Finding aid for the Angelo Fausto Vasquenz Papers

Biography of Angelo Fausto Vasquenz

Angelo Fausto Vasquenz (1879-1942) was born in Cerchio, Abruzzo, Italy, and immigrated to Republic, Pennsylvania, in 1910 where he worked as a coal miner. In 1913, Angelo married Celestina Ciofani (1896-1978) in Republic, Pennsylvania, and died there childless in 1942. Celestina continued to live in Republic, Pennsylvania, until her death in 1978. Celestina's death, however, is registered in Cuyahoga County because the executor of her estate and sister, Julia Campana, lived in the county. Upon Julia's death, Angelo's papers, including this collection of letters, were given to Julia and Celestina's other sister, Maria Chiudioni. Maria's son Mario Chiudioni came into possession of the letters upon Maria's death and donated them to the Western Reserve Historical Society.

The letters in this collection were written between 1910 and 1916 by members of Angelo's family. Angelo's father Antonio Vasquenz, a literate and expressive contadino (peasant farmer) who resided in Cerchio, Abruzzo, Italy, wrote the majority of the letters. The collection also contains a small group of love letters from his cousin Marietta Vasquenz and three letters from his sisters Maria di Domenico Vasquenz and Pasqua Chichiarelli Vasquenz, all residing in Cerchio, Abruzzo, Italy. Several letters from cousins on his mother Maria's side of the family, the Meogrossis who immigrated to Nottingham, Ohio, are also included. The letters from the relatives residing in Cerchio include vivid details of the life of a southern Italian villager in the early twentieth century.

Scope and Content

The Angelo Fausto Vasquenz Papers 1910-1916 (bulk 1910-1913), consist of sixty-nine letters and one draft contract. The collection also contains translations and transcriptions of each of the letters completed by Connie Sancetta in 2007.

This collection is of value to researchers interested in the social and economic conditions experienced by middle-to-lower-class southern Italians in rural villages in the early twentieth century. Researchers studying the Vasquenz family and its relatives and business associates in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Cerchio, Abruzzo, Italy, will also find this collection useful. The letters address such topics as illnesses and deaths, feuds, financing and financial difficulties, agricultural concerns, and family relations. They illuminate some of the reasons many Italians immigrated to the United States during the early 1900s. The letters written by the Ohio cousins reveal some of the struggles experienced by the newly-arrived immigrants to the United States, containing frequent references to poverty and unemployment.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5024 Angelo Fausto Vasquenz Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mario Chiudioni in 2007.

Processing Information

Processed by Pamela Dorazio Dean and Connie Sancetta in 2008.

Detailed Description of The Collection