Columbus Day Parade 1925
Description:
Children in costume, standing in front of the Vittorio Alfieri Athletic and Social Club float, annual Columbus Day parade, Oakland Calif. Note on reverse: Depicted, left to right: Viola Allara (Ponchione), Aldo Vario, Ray Trombetta, Lillian Valente, Pinky Crole.
Date of Document:
1925
Document Author:
Unknown
Geographic Location:
536 47th Street, Oakland, Calif.
Context:
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake resulted in an almost overnight exodus of many families and individuals of Italian descent from that city s North Beach neighborhood to Oakland. Many eventually settled in Temescal, where there already was a sizable community of residents who had emigrated from the Piemontesi and Genovesi regions of northern Italy. In time, Temescal, which came to be known as the East Bay s Little Italy, became home to several Italian American social clubs. The Vittorio Alfieri Athletic and Social Club, founded in 1917, opened its first clubhouse at 957 42nd Street in West Oakland, later moving to 536 47th Street (demolished) in Temescal. In 1920, a group of workers at the Bilger Quarry (formerly at Broadway and Pleasant Valley Road), all of whom were from the Genovesi area of northern Italy, founded the Colombo Club. The organization incorporated n 1922. Their first clubhouse was at 4915 Broadway (demolished), a stone s throw from the quarry. In 1951, the club moved to its newly built facility at 5321 Claremont Avenue. Founded in 1932, the Fratellanza Club established its clubhouse at 1140 66th Street in Oakland, where it s been ever since. The Liberty Club, whose members were from the Piemontesi area of northern Italy, established its club house at 995 44th Street in West Oakland.The Ligure Club, established in 1933, built its Ligure Hall at 4799 Shattuck in 1934. In 1981, the club sold the building and moved to the Frattelanza Club at 1140 66th Street, Oakland.