Below the pictures is an article submitted by Joseph Citro about the history of Italians in Omaha, Nebraska
This building was originally Chiodo Hall and was the location of the Italian Consulate in Omaha. Then for many years after the consulate in Omaha was closed it served as the haome of Rotella's Bakery before they relocated to a new bakery in west Omaha.
Located on 24th street and Pierce.
This was Mason Elementary School where many Italian children from the neighborhood went to grade school. It is almost across the street from Chiodo Hall and has now been transformed into apartments.
This is Saint Francis Cabrini Church, it was originally St. Filomena and is the location of the marriage of many Italian immigrants in Omaha. My grandparents were married in this church.
Located at 1335 South 10th street.
Saint Ann Church.
Located at 2247 Poppleton Avenue.
The Santa Lucia Festival Committee Hall located at 725 Pierce street.
Marino's Grocery. I think this is the last Italian grocer left in Omaha.
Located at 1716 South 13th street.
The Sons Of Italy Hall located at 1238 South 10th street
This is Orsi's bakery, located in what was the heart of Omaha's "Little Italy" at 621 Pacific street.
Right around the corner from Orsi's is the original Caniglia's restaurant at 1114 South 7th street. Eating at Caniglia's is one of the fond memories I have from my childhood.
In the early 1900s (around 1905) four families came from Carlentini, Sicily to America. They arrived in Omaha to work, meet with relatives already here, and also open their own businesses in what became Omaha's Little Italy section of town.
Mister C's father (Cirino) worked in his fathers (Rosario's) bakery. Eventually Mister C and his brothers would all work in the family business. Bread was originally delivered to Mom and Pop Italian grocery stores byhorse and buggy.
In August of 1946, after WW II, Mister C (Sebastiano) and his four brothers Ross, Lou, Eli and Al put their money together and converted the bakery to Caniglia's Pizzaria. From the bakery ovens of Cirino and Giovanna Caniglia the boys made Omaha's original pizza.
Mrs Malara's restaurant at 2123 Pierce street. Catherine Malara was one of my grandmother's dearest friends
This is the house where my grandparents lived on 25th and Pierce
Last but not least is the American Italian Historical Society located at 1430 South 14th street. The AIHS has purchased ground for construction of a new building and hopes to start construction in the near future. Donations gladly accepted to further the cause and membership is also available.
The Italians of Nebraska by Joseph A. Citro
Italy! The land of the olive. And the grape. And the Mediterranean sunshine.
Nebraska! The land of the windswept plains. And the snow. And the subzero temperatures. What could they have in common? Italians!
In the middle of the 19th century, began a mass exodus from Italy to other countries, including the United States. Recognizing a good source of cheap labor the Union Pacific Railroad and the Big stockyards in Nebraska would send recruiters to Italy to convince the people, particularly young males, aged 14 to 25, to come to Omaha. By 1930, Nebraska could claim 6,000 of these immigrants (according to the 1990 census, there are more than 35,000 Italians in Nebraska today). This movement was not a result of any religious or political oppression but rather a result of a chain of causes, partly natural, partly man-made.
The northern Italians were the first to emigrate - primarily to other European countries and to South America. Their goal was to improve their economic conditions. They wanted to save money, buy land and a home, or open a shop or business of their own. Emigration from southern Italy was a result of backward social conditions and outright poverty. Italy was predominantly an agricultural country, yet most of the land could hardly be called fertile. The dry air and soil of southern Italy are the conditions that contributed to the low crop yield. In Sicily, absentee landlords owned much of the land, charged high rents and paid miserably low wages. These, along with high taxes, were inducement enough to leave.
Malaria was also a contributing factor in the exodus. In 1887, 21,000 people died of malaria in Italy. In 1905 more than 300,000 persons were infected with the disease. The promise of jobs and prosperity in the United States was attractive to the Italians. in the 1880s. Many Italians who had emigrated to the United States returned to Italy and boasted of their wealth and success in America. This convinced even more to leave Italy. Even the Italian government encouraged emmigration. Luigi Bodio, head of the Italian Immigration Bureau in 1894/95 praised emmigration as a step toward bettering and equalizing conditions for Italians. Emmigration was almost a patriotic duty! Several Italians who were originally from Carlentini, Sicily, about 20 miles inland from the southeast Sicilian coast, and had worked in Omaha as common laborers, returned home to visit parents and relatives. They were the picture of prosperity. They wore expensive clothes and a lot of jewelry. They flouted hands-full of paper money. They spoke continually of the prosperity in Nebraska. They encouraged those who were dissatisfied with their lot to return with them to Nebraska where they too would make a lot of money and return to Italy as rich men.
