tribulato

Contrada: [Neighborhood in countryside]

Biviere, Burione, Canalotto, Carmito, Colle Roggio, Cretazzi, Gabelluzza, Iroldo, Leonello, Marchese Casabianca

Piazza: [Plaza]

Aldo Moro, Alemagna, Beneventano, Camillo Benso di Cavour, Cesare Battista, Dante, Duomo, Giovanni da Procida, Guglielmo Oberdan, Guido Rossa, Madonna del Castello, del Popolo, Raffaello, Regina Elena, Repubblica, Scienza e Lavoro, dei Sofisti, Umberto, Vittorio Veneto

Piazzale: [small plaza]

Cimitero, Michelangelo

Strada: [Street]

di Bonifica 12, Comunale 2, Comunale 4, Consortile 37, Galerno

Strada Provinciale: [Provincial Streets]

Biviere Scordi, Lentini Scordia, Lentini Valsavoia

Strada Statale: [State streets]

Ragusana, di Caltagirone

Vicolo: [Alley]

Monza, Muzio Scevola, Orazio Coclite, Panezio, Sparta, Tre Santi

Viale: [Avenue]

Libertà, Regione Siciliana, Riccardo da Lentini

Via: [Street]

4 Novembre, 5 Maggio, 20 Settembre, 

A

Abruzzo, Acqui, Adda, Addis Abeba, Adigrat, Adua, Agatocle, Agatone, Giuseppe Agnello, Agnone, Agata, Agrigento, Conte Alaimo, Alba, Albano, Albert Sabin, Alcide de Gasperi, Alessandro Manzoni, Alessandro Volta, Vittorio Alfieri, Alfio Incontro, Alfio Sgalambro, Salvador Allende, Amalfi, Michele Amari, Amba Aradam, Ambrogio Donati, Amerigo Vespucci, Vito Amico, Anapo, Ancona, Andrea Costa, Angelino Nobile, Giorgio Amendola, Giovanni Amendola, Anna Kuliscioff, Antonello da Messina, Antonino lo Surdo, Antonio Gramsci, Antonio Pacinotti, Apuania, Archimede, Aragona, Arancio, Aretusa, Arezzo, Argenta, Arimondi, Ludovico Ariosto, Armando Diaz, Arrigo Morandi, Arrigo Testa, Asiago, Aspromonte, Attilio Regolo, 

B

Balilla, Paolo Balsamo, Barcellona, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, Francesco Baracca, Bari, Barletta, Bassano, Pisano Baudo, Belvedere, Benedetto Croce, Berenice, Bernardino Telesio, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, San Biagio, Biviere, Nino Bixio, Bologna, Francesco Bonfiglio, Bosco Cappuccio, Domenico Bottone, Giovanni Bovio, Brennero, Brescia, Bricinna, Brindisi, Giordano Bruno, 

C

Caduti per la Pace, Fratelli Cairoli, Calatafimi, Calcidesi, Caltanissetta, Calì, Camarina, Campania, Campobasso, Canonico Sferazzo, Padre Francesco Cantella, Cappellini, Pier Capponi, Cappuccini, Capri, Capua, Luigi Capuana, Caracciolo, Cardillo, Giosuè Carducci, Carlo Alberto, Carlo Arturo Jemolo, Carlo Levi, Carlo Pisacane, Carlo Rosselli, Carlo de Cristoforis, Carlo del Prete, Carlo lo Presti, Carmagnola, Salvatore Carnevale, Carnia, Carrubbazza, Carso, Caruso, Casale, Cascina, Caserta, Casmene, Castel Bricinna, Filadelfo Castro, Catania, Catanzaro, Madonna della Catena, Cattolica, Girolamo Li Causi, Ceccano, Cecina, Cefalù, Centuripe, Cerere, Cervia, Giulio Cesare, Cesare Terranova, Salvatore Ciancio, Ciccio Carrà Tringali, Cicerone, Francesco Cilea, Cirene, Cirino Paone, Ciro Menotti, Gaetano Mario Columba, Cristoforo Colombo, Como, della Concordia, Conegliano Veneto, Consiglio, Conte Alaimo, Coppola, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Cosentino, Cosenza, Giuseppe Crimi, Francesco Crispi, Carlo de Cristoforis, Cristoforo Colombo, Benedetto Croce, Santa Croce, Crocifisso, Cuneo, Curtatone, Madame Marie Curie, 

