Adele Licciardi, 1944 No, not THAT Adele; not the sassy, soulful British-born singer-songwriter. This post is about the person with whom I associate the name, my Great-Grandmother, Adele.
She was born Adele Parrazzini in 1895 in the northern Italian city of Milan. We don't know much about her childhood or upbringing. My uncle has told me that she met my great-grandfather, Luigi Licciardi, when he was on business in Milan; he was originially from Palermo, Sicily, and back then there was not a whole lot of intermingling between the north and the south. They were married in 1913 and my grandmother, Dina, and her sister, Yola, were born in 1914 and 1915, respectively. Luigi (Louis) became a captain in the Italian army during WWI.
I don't think anyone in the family knows why they decided to immigrate to the United States. Like many other European nations, there was a post-war recession and civil unrest in Italy, so perhaps they had good reason to leave. Or perhaps they had heard about what America had to offer from friends and their adventurous spirit won out. Louis arrived at Ellis Island in October 1920. As was the common practice among immigrants at the time, he made the journey ahead of the rest of the family in order to secure a job, make connections, and find a place in which to live. Well, apparently Adele got tired of waiting for her husband to send word to come over, because she sold some of her jewelry and bought passage tickets for her and her two young daughters. Below is her ship manifest. The fact that she declared her MAIDEN name may have had something to do with the fact that she wasn't too happy with her husband at the time. My uncle told me that the first thing Louis said to her when he met them in NYC was, "Where's your hat?" Ah, the romance :) They arrived in New York City on May 12, 1921.
She was born Adele Parrazzini in 1895 in the northern Italian city of Milan. We don't know much about her childhood or upbringing. My uncle has told me that she met my great-grandfather, Luigi Licciardi, when he was on business in Milan; he was originially from Palermo, Sicily, and back then there was not a whole lot of intermingling between the north and the south. They were married in 1913 and my grandmother, Dina, and her sister, Yola, were born in 1914 and 1915, respectively. Luigi (Louis) became a captain in the Italian army during WWI.
I don't think anyone in the family knows why they decided to immigrate to the United States. Like many other European nations, there was a post-war recession and civil unrest in Italy, so perhaps they had good reason to leave. Or perhaps they had heard about what America had to offer from friends and their adventurous spirit won out. Louis arrived at Ellis Island in October 1920. As was the common practice among immigrants at the time, he made the journey ahead of the rest of the family in order to secure a job, make connections, and find a place in which to live. Well, apparently Adele got tired of waiting for her husband to send word to come over, because she sold some of her jewelry and bought passage tickets for her and her two young daughters. Below is her ship manifest. The fact that she declared her MAIDEN name may have had something to do with the fact that she wasn't too happy with her husband at the time. My uncle told me that the first thing Louis said to her when he met them in NYC was, "Where's your hat?" Ah, the romance :) They arrived in New York City on May 12, 1921.
Ship Manifest for Adele, Dina, and Yola Licciardi.
Once they were settled in Cleveland, both of my great-grandparents became very involved in the Italian-American community. Great-grandpa was a member of Italian societies and served on influential committees that were active in hosting events when Italian consuls visited Cleveland. (My mom was looking at my grandmother's wedding photos a few months ago and said something to the effect of "Who knows? One of these guys (in the photos) could be Chef Boyardee!," because Louis loved hobnobbing with the top notch Italian-Americans of the city.) Adele was just as active as her husband. Here is a 1934 Cleveland Plain Dealer photo of her with a group of Italian students who she helped greet with some of her local Italian neighbors and friends:
Source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer
One of the interesting things I learned about Adele during my research is that she ran into some snags when she applied for citizenship. Louis was granted full citizenship in 1927, but Adele didn't begin her petition for citizenship until 1942. (I found this to be the case with my Polish immigrant great-grandparents as well; the husband applied for and was granted citizenship long before the wife. I don't know why, but it may have had something to do with being able to work.) Shortly after she filed her petition, Adele received this letter:
Adele, the ENEMY ALIEN! It's hard to imagine my short, little old great-grandmother as a threat to anybody. But it was World War II; Italy was an enemy. According to the Nationality Act of 1940,
"An alien who is a native, citizen, subject, or denizen of any country, state, or sovereignty with which the United States is at war MAY be naturalized as a citizen of the United States IF such alien's declaration of intention was made not less than two years prior to the beginning of the state of war..."
Adele did NOT make her declaration of intention two years before the U.S. went to war with Italy, so that explains this letter. Of course, her classification did not last forever, and she became a full cititzen of the U.S. on June 15, 1945.
What do I remember about my great-grandmother? She had an apartment in the only high-rise apartment building in our suburb. She had lived there by herself since great-grandpa died in 1974. My mom and grandma would sometimes take me and my brother to visit her on Sundays after morning mass. We loved going out onto her balcony and looking down at the street. She always had a tin of these butter cookies for us to eat. We always thought they were so fancy!
"An alien who is a native, citizen, subject, or denizen of any country, state, or sovereignty with which the United States is at war MAY be naturalized as a citizen of the United States IF such alien's declaration of intention was made not less than two years prior to the beginning of the state of war..."
Adele did NOT make her declaration of intention two years before the U.S. went to war with Italy, so that explains this letter. Of course, her classification did not last forever, and she became a full cititzen of the U.S. on June 15, 1945.
What do I remember about my great-grandmother? She had an apartment in the only high-rise apartment building in our suburb. She had lived there by herself since great-grandpa died in 1974. My mom and grandma would sometimes take me and my brother to visit her on Sundays after morning mass. We loved going out onto her balcony and looking down at the street. She always had a tin of these butter cookies for us to eat. We always thought they were so fancy!
She would give us milk to drink in little colored depression-era glasses. She hated to cook so her freezer had microwave dinners in it. She spoke English very well, but there was the hint of an Italian accent to some of her words. Oh, and I'll never forget that she had these borderline scary-looking glass clown figurines placed around the apartment for decoration. I'm sure that they were antiques and probably worth some money, but that doesn't matter when you are eight years old and you feel like they are following your every move.
Adele lived until 1990, when she was 95 years old, and she lived by herself that whole time. She liked being independant; even during her last days, she didn't want to be in the hospital. She just talked about going back to her apartment. I feel like I was fortunate to be able to get to know her a little. I look at this photo of myself and am amazed to think "This is ME, with someone who was born in the 19th century!" Maybe this is one of the reasons I am so fascinated by learning my family's history; I have real memories of a person in our family who made the decision to start a life in America, and who is, subsequently, one of the people with whom I can credit for making ME an American.
Adele lived until 1990, when she was 95 years old, and she lived by herself that whole time. She liked being independant; even during her last days, she didn't want to be in the hospital. She just talked about going back to her apartment. I feel like I was fortunate to be able to get to know her a little. I look at this photo of myself and am amazed to think "This is ME, with someone who was born in the 19th century!" Maybe this is one of the reasons I am so fascinated by learning my family's history; I have real memories of a person in our family who made the decision to start a life in America, and who is, subsequently, one of the people with whom I can credit for making ME an American.
My brother and I with our Great-Grandma Adele on my First Communion Day, 1987.
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder
