Fallascoso, Provincia di Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy
From Ardmore, Pennsylvania to Fallascoso 100 years ago
One of the most important artifacts of present and former residents of
Fallascoso will be 100 years old in 2011!
During the late 1800’s a few brave men began departing Fallascoso to other
parts of the world seeking a better life and better opportunities.
The majority of these men made their way from Fallascoso to Naples or Genoa
and boarded steam ships that would take many of them on an adventure to the
United States of America. Fallascosani descendants arrived at Ellis Island,
New York, Boston, New Orleans, but most of them came directly to the Port of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The real journey began when they first arrived in Philadelphia. They stayed
in boarding houses along Christian and Fitzwater Streets in South
Philadelphia until they found work and a new way of life. Many of them
became laborers for the Pennsylvania and Reading Rail Roads. Both of these
rail lines were being built from downtown Philadelphia to the suburbs of
northwestern Pennsylvania, and onto Chicago, Illinois. These rail lines
passed through the communities of Overbrook, Merion, Narberth, Wynnewood,
Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont, Villanova, Radnor, St. Davids,
Wayne, Strafford, Devon, Berwyn, Daylesford, and Paoli.(today these upscale
communities are referred to as the “Main Line” communities). As the rail
road extended farther west the men started to board and embark on their new
lives in these local communities along the rail road to avoid the long
commute back to South Philadelphia each day.
While these men were living in these
local “Main Line” communities, many of them found other jobs opportunities
and better pay than the rail road could offer. Many of these men remained in
these communities and called upon their families from Fallascoso to live
with them.
Eventually, other Paesani and family departed
Fallascoso to come the USA with a promise of a better life and jobs. Many
had very little money and relied on close family and friends to assist in
supporting them until they could find work and support themselves.
In 1904, these former residents of Fallascoso
created the “Societa’ Italiana Di Mutuo Soccorso of San Rinaldo” in
Philadelphia. The goals of this Mutual Aid Society, as noted in the 1904
bylaws was to:
‘encourage a social and
brotherly feeling; to accumulate a fund from dues and assessments of its
members to be applied to their relief when sick and to provide for the
burial and that of their wife’s after death’.
Additionally, the club was to
‘exist perpetually’.
The majority of Fallascoso’s
former residents settled in and around the town of Ardmore, Pennsylvania.
They began buying homes, getting better jobs, creating new companies and
raising their families. They relocated the San Rinaldo Club from
Philadelphia to various locations in and around Ardmore, Pennsylvania to
better serve the majority of the Clubs Members.
Many former residents,
living in Ardmore, Pennsylvania in 1911, decided to create a Traditional
Gonfalone or Banner as a gift to their family and friends who remained in
Fallascoso.
This type of Banner had great significance as a Christian religious object
that was first adopted by Italian Medieval Communes. The devotional act of
carrying the banner in a procession was believed to be a holy act of
worship, and it was hoped that the act would gain divine favor from God,
Jesus, Mary, and the Saints portrayed on the banner.
The handmade silk banner is suspended from a crosspiece attached to a long
pole, and has been proudly paraded through the streets of Fallascoso. On the
blue front side of this banner
is a lovely hand embroidered image of San Rinaldo (the
Patron Saint of Fallascoso) On the red backside in gold letters are the
names of the earliest former citizens of Fallascoso, then living in Ardmore,
Pennsylvania. They were:Domenico Piccereli, Carmino DiPietrantonio, Donato
Taddeo, Domenico DiPietrantonio, Amadio DiPietrantonio, Michele Taddeo,
Domenico Olivero, Guiseppe DiValerio, Nicola D’Antonio, Domenico
DiPietrantonio, Rosario DiNanni, Guiseppe Francione, Antonio D’Antonio.
Today, the Banner of San Rinaldo is on permanent display in the church of
San Nicola di Bari, Fallascoso. The Banner has been used annually since 1911
for important ceremonies, special occasions and especially the Festa of San
Rinaldo each August.
In 1988, Enio DiPietrantonio (the unofficial Mayor of Fallascoso) had
the Banner of San Rinaldo restored by the Central Institute for
Restoration in Roma.
(The Club disbanded in the mid 1960’s as membership
declined when older members passed away and the younger members moved from
the Philadelphia area to other parts of the USA.)
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