Between 1850 and 1930 four million Italians came to the United States. Of these, only 6000 came to Nebraska. Those that came to the midwest were skilled artisans, farmers and professional people. There came also the common laborers that were attracted by jobs on the railroad. It's interesting to note that most of the Italians coming to America had less than $20 in their pockets when they arrived. Omaha and Lincoln, the two largest cities in Nebraska provided most of the jobs for the immigrants. The large populations also protected them from the scorn felt by newcomers. They lived with their own kind. Other than the occassional name-calling, there never was the hardcore discrimination as there was in other states, such as Massachusetts. Here, in Nebraska, the Italian immigrants could set up as barbers, shoemakers, tailors, carpenters and bakers and make a good living. Unskilled laborers could also make a good living in the factories, railroads, meat packing plants and "The Smelter". The smelter was a plant, on the Missouri River, that converted raw ore into lead.
The majority of the Italians coming to Nebraska were from Southern Italy and Sicily. They were predominantly Roman Catholic. By 1900, there were two, distinct Italian colonies in Omaha. Those from Southern Italy, mostly from Calabria, settled around 10th and Leavenworth Streets. Those who came from Sicily settled in the area between the Missouri River and 10th Street. In 1907, a new church was erected at 10th and William Streets. It was called St. Philomena (it's now called St. Frances Cabrini). It bordered the northeast side of the Italian colony, and area which was mostly Irish at that time. As the Italian population grew, it took over the area and became known as "Little Italy". The members of this church were primarily Sicilian from Carlentini and Lentini.
By 1920, the area south of Dodge Street and bordered by the Missouri River on the east and 24th Street on the west became known as "Little Italy". In this early period prejudices brought from the old country prevented the Calabrese from having anything to do with the Sicilians. This was largely because of antagonisms, based on sectional differences. In Italy, the feelings between Northern and Southern Italians are much like the attitudes between North and South in the United States. These attitudes had not yet been erased from the hearts and minds of the immigrants.
Between 1904 and 1910, hundreds of Sicilians came to Omaha as a result of the efforts of two brothers - Joseph and Sebastiano Salerno. The brothers had come to Omaha in 1904 from Carlentini, Sicily. They had opened a shoe repair shop (at 6th and Pierce Streets) and then a grocery store (at the same location). By 1908, they owned the Bank of Sicily. The Salerno brothers arranged for the passage of Sicilians to come to America (passage at that time cost about $28). Since these immigrants were indebted to the Salerno brothers, it was only natural that they live in the rooming houses owned by the brothers. "When the people would come, they would rent them housing. Most of them were given jobs at the Union Pacific Railroad and in the Smelter." says Lucille Gibilisco, niece of the Salerno brothers. "My uncles invested money," she adds, " some of it was wise, some of it was not wise. They went to Florida and invested their banks money and it turned out to be swamp land. So they lost quite a bit of money. In 1929, the year of the crash, they also crashed."
By 1915, the majority of Italians working for the railroad were employed in terminals and shops. Since these were close by the Sicilian settlement on Pierce Street, it served as an added incentive to come to the district. Lucille Gibilisco recalls when she was a girl, the people, "...we used to call them bums", would come up and knock on her mother's back door and ask for something to eat . "The Italians in the neighborhood would always give then soup or a sandwich. They were always pretty generous that way." "There was a big, white building that they all used to live in. It was called the Immigrant House," says Fred Gibilisco, Lucille's husband. "That was for single men that came to Omaha and didn't have families." "It was a big, big boarding house," Lucille adds , "it was located around 13th and Harney Streets." In the 1920s and 1930s, a fusion occurred between the Calabrese and the Sicilians primarily due to an increase in population of both groups. Old prejudices were lost in the vestiges of time, and new generations of Italian-Americans were inter-marrying.
The 1920s also brought prohibition. Italians didn't care much for it. They were accustomed to their wine and beer. To them it wasn't a luxury, it was a necessity. Many hard-working Italians found that bootlegging was an easy way to make a lot of money. "My uncles had a farm out in Sarpy county that had a cave way down in the meadow somewhere," Fred explains, "they used to make it down in there. Somebody squealed on them a couple times and they had to stop." Because the Italian immigrant found he could get justice from the Nebraska legal system, he did not take justice into his own hands. As opposed to Italy where he received little justice from the courts. In Italy he was forced to take action himself or turn to the Mafia to get justice. For this reason, the Mafia, the organized crime group of Sicilian origin did not exist in Nebraska.
