L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, in pre Silicon Valley d a y s , S a n t a C l a r a , t h e n k n o w n a s " T h e V a l l e y o f H e a r t s D e l i g h t , " h a d a n abundance of "Italian Con- nections." In a 1998 copy of "La Rivista," Prof. John De Vincenzi, then president of the IAHF (Italian American Heritage Foundation) and historian, wrote about the c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f I t a l i a n Americans in Santa Clara County, during the past 100 years, a few of which I will share with you: Agriculture In the three major areas of agriculture, business and professions, agriculture was the most outstanding as evi- denced by the many Italians who labored in the fields a n d o r c h a r d s , l a t e r t o become landowners whose descendants became highly professional people in law, business, education, food processing, and real estate. In 1922, the Barbaccia b r o t h e r s , P h i l i p a n d Nicholas, along with their father, Ciro, were successful ranchers and had started a n e w c a n n e r y , t h e S a n t a Clara Valley Canning Com- pany. They increased their earnings and purchased a 50-acre ranch in southwest San Jose. In Cupertino, now the heart of Silicon Valley a n d t h e h o m e o f A p p l e Computer, Rosario and Joe Cali were expanding their orchard ranch into the fruit hauling business to include hay and feed, as one of the v a l l e y ' s l e a d i n g b u s i n e s s teams. Marco "Mike" Lobue and his brother were on the s a m e t r a c k - f r o m r a n c h l a b o r e r s t o l a n d - o w n e r s , they later established Lobue P a c k i n g C o m p a n y o f S a n Jose and founded the San Jose Canning Company. The Di Fore family dur- ing this same time started the Di Fore Canning Com- pany, adding to the many c a n n e r i e s t h a t b e c a m e a part of Santa Clara Valley's fame as the fruit canning capital of the world. J o e P e r r u c c i s t a r t e d the Mayfair Packing Com- pany, both major fruit pro- c e s s i n g a n d d i s t r i b u t i n g o p e r a t i o n s . P e r r u c c i , i n 1961, established a dried fruit plant, a replica of his o w n S a n J o s e p l a n t , i n Naples, Italy at the request of the Italian Government. B e n i a m i n o C r i b a r i started his business in Mor- gan Hill in 1904 with his s o n s , f o r m i n g t h e w i n e r y k n o w n a s B . C r i b a r i a n d Sons. A few years later, he m o v e d t h e w i n e r y t o t h e Evergreen in San Jose. The Guglielmo Family - Gene, Gary and George of Morgan Hill - operate the oldest winery in the Santa Clara Valley and distribute their wines throughout the United States. *** Business T h e I t a l i a n s i n S a n t a C l a r a V a l l e y c o n t r i b u t e d enormously to the establish- ment of a wide variety of b u s i n e s s e s s e r v i c i n g t h e community in the following areas: A . P . G i a n n i n i , b o r n i n San Jose and probably the most famous businessman i n S a n t a C l a r a V a l l e y , opened the "Banca D'Italia" or the Bank of Italy in San Francisco in 1906 and his f i r s t b r a n c h b a n k i n S a n Jose. With a name change to Bank of America, it became the largest banking system in the world. Giannini served the Ital- i a n s ' f i n a n c i a l n e e d s a n d w a s v e r y p e r s o n a b l e i n knowing all his customers by first name. Through his banking service, he was able to finance the purchases of ranch land and establish a line of banking that enabled Italian laborers to become entrepreneurs. During the G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n o f t h e 1920s and 1930s, he refused Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. t o f o r e c l o s e o n p r o p e r t y owners who could not pay the property tax payment. This kept the economy going and contributed to develop- ing the valley during one of the greatest depressions in history. The Dorsa Brothers - Anthony, Frank and Sam - started Eggo Food Products d u r i n g t h e D e p r e s s i o n . Frank invented the country's f i r s t a u t o m a t e d c a r o u s e l waffle maker, which evolved into a multi-million dollar enterprise now owned by Kellogg. *** Politics and Commu- nity Service Italian Americans of the first and second generations w e r e v e r y a c t i v e i n l o c a l , state and federal politics, as well as volunteers in com- munity services. D e s i m o M . D e n a g r i s e r v e d a s a S a n J o s e c i t y council member and mayor in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1911, when serving as a State of California assemblyman, h e i n t r o d u c e d a b i l l t h a t changed the name of Dis- cover Day to Columbus Day. At one time he owned three drug stores and a mortuary in San Jose. *** Professions Out of the original Italian I m m i g r a n t s e m e r g e d t h e first generation of Italian Americans who went on to h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n a n d became outstanding in the professions of law, medi- cine, politics, business, edu- cation and engineering.

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