D

Damiano Chiesa, Daniele Manin, Decano, Domenico Bottone, Ambrogio Donati, Gaetano Donizetti, Duca d'Aosta, Duca del Mare, Duca di Genova, Ducezio, Eleonora Duse,

E

Edmondo de Amicis, Luigi Einaudi, Elba, Eleonora Duse, Elio Vittorini, Vittorio Emanuele II, Vittorio Emanuele III, Vittorio Emanuele da Bormida, Enna, Enrico de Nicola, Enrico Fermi, Enrico Toti, Epicarmo, Eraclea, Ercole, Ermocrate, Erodico, Eschilo, Esculapio, Etnea, Ettore Marchiafava, Euclide, Eugenio Colombo, Eugenio Montale, Eugenio Pertini, Eugenio di Savoia, Euripide, 

F

Faenza, Falconello, Fano, Favara, Tommaso Fazello, Federico di Svevia, Enrico Fermi, Ferrara, Filadelfo Castro, Filadelfo Mauro, Filiberto, Filippo Neri, Filippo Turati, Filisto, Fiume, Flavio Gioia, Focea, Fontana, Fontanella, Forlì, Formia, Francesco Baracca, Francesco Bonfiglio, Francesco Cilea, Francesco Crispi, Francesco Marino, Francesco Spina, Monsignor Francesco la Rosa, San Francesco d'Assisi, Francofonte, Sigmund Freud

G

Gaetano Donizetti, Gaetano Mario Columba, Gaetano Tringali, Galileo Galilei, Galliano, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Matteo Gaudioso, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Gennaro di Macco, Flavio Gioia, Giacomo Leopardi, Giacomo Matteotti, Giacomo Puccini, Giardini, Giggia, Portella della Ginestra, Gioacchino Rossini, Vincenzo Gioberti, Giordano Bruno, Giorgio Amendola, Giorgio la Pira, Giosuè Carducci, Giotto, Giovanbattista Pergolesi, Giovanni Amendola, Giovanni Battista Grassi, Giovanni Boccaccio, Giovanni Bovio, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, Giovanni Malfitano, Giovanni Meli, Don Giovanni Minzoni, Giovanni Pascoli, Giovanni Prati, Giovanni Verga, Giovanni XXIII, Girolamo Li Causi, Giulio Cesare, Giuseppe Agnello, Giuseppe Crimi, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Giuseppe Giusti, Giuseppe Parini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Tartini, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Giuseppe Verdi, Giuseppe Giusti, Goffredo Mameli, Gondar, Mario Gori, Gorizia, San Marco di Gorizia, San Gottardo, Gradisca, Antonio Gramsci, Granatello, Guglielmo Giudice, Guglielmo Marconi

I

Iceta, Imola [Paolo Meli], Indipendenza, Ignazio Silone, Immacolata, Ippolito Nievo, Isonzo, Italia, Notaro Jacopo

J

Notaro Jacopo

K

Martin Luther King

L

Lago di Lentini, Lanfranco, Largo Monreale, Largo Sacile, Lecce, Legnano, Bonifica del Lago di Lentini, Lago di Lentini, Ospedale Civile di Lentini, Riccardo da Lentini, Stazione Lentini, Stazione Lentini Diramazione, San Leonardo, Giacomo Leopardi, Carlo Levi, Libertà, Martiri della Libertà, Licata, Lisia, Lombardia, Luigi Longo, Lorenzo Piazza, Loreto, San Luciano, Ludovico Ariosto, Luigi Cadorna, Luigi Capuana, Luigi Einaudi, Luigi Galvani, Luigi Longo, Luigi Pirandello, Luigi Rizzo, Luigi Settembrini, Don Luigi Sturzo, la Lumia, 