The "Little Italy" of Omaha before World War II retained much of the flavor of the Old World. The foreign-born Italians were a strong influence for the preservation of Italian traditions. The stores and shops would display cheeses, pasta, olive oil, salami and garlic. You could smell the aroma of highly seasoned tomato sauce. Lucille and Fred Gibilisco both waxed nostalgic about the peddlers who used to drive their horses and buggies through the neighborhoods. "Rag bought!" one used to shout. he bought up all the old rags that no one used anymore. There were also the vegetable peddlers. "There was a man who used to sell fish. The whole back end of the horse and buggy was all ice and they used to have fish laying on the ice,"Lucille recalls. "Yeah," adds Fred, "fresh sardines." "Oh," Lucille says, "they were delicious."
And the ice man, the ice cream man, the coal man - they all made deliveries. "We used to put a sign up in the window, it was like a triangle with 10, 15 or 20, (pounds) " Lucille explains, "Whichever amount you wanted, you would put that number on top so the ice man would know how much to leave." Fred told how he used to help the coal man deliver. He would be black from coal when he came home. His place didn't have a bathtub - they used to use those big old wash tubs to take a bath. He would go over to his cousin's house to take a bath because they had a tub. For entertainment they would go to movies. There was, of course, no television. They did have radio but not every family had one. "Every Sunday, we would have dinner - at noon - and then go to a movie. The women would go," Lucille explains, "The men would stay home and take their naps." Weddings were another source of entertainment. When people got married, whole families - including all the children - used to go to the reception. The children were never left with babysitters. They would all have a good time.
The neighborhoods then were a lot friendlier than they are today. According to Lucille, families used to have neighbors who cared about them. "Every night we would go out and sit in our screened-in front porch and the neighbors across the street would come over." People would come from all over the neighborhood - just to sit and talk. Someone would make lemonade and serve it. Someone would bring some biscotti. Maybe someone would bring a guitar and another a mandolin. Still another an accordion. And there was always a "Fischietto" - a whistle type instrument, usually hand made. It made for an impromptu sing-along session with everyone joining in. Uncles and aunts who lived close by would come over and they would play games such; as "L'anello" (Pass the Ring) - this was similar to "Button, Button who's got the button". They also played a lot of card games, "Sette Mezzo"( seven and a half), "Scopa" (broom or Sweep), and "Briscola".
During this era, the fathers were pretty much the breadwinners. At least until the Depression when mothers had to go out and get work too. Most of the Italian women worked in sewing factories. Pendelton's woolen mills was in Omaha as was Appleman's, a suit manufacturing firm. When it came to births, doctors were an expense few Italians could afford. Most of the babies were delivered by a midwife. One of the busiest was Rosa Pattavina. "I think she delivered a lot of babies," Lucille says. 1941! World War II! Things began to change. America was changing and the Italian community had to change too. Most of the young men were going off to war. Some wouldn't return. As with the rest of America, the women - in increasing numbers - were leaving the homes to take over the jobs that were held by men. For four long years this would go on. In the meantime another generation was growing up - with different sets of values. The old traditions were being forgotten by many of the young Italians. This generation was much better educated thanks to their parents.
The end of the war brought a prosperity that lasted throughout the 1950s. As the younger Italians worked for success they didn't have time for tradition. They were fully integrated into the "American Way of Life". Many years later, some would realize that they were missing out on some of the finer things in their heritage. "We were sitting around a table - at a picnic at my house - discussing our Italian heritage, and I remembered things that I had done that weren't being done anymore," says Dr. Ted Bolamperti." Ted Bolamperti, 57, is a whirlwind of a man who kicks up a lot of dust but never stands still long enough to get dirt in his eyes. He is one of Omaha's leading dentists and the driving force behind the birth of the American Italian Heritage Society. He saw that tradition was going away and he was determined to do something about it. He decided, along with some friends and classmates from grade school who had recently attended a class reunion, that some of the tradition they experienced there should be preserved. They were going to do something about it. "I knew all these people from going to grade school with them. When I was growing up, I lived around 22 Street and I was supposed to go to the public elementary school in our neighborhood (The Train School, named after a real estate dealer) but my mother insisted that I go to a Catholic School, so I went to St. Wenceslaus on 14th Street," Ted recalls. "I was fortunate, I got to have two groups - one from 10th Street and one from 22nd Street." He had finished grade school, graduated from Creighton Preparatory High School in 1958 and went on to Creighton University. It was in 1980 that the group started talking about their lost heritage. They began, informally, to discuss ways to renew the interest of other Italians in keeping their heritage alive. They contacted friends and they contacted friends of friends. Slowly the little group grew. "We would use the phone book and invite anyone who we even thought might be Italian," Ted explains.
