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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
DiSandro Family Papers Italy and Providence, RI 1880-1931 (bulk 1905-1925) Size: 0.25 feet Catalog number: MSS 1108 Processed by: Karen Eberhart, May 2003 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
Michele DiSandro (c1879-c1952) was a native of the town of Colli al Volturno, Campobasso Province, Italy. He was the son of Domenicantonio and Luisa Iallonardi or Ialonareli. He married Marietta DiIorio (also Mary; Maria; DiOrio; DeTorio; DiTorio) (c1883-1925), and had six children, five born in Italy: Domenic (also Domenicantonio) DiSandro (c1901-?), Rose (DiSandro) Maclerio (c1903-?), Vincent DiSandro (1906-1977), Adolph (1909-1984), Mario (1911-1970). Michele and Marietta marry in 1900 or 1901.
The DiSandro family lived in Cordoba, Argentina from at least January 1902 - January 1905. They apparently went back to Italy early in 1905. Michele DiSandro then went to America sometime around June 1905 to stay with his cousin Romano Mancini in Philadelphia leaving his wife and children in Colli al Volturno. His wife and children probably joined him in America in 1908 or early 1909. The family returned to Italy again by June 1909 and were still there in April 1910. Michele sailed to New York in 1911 to stay with his brother-in-law Giovanni Fiori [John S. Fiore] and sister-in-law Teresina Fiore who lived in Providence, RI. Michele spent April - June 1912 living in Philadelphia and then moved back to Providence. He brought the rest of the family to join him sometime in November or early December of 1913 which is corroborated by the 1920 census (no manifest yet found). Their youngest child, Elsie (DiSandro) Scott (1914-2001), was born shortly after their arrival. In their early years in America, the DiSandros lived in Natick, Warren and Providence, R.I. By 1919, they had settled in Providence's largely Italian North End, where they lived in a succession of Charles Street addresses, and Michele supported the family with his work as a weaver in a webbing mill. The oldest son, Domenic, was working as a clerk in an Italian-American exchange bank by 1920.
Marietta, the wife of Michele, died in 1925. Michele remarried soon afterward, possibly to Delfina Vittori in 1927. City directories give his wife's name as Adele. His final child, Adele (DiSandro) Capaldi, was apparently by this second marriage. Michele appears as a single man in the city directories from 1933 to 1952, when he disappears.
Bibliography:
Obituary of Elsie Scott, Providence Journal, February 28 2001, page C4
Providence directories, 1919-1953
Rhode Island vital records
1920 U.S. Census, Rhode Island E.D. 202, page 27
ellisisland.org immigration database
Scope and content:
All the documents in this collection are written in Italian with the exception of several receipts for goods purchased in Argentina written in Spanish. The collection consists primarily of letters written between members of the DiSandro family and their extended family and friends. The documents span the time period 1880-1931 with the majority of the letters covering 1911-1925. There is also a group of letters written to Michele and Marietta during 1911-1916 from Luisa Tallonardi in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Luisa is apparently Michele's mother. The batch of miscellaneous documents includes accounts and estate records for the DiSandro family. There is also a document that appears to be a draft notice for Michele into the Italian army dated 1916.
Provenance:
These papers were purchased from dealer Veronica Owen of North Providence in 2002. The likely provenance was through Michele DiSandro's last surviving child, Elsie DiSandro Scott of North Providence, who died without children in 2001.
Information on this family can be obtained from one of the descendants, Jennifer Carvalho - jfleury3@cox.net (June 2005).
Inventory:
Most of these letters and documents are very fragile and should be handled with extreme care.
Letters to Marietta (DeTorio) DiSandro
F.1 Michele DiSandro 1899-1911
F.2 Michele DiSandro Jan - Jun 1912
F.3 Michele DiSandro Jul - Dec 1912
F.4 Michele DiSandro Jan - May 1913
F.5 Michele DiSandro Jun - Aug 1913
F.6 Luisa Tallonardi, Argentina 1911-1913
F.7 Teresina (DeTorio) Fiore 1912-1913, n.d.
F.8 Friends & relatives 1912-1921
Letters to Michele DiSandro
F.9 Marietta DiSandro Apr - Aug 1912
F.10 Marietta DiSandro Sep - Dec 1912
F.11 Marietta DiSandro Jan - May 1913
F.12 Marietta DiSandro Jun - Oct 1913, n.d.
F.13 John S. Fiore 1909-1910
F.14 Cesare Santilli 1912-1916
F.15 Cesare Santilli 1917-1923, n.d.
F.16 Luisa Tallonardi, Argentina 1911-1916
F.17 Friends 1912-1923, n.d.
Letters to Domenic DiSandro
F.18 Friends & relatives 1911-1925
Letters to Rose (DiSandro) Maclerio
F.19 Family 1912, 1931
Letters to/from Cesare Santilli
F.20 Various 1911-1918, n.d.
F.21 Miscellaneous papers 1880-1925
Subjects:
Argentina
Cholera
Emigration and immigration - Rhode Island
Italian Americans - Rhode Island
Italy
United States - History - World War, 1914-1918
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RIHS1822