![]() He was frequently relied on to help get out the Italian vote. English, however, always eluded him, but that never stopped him from speaking his mind to newspaper editors. ![]() Though a janitor at Central High, he sat in the back of math classes and absorbed instruction. He taught Italian to those wanting to attend medical school in Italy, because they were not accepted into medical schools in the United States. He helped immigrants bring over their families and resolve property issues in Italy, sometimes taking three buses with them to Newark to do so. He helped kids get music lessons to keep them off the streets. In particular, he helped out with the Cilentano society, made up of immigrants from Cilento. Her Sunday dinner table at the Mazziotti home filled with friends and family, invited to share in meals of macaroni, meatballs, bracciole, homemade bread, and more, with vegetables from the large garden.Īrturo, a labor organizer, was more outgoing and belonged to some of the city’s 50 Italian clubs. While the family may not have had much money, they had plenty of love and generosity. Both her parents gave away what they had. She didn’t know the family was poor until she watched television. She didn’t speak English until she attended PS 18, living within the Italian enclave in the Riverside section of Paterson. During the next six months, he was able to resolve the immigration issues, and his then-pregnant Angelina came to Paterson in December 1936.įrom her desk at the Hamilton Club on Paterson’s Church Street, Maria recalls her childhood in the city she still loves. He had been living in Paterson, spurred there by other people from his home in Cilento, but his boss gave him trouble and he couldn’t straighten out the paperwork in time to bring his wife back with him. He spotted Angelina, who was chasing a pig in her mountain village, and fell in love. During the Great Depression as a young man, he returned to Italy to find himself a wife. Arturo first came to America when he was 16. Maria Mazziotti is the second of three children born to Italian immigrants Arturo and Angelina Mazziotti.
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