M

Macallè, Gennaro di Macco, Macello, Macerata, Maci, Madame Marie Curie, Madonna della Catena, Magenta, 5 Maggio, Maggiore Pietro Toselli, Ugo la Malfa, Giovanni Malfitano, Malta, Goffredo Mameli, Maniago, Daniele Manin, Mantova, Niccolò Machiavelli, Alessandro Manzoni, Ettore Marchiafava, Marco Polo, San Marco di Gorizia, Guglielmo Marconi, Duca del Mare, Marengo, Marie Curie, Margellina, Francesco Marino, Mario Gori, Mario Rapisardi, Marsala, Martin Luther King, Martiri della Libertà, Martiri della Resistenza, Nino Martoglio, Massa, Pietro Mascagni, Massenzio, Piersanti Mattarella, Matteo Gaudioso, Giacomo Matteotti, Filadelfo Mauro, San Mauro, Giuseppe Mazzini, Megara, Giovanni Meli, Ciro Menotti, Mentana dal 21 A Scendere, Saverio Mercadante, Messina, Antonello da Messina, Michele Amari, Monte San Pietro Micca, Michele, Milano, Milazzo, Mincio, Minniti, Don Giovanni Minzonimi, Modica, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Monastero, Moncenisio, Monfalcone, Largo Monreale, Monsignor Francesco la Rosa, Eugenio Montale, Monte Grappa, Monte Nero, Monte Sabatino, Monte San Michele, Monte Santo, Monti Iblei, Eugenio Montale, Vincenzo Monti, Monza, Arrigo Morandi, Filadelfo Mugnos, Murganzio, del Museo, Muzio Scevola,

N

Napoli, Naro, Nasso, Nazario Sauro, Nazionale, Pietro Nenni, Neofito, Filippo Neri, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, Monte Nero, Pier Luigi Nervi, Niccolini, Niccolò Machiavelli, Niccolò Paganini, Enrico de Nicola, Ippolito Nievo, Nino Bixio, Nino Martoglio, Nisida, Angelino Nobile, Notaro Jacopo, Noto, Val di Noto, Novara, 4 Novembre

O

Guglielmo Oberdan, Oglio, degli Oleandri, Olivieri, degli Operai, Orbetello, Ortigia, Ospedale Civile di Lentini, Ortensio Scammacca, Ortisei, Orvieto [Aspromonte], Otello, Otello Marilli

P

Pablo Picasso, della Pace, Caduti per la Pace, Pacini, Antonio Pacinotti, Padre Francesco Cantella, Padre G. di Stefano, Niccolò Paganini,  Salvatore Paglialunga, Stazione Palagonia, Palermo, Palestrina, Cortile Palma, Palmiro Togliatti, Panezio, Cortile Pantelleria, Paolo Balsamo, Paolo Sarpi, San Paolo, Cirino Paone, Paradiso, Giuseppe Parini, Partigiani, Giovanni Pascoli, Paternò, Patti, Silvio Pellico, Pergola, Giovanbattista Pergolesi, Ernesto Pertini, Eugenio Pertini, Perugia, Pesaro, Piacenza, Piave, Lorenzo Piazza, Pablo Picasso, Pier Capponi, Pier Luigi Nervi, Pier Maria Rosso di San Secondo, Piero Maroncelli, Piersanti Mattarella, Pietro Colletta, Pietro Micca, Pietro Nenni, Maggiore Pietro Toselli, Pesaro, Piemonte, de Pinedo, Piombino, Giorgio la Pira, Luigi Pirandello, Pisa, Carlo Pisacane, Pisano Baudo, Piscitello, Pistoia, Pitagora, Pola, Polibio, Marco Polo, Pordenone, Porrazzeto dal 20, Porta Siracusana, Portella della Ginestra, Portici, Porto Empedocle, Potenza, Giovanni Prati, Carlo lo Presti, del Prete, Carlo del Prete, Principe Tommaso, dei Profughi, del Progresso, Proserpina, Giacomo Puccini, Puglia, Re di Puglia

R

Ragusa, Mario Rapisardi, Redenzione, Regione Siciliana, Martiri della Resistenza, Re di Puglia, Riccardo da Lentini, Riva, Luigi Rizzo, Rodi, Roma, Ronchi, Monsignor Francesco la Rosa, Carlo Rosselli, Gioacchino Rossini, Rosso di San Secondo, 

S

Albert Sabin, Monte Sabotino, Largo Sacile, Salerno, Salita Pisano, Salvador Allende, Salvatore Carnevale, Salvatore Ciancio, Salvatore Paglialunga, Salvatore Quasimodo, Salvo d'Acquisto, San Biagio, San Gottardo, San Francesco d'Assisi, San Leonardo, San Luciano, San Marco di Gorizia, San Mauro, San Paolo, Rosso di San Secondo, de Sanctis, Sassari, Saturno, Nazario Sauro, Saverio Mercadante, Monte San Michele, Santa Tecla, Santapaola, Paolo Sarpi, Eugenio di Savoia, Girolamo Savonarola, Nazario Sauro, Scala, Ortensio Scammacca, Segesta, Seggio, Largo Quintino Sella, Selinunte, 20 Settembre, Luigi Settembrini, Sezze, Alfio Sgalambro, Francesco Sgalambro, Sicilia, Regione Siciliana, dei Siculi, Diodoro Siculo, Siena, Sigmund Freud, Ignazio Silone, Silvio Pellico, Porta Siracusana, Socrate, Sofocle, Solferino, Tito Speri, Francesco Spina, Stabilimento, dello Stadio, Stazione Lentini, Stazione Lentini Diramazione, Stazione Palagonia,  Padre G. di Stefano, Stradivario, Don Luigi Sturzo, Antonino lo Surdo

