The Fabre line brings thousands from Italy to Rhode Island
The Italians, latecomers in the textile mills and villages of Natick
and Pontiac, retained their ethnic identity throughout the early
twentieth century. They were preceded by the British, Irish, Swedish
and French-Canadians, taking the lowest paying jobs and living in the
poorest housing in the village. This, as many historians indicated, was
typical of most new groups coming into the mill villages.
Early Italians in America
Italians were no strangers to the New World. During the Period of
Exploration, Italian mariners such as Christopher Columbus,
AmerigoVespucci, John & Sebastian Cabot (Caboto), and Giovanni
Verrazano led the way to the Americas. Early in colonial history
Italian families had settled in what is today the United States. The
Tagliaferro family settled in Jamestown, Virginia within a year of
Roger Williams' founding of Rhode Island. William Paca, an Italian
American who was the Representative from Maryland, signed the
Declaration of Independence in 1776 and three Italian Americans were
generals on the Union side in the Civil War.
The demand for labor to build the Transcontinental Railroad in the
1860s attracted great numbers of workers from Southern Italy as well as
from Ireland and China. One of these, Carmine DiFranco, came to help
build the railroad, lived in California for a time, and then settled in
Natick where he operated a grocery store, which catered to Italian
tastes and needs.
The 20th century immigration.
The major impact of Italian immigration in New England, however, was
not felt until the early twentieth century. Poor economic conditions in
Southern Europe and the need for inexpensive labor in the textile mills
here attracted many to Rhode Island. Once the influx began, the
Italians came in unprecedented numbers.
Columbus Day 1910
Charles Carroll, in his Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy,
says, "Rhode Island scarcely realized the volume of Italian
immigration, however...until the first observance of Columbus Day as a
public holiday in 1910..." He goes on to tell us, "...what in the
beginning had promised to be only another parade in a city which at the
time was known as the 'paradingest city,' became a big parade. For
hours Italian divisions poured through the city streets in rapid
succession...." Carroll dramatically sums up the situation when he
says, "...the whole state gasped at the discovery, rubbed its eyes to
test the reality of what seemed plausible only as a dream....Rhode
Island had become conscious of its Italian population in a day."
Prejudice rears its ugly head
The migration continued at an unrelenting pace until 1921. Fear and
prejudice caused Congress to pass an Emergency Quota Act in 1921 and a
National Origins Quota Act in 1924. These acts, discriminating against
Italians, Jews, and Slavs, helped curtail the migration from Southern
Europe. Even with this being considered, however, nearly 55,000
Italians arrived at the Port of Providence from 1898 to 1932.
The demand for immigrant labor was so great that the Fabre Line
selected Providence as its chief port in 1911. The U. S. Government
established an immigration station at State Pier #1 and thousands came
through here from Italy and Portugal. The Fabre line left Marseilles,
France and made stops in Italy, Portugal, and the Azores. So many
Italian immigrants from Campobasso, a province near Naples, came to
Providence that Davide Senerchia was able to create his own company to
bring workers from Campobasso's Fornelli area to work in the mills of
Natick and Pontiac.
The impact of so many "strangers" speaking a foreign language and
having different customs, met with resistance, hatred and prejudice in
the villages, mills, and churches of the Pawtuxet Valley. Much of the
problem stemmed from the large numbers that came within a few decades.
In many cases they congregated in separate areas and established
sections of their own within the villages. Natick and Pontiac were two
prime examples as Italians replaced the Irish, French Canadians, and
Swedes in the company housing in those villages. Italians, willing to
accept jobs the other ethnic groups no longer wanted and to work for
lower wages, found themselves segregated and discriminated against.
The story of the immigrants in Pontiac and other areas of Warwick will be continued.
The
vast numbers of Italians in Natick and Pontiac made it possible for
them to demand Italian-speaking priests and to eventually build the
Sacred Heart Church in Natick. Father Tirocchi became the first pastor
of the Sacred Heart Church, which conducted services in Italian.
Photo Don D’Amato 2006