In December, 1980, the American Italian Heritage Society was born. It was a fully incorporated, non-profit club dedicated to preserving the rich, ethnic traditions of the Italians. Since they didn't have an official meeting place at first, they would meet anyplace where they could find room. They would meet at each others houses, at social halls, club houses, libraries, business offices and at St. Francis Cabrini Church. They would also meet at Cantoni's Restaurant (which no longer exists). As the membership grew, the need for a permanent meeting place became a real necessity. In 1983, the American Italian Heritage Society bought a building. St. Wenceslaus Parish was closing down so they bought the church and school buildings from the Archdiocese (for $20,000)," Ted says , "It's the same building where I went to school as a kid." The building is right in the middle of what used to be "Little Italy". Although many Italians still live in the area, it's not the same as it was 40 years ago. Except for Marino's on South 13th Street, gone are all the "Mom and Pop" stores that used decorate each corner. The supermarkets drove most of them out of business. Many of the second and third generation Italians migrated to the west side of the city - where the money is. A few of the old restaurants are still around and still serving great Italian food. But the flavor and ambience of Little Italy is no more. The Sons of Italy, a national, fraternal organization, still has their facility in the area. They serve spaghetti for lunch every Thursday during the winter months. This lunch is so popular that you see all manners of people from celebrities to the homeless. During election time, there's not a politician in the state who doesn't show up to look for votes. The Santa Lucia Committee sponsors an annual festival each June to honor the patron saint of Sicily. The festival is complete with processions to begin and end the event. This year (1997) marks their 73rd anniversary.
There are many Italian Americans who have made significant contributions to the history of Omaha include a judge of the State Supreme Court (Samuel P. Caniglia), a current member of the Omaha City Council (Subby Anzaldo). Rotella's Bakery, in Omaha, was founded by immigrants and today ships Italian bread all over the United States. The Caniglia brothers- Lou, Yano, Al, Eli, and Ross, who established fine restaurants all over the city. Pietro Cosentino's marching band was a legend in Little Italy. He played several instruments himself and taught many of the young men in the area to play. John Scigliano, the son of an immigrant, was the first of his family to go to college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from Creighton University. He would go on to earn a Master's Degree in Bacteriology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacy(Analytical Chemistry). He served for 32 years in the Public Health Service. Together with his brother Joe and his sister Elizabeth Scigliano Stanker, he established the John A. Scigliano Scholarship. This scholarship is intended to recruit students for Creighton University for pursuit of careers in certain fields in medical sciences. In 1984, the American Italian Heritage Society decided to put on an Italian festival to showcase Italian traditions. They wanted to do something different than the religious or carnival type exposition. They wanted to show the Omaha community what the traditions were. They also wanted a venue to rediscover for themselves how rich the heritage was. The Festival was the means to accomplish these goals. And so "La Festa" was born.
In 1984, the festival was held at the Civic Auditorium in downtown Omaha, but was ultimately moved to Peony Park where the ambience was more conducive to that type of event. Peony Park was an Amusement Park, but it was more. There was a swimming pool and a very large, tree-lined garden area with an outdoor stage. It was in this area that food booths were set up to sell traditional Italian foods - all made from family recipes. La Festa was held at Peony Park over the Labor Day weekend every year until 1993. Peony Park closed in 1994 and there was no alternative place to hold the even so it was canceled. But it came back, strong as ever, in 1995 when it was held on the campus of the College of St. Mary. Food is a large part of the Italian heritage. In preparation for an event such as "La Festa" many volunteers have to be taught how to prepare and serve food - the right way. This is one way to perpetuate the traditions. None of the food is brought in from restaurants. Song and dance is also a large part of the Italian heritage. Anyone attending "La Festa" will see a display of Italian folk dancing being done by members ranging in age from 5 years old to 90 years young. Through the efforts and interest of many volunteers, young and old, the traditions and heritage of the Italians will remain for generations to come. The future of the heritage is reflected by the light in the little girls' eyes and the smiles on the lips of the young boys as they swirl and dance the Tarantella during La Festa.