T

Tagliaverga, Talete, Lago Tana, Tanaro, Giuseppe Tartini, Tarvisio, Torquato Tasso, Bernardino Telesio, Teocle, Teodosio, Termidoro, Termini, Arrigo Testa, Timavo, Tintoretto, Tito Speri, Tiziano, Palmiro Togliatti, Toledo, Tolmezzo, Tolmino, Tommaso Agni, Tommaso Campanella, Tommaso Fazello, Principe Tommaso, Torquato Tasso, Maggiore Pietro Toselli, Trapani, Trasimaco, Trento, Trevi, Tricolore, cortile Tribulato, Trieste, Trinacria, Ciccio Carrà Tringali, Gaetano Tringali, Santissima Trinità, Filippo Turati, 

U

Udine, Ugo Foscolo, Ugo la Malfa, Piazza Umberto, Umbria, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Urbino, Ustica

V

Val di Mazara, Val di Noto, Varese, Vaste, Conegliano Veneto, Venezia, Ventimiglia, Vercelli, Giovanni Verdi, Giovanni Verga, Verona, Amerigo Vespucci, Vietri, Vincenzo Gioberti, Vincenzo Monti, Vincenzo Vella, Giuseppe Verdi, Vitaliano Brancati, Vito Amico, Vincenzo Gioberti, Vincenzo Monti, Vincenzo Vella, San Vito, Elio Vittorini, Vittorio Alfieri, Vittorio Bottego, Vittorio Emanuele II, Vittorio Emanuele III, Vittorio Emanuele da Bormida, Alessandro Volta, Volturno


COMMENTS [COMMENTI]: 

Maria Rita Barretta: Manca Piazza Guido Rossa che però non ha numeri civici. È lo spiazzo dove sorgeva l’antico carcere di Lentini, demolito se non sbaglio a fine anni ‘70. Le vie attorno sono Via Cecina, Salita Pisano, Piazza Regina Elena, via Urbino.

Dirimpetto al carcere la salita conduceva alla chiesa di San Francesco di Paola, e proprio su questa salita i parenti dei carcerati si recavano per colloqui familiari… non autorizzati 😄. Mia nonna mi raccontava che carcerati e parenti comunicassero cantando da una parte all’altra della strada, proprio nel tentativo di evitare controlli.

Per quanto ne so, non ci sono stati cambiamenti nei nomi delle vie a Lentini, io vorrei che fossero cancellate le intitolazioni ai Savoia, ma pare sia di difficile realizzazione

TRANSLATION: Piazza Guido Rossa is missing but has no house numbers. It is the clearing where the ancient Lentini prison stood, demolished if I'm not mistaken at the end of the 1970s. The streets around are Via Cecina, Salita Pisano, Piazza Regina Elena, via Urbino.

Opposite the prison the slope led to the church of San Francesco di Paola, and it was up this slope that the relatives of the prisoners went for family meetings... unauthorized 😄. My grandmother told me that prisoners and relatives communicated by singing from one side of the street to the other, in an attempt to avoid checks.

As far as I know, there have been no changes in the names of the streets in Lentini, I would like the Savoy names to be cancelled, but it seems to be difficult to achieve

Rosaria Fazio: Credo che l’attuale via Orvieto in passato fosse ancora via Aspromonte perché ho trovato una cartolina di mio nonno soldato (durante la grande guerra) con questo indirizzo ma abitava nell’attuale via Orvieto.

TRANSLATION: I believe that the current via Orvieto in the past was still via Aspromonte because I found a postcard from my soldier grandfather (during the great war) with this address but he lived in the current via Orvieto.

Roberto Commendatore: Ne mancano tantissime... Consiglio di andare jn tipografia è comprare lo stradario ...edizione vecchia ...edizione aggiornata.... Le trovi tutte...b.serata...

