Russell Magnaghi Interview

Russell Magnaghi Observations on Last Meeting of the Italian-American Federation

Transcript at 0 seconds: (0:00)

RUSSELL MAGNAGHI (RM): Dr. Magnaghi, Iron Mountain, Michigan, September 4, 1982. The following are a series of observations that I made while attending the last meeting of the Italian-American Federation of the Upper Peninsula. This organization started in 1909 and met in Iron Mountain, Michigan at the old Chapin Hall, which is now an antique shop on the north side of the Chapin Pit. The Federation was originally organized of some 11 Italian clubs and lodges throughout the Upper Peninsula at a time when it was felt many of these societies were on the decline. The Federation was a general vehicle whereby they would pull all these organizations with declining memberships together. The Federation met on a yearly basis and coordinated its efforts with the various clubs. Some of the early meetings were three-day affairs with parades, band music, picnics, dances, dinners, speeches, and so on. Even in the 1950s and the 1960s, the old programs show elaborate sets of committees and there were many, many people involved.

Transcript at 1 minute and 45 seconds: (01:45)

RM: It's my observation that the Federation became a rather exclusive body. The only way that a person could be active in the Federation was to become a member of one of some five fraternal Italian fraternal organizations or lodges. These five included the Saint Rocco and Saint Anthony Society of Ishpeming, the Christopher Columbus Society in Sault Sainte Marie, the Christopher Columbus Society Women’s Auxiliary in Sault Sainte Marie, Frank Tondine [phonetic spelling] in Iron Mountain, the Duke of Abruzzi Society in Caspian, and the Christopher Columbus Society of Calumet--which did not attend this last meeting though they had been invited--and finally the Daughters of the Eternal City, which has since--which has been disbanded. And unless you belong to one of those clubs, you couldn't participate.

Transcript at 3 minutes and 2 seconds: (03:02)

RM: For a number of years, the second generation of Italians had an interest in the clubs, but then some of the interest was waning, and there was a general feeling that the third generation wasn't interested. However, I feel that the basic thrust of the Federation had been lost because you do have--at this time in 1982--you do have a group like the Sons of Italy in Ishpeming promoted by third-generation Italians who are filled with enthusiasm, doing quite well, planning a huge 500-person dinner in October. So there is an interest, but an interest in the old organizations, which were primarily concerned with your mutual beneficial concerns and then maybe some social interests, those organizations were no longer very popular. As a result of this, there was a general decline of the Federation so that in 1981, they met in Caspian, I guess it was, at the Duke of Abruzzi, and there was a general feeling that they would--that that would be their last meeting. However, Frank Tondine, 85-year-old Tyrolese Italian, quite prominent in Dickinson County politics, persuaded the members to meet one last time in Iron Mountain City where they originally began.

Transcript at 4 minutes and 41 seconds: (04:41)

RM: And this they did. The meeting, or the program, began at 11 o'clock at the Elks Club in Iron Mountain. At 11 o'clock, there was general registration that took place. I arrived about 10:30 and met Frank Tondine, and Ruby Delaware [phonetic spelling] was there taking registrations, and Frank's daughter, whose name escapes me now, was also there. And we met, and other people came in, a group from Sault Sainte Marie, and we chatted for a while, and others came in. And between 10 and 11, they had registration. And probably--if you included the delegates and members and so on--there probably amounted to about two dozen people during the day. Then at noon, they had a lunch, buffet lunch, quite a nice little affair with sopressa--homemade Italian salami that was quite good filled with black peppers--cucumbers, tomatoes, burgundy wine, cornetti, cheeses, tuma, Swiss cheese, and we sat down.

