OUR VERY BEAUTIFUL STORY

DORA L. CUBELLO

By: Dora L Cubello-Villani

I arrived to New York on April 23, 1956. I was very young. I came from Catanzaro, Calabria. I came with my parents and brother. It was very difficult for us since we didn’t have much money. My mother got a job in a factory and supported the family. My father couldn’t work at first because he was not well. He died in 1961. My mother worked hard to support my brother and myself. I can proudly say that because of her support, my brother and I both went to college. I’’ve been a teacher in NYC for 33 years. I teach Italian and Spanish. Even though I am very assimilated, I have never forgotten certain Italian traditions which I have now passed on to my children. I am a proud Italian and proud of what Italians have contributed to this country.

Antonio Cimiotta

By David Cates

My grandfather, Antonino Cimiotta was born In Sambuca di Sicila, Sicily April 28, 1884. He was one of nine children of Luciano Cimiotta and Rosa Bila. At the age of 17 he boarded the SS Sardegna and traveled to New York City. He had seven dollars in his pocket when he arrived in the United States. In Illinois at the age of 35 he married Minnie Blanche Simmons. Antonino and Blanche lived in Collinsville Illinois and raised a family of seven children. Antonino worked in the coal mines until his death in 1948.

By: Anthony Dahl

Pasquale Gall

Pasquale Gallé left his wife Caterina Bertucci and daughter Rosa in 1902 and set off to America. He sailed on the Citta di Milano arrivng at Ellis Island on May 31, 1902. He began working for the railroad which took him to Chicago, IL. As he continued to work for the Railroad, he ended up in a small little town called Mineral Point, WI. While there he was offered a full-time job with the New Jersey Zinc Works, which had a company in Mineral Point. With the opportunity of full-time work and a chance to settle down, he accepted the job working in the hot furnaces for the zinc works. His job was to feed the furnaces which, of course, was a hot and dirty job. For three years he worked and saved enough money to bring my grandmoter, Caterina Bertucci Gallé and their daughter Rosa to America. After my grandmother and aunt arrived, my grandfather saved more money and they bought a nice house with about 30 acres of land so that he could have a little farm as well as work at the zinc works. The farm, of course, provided the food for the children as well. My grandmother and grandfather had 17 more children, 15 of which surrived. I was lucky to grow up in that small town with the southern section of town being called Little Italy because after my granfather arrived, many other Italians (mostly relatives) came and settled there. At one time there were more than 100 Italians living in this small town. We grew up with the Italain Culture that my mother, Pascalena Gallé Dahl, taught us. It was a wonderful childhood. We spoke the Calabrian Dialect and kept the Italian Culture alive.