TRANSLATION: There are so many missing...I recommend going to the print shop and buying the road book...old edition...updated edition....You can find them all...good.evening...

MANCA MEANS MISSING

Pamela Lentini: Manca cortile Foligno

Mary Fisicaro: Manca via Lisia, via Termidoro e via Santa Tecla. Manca CORTILE DEMMA

Alfio Salanitro: Manca via Panezio

Massimiliano Tomasello: Cortile demma

Salvna Santacroce: Manca via Cirene dove sono nata

Diego Mangiameli: Manca via Eraclea

Loredana Rodilosso: Mancano via Iceta, via Cicerone e via San Luciano

Donatella Astuto: piazza Guido Rossa, via Termini, cortile Tribulato

Cettina Giampapa: Manca Piazza Umberto e la via Rosso di San Secondo.

Massimo Tomasello: L' attuale via Imola si chiamava via Paolo Meli, a mia memoria ci abitavano le famiglie Zacco, Lanteri, Ossino, Di Giorgio, Tomasello, Bosco, Risuglia, Libertini, Piccione, nonché le tedesche e la Guardia di Finanza. Vi abitavano inoltre altre famiglie di cui non ricordo il cognome.

TRANSLATION: The current via Imola was called via Paolo Meli, in my memory the Zacco, Lanteri, Ossino, Di Giorgio, Tomasello, Bosco, Risuglia, Libertini, Piccione families lived there, as well as the Germans and the Guardia di Finanza. Other families whose surnames I don't remember also lived there.

Floriana Aletta: Manca cortile Canova

Salvo Castoro: Cortile Melingi

Antonio Oliva: Le consiglio di andare in Posta. I postini, al mattino, incasellano le buste e i pacchi a firma nel casellario e lì trova tutte le vie, anche quelle più sconosciute. Avranno sicuramente delle liste accurate e aggiornate. Complimenti per la sua indagine interessante e che apprezzo.

TRANSLATION: I advise you to go to the post office. In the morning, the postmen place the envelopes and signed parcels in the filing cabinet and find all the routes there, even the most unknown ones. They will definitely have accurate and up-to-date lists. Congratulations for your interesting investigation and which I appreciate.

Luca Micciche: Piazza dei sofisti non vedo

Peppe Trovato: Piazza del Popolo?

Insolera Vincenzo: Manca via Teocle

Maria Antico: Piazza Vittorio Veneto

Thanks to Marco Occhipinti for bringing this wonderful blog post to our attention concerning a letter of eviction to a man in Lentini named Giuseppe Papa, son of the late Gaetano. This was a registered letter sent on 24 May 1921 from the municipality of Palagonia (Catania) to the house of Mr. Papa at Cortile Panezio without a house number. 

https://www.sfizidiposta.it/2020/04/14/ti-sfratto/

Grazie a Marco Occhipinti per aver portato alla nostra attenzione questo meraviglioso post sul blog riguardante una lettera di sfratto indirizzata ad un uomo di Lentini di nome Giuseppe Papa, figlio del defunto Gaetano. Si tratta di una lettera raccomandata spedita il 24 maggio 1921 dal comune di Palagonia (Catania) all'abitazione del signor Papa al Cortile Panezio senza numero civico.

Marco Occhipinti: Buongiorno, Cortile Panezio

Francesco Mugno: Via Silvio pellico con entrata vicolo panezio


OLD STREET NAMES NOT ON THIS LIST:

VIA

Alpini, Santa Maria La Cava


Please let me know if you have any additions to this list or stories about the people on these streets.

Per favore fatemi sapere se avete qualche aggiunta a questo elenco o storie sulle persone in queste strade.

PRINCIPAL SOURCE FOR STREET NAMES: TuttoCittà (tuttocitta.it)




Friday, July 21, 2023

Italy is Woven into the Fabric of Omaha

As we prepare for the 99th anniversary of the Santa Lucia Festival, it may be interesting to look back at this 1974 article which talks about the 50th anniversary of the Festival.



Omaha World-Herald 1974-07-22 page 1

I found this article searching for Joseph Salerno, who was a landlord for many Sicilian immigrants in Omaha. It mentions a boarding house at 6th and Pierce which is where my great grandfather and his brother were residing with their sister's family in the 1910 census.