Transcript at 6 minutes and 8 seconds: (06:08)

RM: I sat with a group from Ishpeming, and the group was rather quiet. You could obviously tell that it was the end of the organization, and as we'll see, many people were quite saddened by this. Well, then at two o'clock after lunch, some of the people went out and took a break. And then at two o'clock, they had their final meeting. The final meeting was held in one side of the Elks Lodge chaired by the president, Frank Tondine. The vice president was Joe Fittante [phonetic spelling]. The treasurer was Frank Tondine as well, and the secretary was Irene Marchetti [phonetic spelling] from Sault Sainte Marie. The various delegates were there, if I can remember some of them. There was Joe Fittante and another fellow from the Caspian area representing the Dukes of Abruzzi. There was Joe Vilella [phonetic spelling] and Len Altabello [phonetic spelling] representing the Saint Rocco Lodge. There was Louise Jorgensen [phonetic spelling] and some other women, Mrs. Libertoski [phonetic spelling] representing the Columbus Women’s Auxiliary from the Soo [Sault Sainte Marie]. And there was Joe Stabile [phonetic spelling] representing the Christopher Columbus Society. Frank Tondine [phonetic spelling], representing Iron Mountain now. And what had happened with Iron Mountain there in the [19]50s and [19]60s, all of the lodges, there were some almost dozen lodges in Iron Mountain. These lodges had folded, and Frank Tondine had maintained his own membership to try to keep some semblance of an organization going. As a result, he was the only one representing the Iron Mountain area.

Transcript at 8 minutes and 2 seconds: (08:02)

RM: And they discussed the past minutes, and then there was a general discussion of what they should do. Louise Jorgensen brought up the question: should they close? She felt that they should, but she asked the question in case someone had a good argument to continue. And then the various groups talked about it. Joe Fittante really hated to close down, but he read the handwriting on the wall and had to. John Stabile was probably the most aggressive to try to keep the organization going, probably never really admitting defeat. But the rest of the groups--Len Altabello, Joe Valella, Louise Jorgensen, and so on--and the rest prevailed, and they finally decided that the Federation would end, would cease to exist. And they took a vote. It was a unanimous vote by the various delegates to cease to exist.

Transcript at 9 minutes and 15 seconds: (09:15)

RM: And so this history, which goes back to 1909, then came to a conclusion. When they got done, they had about a thousand dollars in the treasury, and there was a very, very lengthy discussion as to how much each of the five groups would get, and it got a little heated there. Later, there were some interesting comments made about how Italians get together and kind of argue at meetings such as this. But they went and divided up the money. They also decided on getting a plaque for Frank Tondine, who had been treasurer for some--over some 25 years. Frank Tondine had also been involved with the Federation almost since its start, and he was probably the link with the Federation of the past. He remembers many of the old-timers and when they got started in Iron Mountain and a lot of the details, and hopefully we'll get an interview with him because he's really a wealth of information, both in terms of the Federation and also in terms of his own personal career and the history of the Italians in the area. Well, by this time it was about three o'clock, and the people kind of broke up.

Transcript at 10 minutes and 45 seconds: (10:45)

RM: There was a four o'clock Mass that was scheduled at Immaculate Conception Church, the old Italian national church on the north side, and I went with a group from Sault Sainte Marie, and we drove up. And then, Joe Stabile wanted to make a stop at Bimbo's Tavern, which is an authentic Italian tavern there on the north side, so we stopped, and everybody had soft drinks. And then we went up and went to mass at Immaculate Conception Church, and the mass was presided over by Father Don Shiroda. After Mass, we had about nearly two hours before dinner, so the group went over to Spread Eagle, Wisconsin and picked up some liquor. We picked up some sausages. A lot of the people, myself included, picked up the cornetti and churnalese (??) and the various breads and so on.

Transcript at 11 minutes and 46 seconds: (11:46)

RM: And then we headed out back to the Elks Club. There was a social hour, and then afterwards we had this Italian feast. The dinner was in honor of Frank Tondine for his many years of service to the community, and various people spoke. All of this is included on the reverse side of this tape, the dinner and the activities and so on of the day. And it tended to be a rather low-key day because it was the end of this Federation and many people--though they realized it had to end--many people felt bad that it was going to end. As a matter of fact, during the meeting, Joe Fittante went and had a moment of silence for the members who had passed before. But the old programs of the past with the pictures and the lists of the various committees and all of the activity and so on were not--the program was not even available. This type of thing was done. So, the Federation had really come to a conclusion.