This image from the 1910 Census shows everyone that was boarding at 6th and Pierce:


The Santa Lucia Hall is at 725 Pierce Street, about a block away from where these people were boarding in 1910.  I hope you will stop by and see us on August 5 and 6 from noon to 5 PM at the Santa Lucia Hall.

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Something New in the City Directory

 You learn something new every day in genealogy. I thought I better share this one and see if anyone has ever seen this before.


This is the Omaha City Directory for 1920 showing the Saitta family:




This is the first time I have ever seen the date of death published in the City Directory.

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

From Lentini to Omaha: She Chose a Happy Life


1921 Wedding of Mariano Santo and Giuseppa Ossino in Omaha, Nebraska

montesrule originally shared this to Ancestry.com on 31 Dec 2017


Thanks to Debra Santo, Maria Rita Barretta and Giusy Sciacca, we have another wonderful immigrant story to tell. 

Josephine Santo Letter Translated by Giusy Sciacca, November 2022

Giuseppa Ossino, also known as Josephine Santo, was born on March 1, 1896, in Lentini, Siracusa, Italy, her father, Alfio Ossino, was 31, and her mother, Concetta Maddalena, was 25. She married Mariano Santo in May 1921 in Omaha, Nebraska. They had five children in 12 years. She died in August 1984 in Omaha, Nebraska, at the age of 88, and was buried there.  Debra Santo is the granddaughter of Josephine and Mariano.  She had the opportunity to meet several relatives while she was in Lentini.  Maria Rita Barretta was especially helpful to Debra.

Deb's grandfather, Mariano Santo, had a niece, Turrida Antico, that had written to Josephine Santo in 1981, asking how she got to America.  Giuseppa wrote back to the niece and provided this fantastic narrative of her choice to come to America and her courtship with Mariano.  Turrida (Salvatrice) Antico was born in Lentini in 1920 and she married Salvatore Tarantino. Their daughter, Giovanna Tarantino, saved the letter and Maria Rita Barretta sent us images of the letter.

Giusy Sciacca is a member of our weekly Zoom group and she offered to provide me with a translation of this letter.

NOTE- From Giusy Sciacca:  Dear Nick, after several attempts I decided to translate the letter literally as a first step. Of course, it is barely understandable in English as well, but this is how the letter is in (sort of) Italian. Please read my note at the end of the first page of the translation.

NOTE- from Nick Cimino: Punctuation and a few words have been added for clarity.


PAG. 1 

Omaha, Nebraska         May 1981

Dearest niece Turida, you want to know how I got to America and what I can remember. 

My cousin* (Affia) Alfia, her mother and my father were brother and sister, my cousin’s name was Alfia Maddalena, she and I were the same age. We lived close to each other. We were girls and we used to play together. Then we grew up and we kept on hanging out together. My cousin got married one year before me and she married a guy, whose name was Filadelfo Cappello. His grandmother and your mother’s grandmother were sisters. This Filadelfo Cappello as soon as he married her, they moved to America. Your uncle, my husband, was in America, and as soon as he knew, he went to meet them right away. There was a family link between them, and they were the same age. 

NOTE from Giusy Sciacca:

*She uses the word “nipote”, which literally is “niece(f.)/nephew (m.)”. In old Sicilian the term also covered the meaning of “cousin” and this is the case. 

Syntax is of course very poor. It is barely understandable in Italian. It’s a precious mixture of Sicilian and struggled Italian. Almost impossible for a non-Sicilian to understand and translate.

PAG. 2 

When they both were still in Lentini, they used to hang out and work together being really good friends. Your uncle always visited them. One day my cousin asked, “don’t you want to get married?” Your uncle said, “sooner or later I'll get married." My cousin then said to him: "Would you like a girl from Italy?" "How can I get a girl from Italy here?" My cousin said to him, I have a cousin. If you like we can send for her. He said let her come. I’ll pay for the trip and when she comes, we’ll get married only if she likes me and I like her. My cousin said she would have tried and that she did not know if the girl’s family would have agreed to make her travel – so she wrote to my father and she said (…)

PAG. 3

…dear uncle, send Giuseppina to America. She will make her fortune. My father and my mother said that without her family, we are not going to send her. Of all my brothers and sisters, nobody wanted me to go. My sister Marianna was reading the letter. I said I wanted to go, and everyone said no. How could you go without your family? I said that my cousin is there. I know her and she is good, and we were always together so I want to go. They always said no, before this letter arrived when as a girl I always went to church/mass. We were 4 girls going to the church and singing during the mass. There was a girl older than us, and she taught us to sing during the mass. I was thinking about becoming a nun…

PAG.4 

…I reminded my family that they did not want me to become a nun. Everybody, my brothers and my sisters, my mother, my father, nobody wanted, even the neighbors did not want me to become a nun. Then this letter arrived from my cousin, and I said to my family, you don’t want me to become a nun then I’ll go to America. Everyone said no, you are not going but I kept on saying that I wanted to go. So all my family members spoke to each other and said we’re letting you go to America but not to become a nun. So, we required the passport right away and I left for America. My brother Melo (?) came with me to Palermo, he saw me stepping into the “steamship” (“vapore”). Before we stepped into the steamship there were people selling chairs and we bought a chair.

PAG. 5

There were people from Lentini and Carlentini and we were all sitting together. When we went to bed, we all were laying down next to each other. All these were women. When we went to the toilet, we were all together. When I was told to go upstairs (probably the deck), we all went up together. I arrived in America on March 6th, and I found my cousin in her bed as she had just given birth* (she uses the verb “accattare” which literally means “to buy” in Sicilian, but it was and still is an idiomatic expression) to a beautiful son. Your uncle heard that the baby was born, and he went to see him. When he arrived, my cousin told him: “She is the girl coming from Italy.” So, he came closer and gave me his hand and he asked me about his family. He stayed for some hours and then went away. Whenever a girl arrived from Italy the people would send a wedding proposal right away.

PAG. 6 

There was one guy from Lentini and one from Carlentini who both wanted to propose, but my cousin did not want anyone to come because she was still in bed. When I’ll feel better, they can come. My cousin and her husband had a talk. If we came for Mariano, how can we give her to the others. Let’s ask him first and if he doesn’t want her, we can consider the others. After 3 days from my arrival, your uncle sent a woman to propose the marriage and they replied yes. My cousin said to me, “commare” (godmother), what do you think about this guy. Please pick him as we know him. He is a good worker, and he gains the bread (food) and we also know his family. There are two other men who want to come for you, but we don’t know them.

PAG. 7 

One is from Lentini and one from Carlentini, but we don’t know if they’re good. And so, we married. We were fiancés for three months. He came one hour during the evening and then he left. On March 6th I arrived in America and June 5th we got married. The day of your uncle’s birthday, 32 years and I turned 25 years old on the steamship. Your uncle was 6 years and 8 months older than me. We were married for 30 years, and we had 5 children. Then the Lord parted us. My father and my mother belonged to a good family. My father was a carter and had 7 children and he had always bad luck. Once his cart broke down. Sometimes his animals died. We were 7 children all depending on him. His mother was wealthy and …

PAG. 8 

…he always returned to her to ask for money and buy new animals and she gave it to him. When the first daughter got married, my mother pledged the house she was given by her father when she got married. When they wanted to release it, they had no money. So, my father went back to his mother and said: mother give me my own part while you’re still alive because when our first daughter got married, we had to pledge the house. Now time has gone and soon we’ll be kicked out of the house with all my family. So, his mother gave him the money and they could have the house back. My father and my mother felt themselves in a higher social position and they wanted good marriages opportunities for their children, but…

PAG. 9 

…they don’t even have a rope for the dowry of their daughters. When I was between the ages of18 and 20, I received very good proposals from good families. But as soon as they understood we had nothing, they disappeared. For my sister’s wedding, my parents pledged the house. For me there was nothing left and for the other sister nothing at all. I had some XXX (pontini?), fringes, some sheets and pillows I embroidered myself with a sewing machine and then I had nothing. I worked on my “Singer” (the popular sewing machine brand) and I taught the young girls to embroider using a sewing machine. So, I find myself in America. There was no wedding for me in Lentini. Every creature and human being born in this world is born under a planet.


PAG. 10

The planet turns and we walk alike in the world. Nevertheless, everything went well. Soon after getting married, your uncle found a good job which allows him to gain good money. He had nothing and I had nothing either, but thank Lord he worked, we bought a house, furniture, goods* (*she uses the term “robba”, very interesting) and we had a good quality of life, we had 5 children (3 boys and 2 girls). I told you all my story. Enough, I have nothing more to add. I kiss you and hug you. Say hello to your children and family. My children send greetings and kisses, to you and all our relatives again. I’m your aunt Giuseppina Santo, so long, wishing you all the best.