Transcript at 13 minutes and 0 seconds: (13:00)

RM: My own feeling is that it had outlived its usefulness and that now, rather than seeing it--seeing the whole concept die, you're finding that new organizations are beginning to form. There is no longer a need for these mutual beneficial societies which provided death benefits and health benefits and injury benefits and so on because these things are taken care of by Social Security and various plans. But today, the organizations that are going to exist, that are going to be successful, are going to be primarily concerned with maintaining an Italian heritage. The Paisano Club does this, though the Paisano Club has come under attack by a number of people because the Paisano Club allows just about anyone, anyone interested in Italian culture and heritage to join, and many of the purists feel that this is irregular. The Paisano Club doesn't really represent Italians. You find that the Sons of Italy, now operating in Ishpeming, are doing this type of thing. For instance, in October, October 9th, they're going to have a big dinner for 500 people in which they honor Italians from every county in the Upper Peninsula. So you find that today there's more of a concern with promoting heritage rather than promoting these social beneficial concepts of the past.

Transcript at 14 minutes and 38 seconds: (14:38)

RM: So what you have is kind of a constant changing and developing set of organizations, and many of these are keeping going. You find--for instance, at the meeting, you had the Saint Rocco and Saint Anthony Society. These were two mutual beneficial societies that combined in the 1940s up in Ishpeming. And in mid-August, they had, I think, a two- or three-day festival with picnics and games and dances and so on. So some of these small clubs continue to be quite active in the area.

Transcript at 15 minutes and 25 seconds: (15:25)

RM: I might point out here, as we're talking about clubs, the different ones which exist in the Upper Peninsula and also in some of the adjacent areas. If we start from east to west, we begin at Sault Sainte Marie. In Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, you have the Christopher Columbus Society, which dates back to the early 1930s. And the Christopher Columbus Society, along with the Christopher Columbus Women’s Auxiliary, is very, very active. They have their own hall, which was built in 1938. Symbolically, it is located on the shores of the Power (??) Canal, which was originally constructed with Italian labor. They're very active. The Women's Auxiliary in June celebrated its 50th anniversary. Across the river is the--are two Italian clubs, the Verdi Club and the Marconi Club. Both of these have huge memberships and both of them have modern, recently constructed lodges, structures. They're probably the most active and--throughout the region.

Transcript at 16 minutes and 50 seconds: (16:50)

RM: Then as you come to Marquette County, you find in Ishpeming is the headquarters at the address of Monsignor [David] Spelgatti of the Paisano Clubs of the Upper Peninsula, and you find that there's no hall for the Paisano Club. The Paisano Club was started in approximately in 1962 with the idea of preserving the Italian heritage, and the Paisano Club has been instrumental in funding the historical project that I'm working on, primarily through the efforts of Monsignor Spelgatti. Then you have--in the last few years, you've had the development of the Sons of Italy branch of the national organization, and this is made up of third-generation younger people who are very interested in their Italian heritage. Then you have the Saint Rocco Saint Anthony Society, one of the old mutual beneficial societies, and from what I gather, they have about 80 or so members, half of which are very active.

Transcript at 18 minutes and 6 seconds: (18:06)

RM: Moving down a ways, you have Iron County. In Iron County, you have the—or, well, you had the Giordano Bruno Society in Iron River, which is now defunct. Their hall is still standing, but it's not used. Then you have in Caspian the Duke of Abruzzi Society started in 1909. They have their own clubhouse. The top floor is the hall. The bottom is a card room and bar, and they also have a huge area where they cure sopressa outside. During the summer months, they have a number of bocce alleys that are also lighted. Joe Fittante is the president and kind of the leader of that organization. Then you go down to Dickinson County, Iron Mountain. All of the societies in Iron Mountain have folded, as I mentioned earlier, in the 1950s and [19]60s, so there is no real active society down there. However, Ralph Izzo [phonetic spelling] is the leader now of the Paisano Club of Dickinson County, and they have monthly meetings and they are quite active. They meet up at the Immaculate Conception Church Hall.

Transcript at 19 minutes and 33 seconds: (19:33)

RM: Down the road a ways in Menominee County in Hermansville, there are still a few members of the Bella Venezia Society, which was started in I guess the 1930s as a break-off from the one of the Italian societies I think in Norway [Michigan]. And Emil Tomasi [phonetic spelling] gave me information on this organization. They still have a very, very tiny clubhouse, and they still meet in August or so for a picnic, but they are generally on the decline. If we move to the western end of the Upper Peninsula in Ironwood, you have the Piave Society, which just recently constructed a small hall. The first floor is a tavern with a small kitchen. In the basement, they have a hall where we had a Paisano Club dinner last May. They’re quite active and have an active group of members, and there also you have the third generation, the younger generation, that is involved. In Gogebic County, you also have the Paisano Club, which is headed up pretty much by Dante Pricco [phonetic spelling], and he is quite active. If we go down the road a ways into Hurley, Wisconsin, there is an old club called the Quattro Abruzzi [phonetic spelling]. This is a highly specialized club. You have to be from Abruzzi and you have to have an Italian last name, which precludes, well, Italian-Americans whose fathers were non-Italian. And they meet at the Liberty Bell restaurant on pretty much on a monthly basis.

Transcript at 21 minutes and 31 seconds: (21:31)

RM: Up in the Copper Country, you used to have a whole variety of organizations. Many of these—well, most of these have become defunct. In the area around South Range, from what I gather, there is a local group having nothing to do with the national organization called the Sons of Italy, and Jenny Cappo [phonetic spelling] is in charge of another group called the Daughters of Italy. And these, at least the women's organization, is still active in that area. They don't have a clubhouse or anything of that nature, but they meet at various places. Going up on the range, you find in Calumet the women used to have the Daughters of the Eternal City. And within the last year and a half or so, the Daughters of the Eternal City folded, and Mary Bracco [phonetic spelling] has promised to give all of the records and so on to Michigan Tech [Michigan Technological University], which is--which will be great in terms of preserving some of that heritage. Then the--across town was the--or is the--Christopher Columbus Society. They have a number of young active members. They meet at the Vets Hall, and they have dinners and various activities, and they're planning a big Columbus Day dinner. And as an offshoot of this, there is a group called the Skinny Club, which consists of 20--35 members, approximately 35 members. You have to be Italian. You have to be invited to join. Here, there are a few younger people. Most of the people are older, and they have dinners once a month. Every now and then, they invite their wives, and they're still a very active group. However, what you have occurring is the Italian clubs in the Copper Country are really not interested in interacting with the other Italian clubs, so they've never been able to form a Paisano Club in the Upper Penin—in the Copper Country as they haven't been able to form one in Sault Sainte Marie.

Transcript at 23 minutes and 56 seconds: (23:56)

RM: In the Copper Country in Mohawk is an individual by the name of Charles Boggio [phonetic spelling], and Charles Boggio is the only Paisano Club member. And he sort of represents the Copper Country when the Paisano Club meets at various locations. The Paisano Club does meet on an annual basis as a group, as occurred in Hurley, Wisconsin on August 22nd. And there--just to go through the format--what they did back at that time, back in the early days, continues to a certain degree to the present time. Usually, there would be registration. There would be a special Mass. In the old days, they would have a parade then to a hall where they would have a big dinner. They would have speakers. For instance, when the Paisano Club met, they had Judge [John] Varda from Iron County, Wisconsin, give a talk. They had myself make some comments on the Italian-American Heritage Project. And at the head table was Senator Joe Mack of the Michigan State Legislature who was there glad-handing and so on. But this was very, very typical of the past where various congressmen, state representatives, and so on would be in attendance and in some cases would present a speech or they would bring up a prominent Italian, people like Bernard Barasa, the Italian-American lawyer from Chicago originating from Ghani [phonetic spelling; cannot find a town in Italy by this name]. People like this would come up and talk about the Italian heritage and so on. So, this tradition continues right to the present day. It's still quite alive and active.

Transcript at 25 minutes and 43 seconds: (25:43)

RM: There are probably also Italian clubs on the Minnesota Iron Ranges. Those I haven't done any study on. And then finally, you have probably a number of Italian clubs up in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Once again, as with the Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario experience, these Italians arrived. Many of them arrived after World War II, so there is a lot of interest in these clubs. That ends my comments here about the last meeting of the Italian-American Federation of the Upper Peninsula and just a general review on Italian lodges and organizations and a bit of their contemporary role. The end.