NOTE from Debra Santo:

WOW, that is beautiful....  It seems she was happy with her choice to move to America and marry my grandfather. Her wedding pictures are gorgeous, and I think that they show a modest but full wedding party. She had a beautiful dress and veil. She has always been extremely practical. She used to tell me and Kathy that you choose if you have a good happy life or hard bad life by how you appreciate what you have. She said she chose to be happy and content with her good fortune in America.

1921 Wedding of Mariano Santo and Giuseppa Ossino in Omaha, Nebraska

montesrule originally shared this to Ancestry.com on 31 Dec 2017

The woman on the left may be the cousin described in the letter whose name was Alfia Maddalena with her husband, Filadelfo Cappello.


Monday, October 24, 2022

Monday, October 24, 2022- Sicilian Musings and Ramblings

 Genealogists need to document their own history. This article is a review of the past week.  I have so many contacts throughout the course of a week that it is easy to forget if I don't write it down.

We have a group that meets weekly on Zoom called Italians of Omaha, Carlentini and Beyond. If you are interested in joining our meetings, please contact me using the contact box in the right-hand column and I will send you a Zoom registration link.

Topic: Omaha, Carlentini and Beyond- Sicilian/Italian Genealogy, History and Culture

Description: Weekly Tuesday afternoon discussion group for people with Sicilian and Italian ancestry with a focus on genealogy and culture. Attendees register once and can attend any of the occurrences. Topics will include history and culture of the Sicilian and Italian families that immigrated to Omaha and Sioux City. The host of these sessions is Nick Cimino, genealogist and blogger at www.ancestorpuzzles.com.

The videos are on YouTube here:


Click on the Videos tab to see the full list of videos posted by Mary K Lynch.

You can also go to the following link on Facebook and scroll down until you see the posts by Mary K Turco Lynch:


Mary K posts all of the meetings to our Facebook group called Genealogy Research Carlentini Omaha Association.

Do you want to learn the basics of finding birth/death/marriage records for Italian cities, going all the way back to 1820? Then watch this week's video! We walked everyone through the process. We also looked at the trees of the Riggio family and the Di Carlo family. We learned that a town in Sicily, Melilli, also experienced chain migration to Connecticut, much like Carlentini and Omaha. We ended with a beautiful song played for us by Jeremy Garcia. You won't want to miss this one.

The Riggio family resided in the area around Hartford and New Britain, Connecticut but they were originally from Melilli in the Siracusa province of Sicily.




The Di Carlo family was from Santa Ninfa, in the Trapani province of Sicily. Santa Ninfa is very near Gibellina which is the hometown of many immigrants that came to Omaha.



Thank you to Dean Battiato for sending me family group sheets for families of Lentini including Martinico, Maddalena, Ossino, and Inserra. We are in the process of adding ancestors for Donna Corbino Shipley.

Our translator and expert on Sicilian culture and history is Eleonora Formica.  I was watching the CBS News- On the Road show yesterday and they told a Halloween story about Concetto Formica.


The video segment gave his name as Cancetto Farmica. I used that spelling to find the FindaGrave Memorial here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15775271/cancetto-farmica

I was able to find quite a lot of information about Concetto Formica and I edited his FindaGrave memorial to include the rest of the story. His name was spelled wrong on his grave marker. He was born in Sortino which is a town near Lentini and Carlentini.  The story definitely has a Halloween theme to it, but it will be up to you to decide if it is funny or horrifying.

One of the travelers that went to Carlentini in August was Meg Nanfito Jones.  Meg asked me to help her determine the exact relationship of some of the Nanfito relatives that she met there. Her cousin sent her some grave photos that I added to our Carlentini FindaGrave page: Cimitero di Carlentini in Carlentini, Sicilia - Find a Grave Cemetery The photos have not yet been transcribed if you want to volunteer.

I posted a request in Italian on the Sei di Carlentini Facebook group asking for cemetery pictures but have received no responses to that request.  If anyone has any ideas how to recruit some FindaGrave volunteers in Sicily, please let me know.

I received a request from Pat Todero asking for help with his Todero and Ferrazo grandparents.  Here are the images that I sent him:








If you have anything that you would like me to publish on this blog or if you have any corrections or additions to this post, please let me know by contacting me by using the contact box in the right-hand column or post a comment below.

All the best and Tanti Auguri,

Nick Cimino