1901–1903
George A. Scigliano ( /ʃiːliːˈɑːnoʊ/ shee-lee-AH-noh;August 26,1874 –June 17,1906) was an influential leader in the Italian-American community of Boston,Massachusetts. As a member of the Boston Common Council and Massachusetts legislature,he worked to improve the lives of Italian immigrants. [1]
Scigliano was born on August 26,1874,in Boston's North End. His parents were immigrants from the town of Scigliano in the Cosenza province of Calabria,southern Italy. After attending the Eliot School and the Boston University School of Law,he was admitted to the bar in 1899. [2] [3]
In 1900,Scigliano was elected to the Boston Common Council,where he served three one-year terms. In 1903,he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives,where he served until his death in 1906. While in office,he introduced legislation to regulate the loosely run "immigrant banks" which were notorious for cheating poorly educated Italian immigrants out of their savings. [4] He also filed a bill to abolish the exploitative padrone system of employment,in which unsuspecting immigrants were charged exorbitant fees for jobs and housing and bilked out of most of their earnings. [5]
Scigliano founded the Italian Protective League of Boston,a benevolent society for new immigrants;helped form the first Italian labor union in the North End;worked to defeat a bill that would have required workers to be naturalized;helped establish a cemetery for Italians in Forest Hills;and established October 12 as Columbus Day in Massachusetts. [6] He also wrote and spoke eloquently in defense of Italians at a time when they were often characterized as an undesirable or criminal class. For example,in 1901,when Senator George Frisbie Hoar stated publicly that Italian and Portuguese immigrants were "absolutely unfit" for U.S. citizenship,Scigliano's rebuttal was published in several Boston newspapers. [7]
The Italian,a people descended from the ancient Roman dynasty which conquered all of the then known world and educated it;which entered and conquered England at a time when the ancestors of our able senator were roaming savages,opened up their country and taught them the meaning of citizenship as comprehended by a civilized people,has been violently attacked by him... [8]
In recognition of his service to Italian-Americans,Scigliano was made a cavalier of the crown by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy in 1905.
Scigliano died of a kidney ailment in Millbury,Massachusetts,on June 17,1906,at the age of 31. He was survived by his wife and three children. [3] His funeral procession was one of the largest in the history of the North End. [9] [10]
After his death,North End residents lobbied to build a monument to him in the historic North Square and rename it Scigliano Square. Instead,the North End Park near Copp's Hill was renamed Scigliano Park in his honor. [11] [12]
Henry Cabot Lodge was an American politician,historian,lawyer,and statesman from Massachusetts. A member of the Republican Party,he served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. His successful crusade against Woodrow Wilson's Treaty of Versailles ensured that the United States never joined the League of Nations and his penned conditions against that treaty,known collectively as the Lodge reservations,influenced the structure of the modern United Nations.
George Frisbie Hoar was an American attorney and politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1877 until his death in 1904. He belonged to an extended family that became politically prominent in 18th- and 19th-century New England.
Samuel Hoar was an American lawyer and politician. A member of a prominent political family in Massachusetts,he was a leading 19th century lawyer of that state. He was associated with the Federalist Party until its decline after the War of 1812. Over his career,Hoar developed a reputation as a prominent Massachusetts anti-slavery politician and spokesperson. He became a leading member of the Massachusetts Whig Party,a leading and founding member of the Massachusetts Free Soil Party,and a founding member and chair of the committee that organized the founding convention for the Massachusetts Republican Party in 1854.
The North End is a neighborhood of Boston,Massachusetts,United States. It is the city's oldest residential community,having been inhabited since it was colonized in the 1630s. It is only 0.36 square miles (0.93 km2),yet the neighborhood has nearly one hundred establishments and a variety of tourist attractions. It is known for its Italian American population and Italian restaurants.
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar was an American politician,lawyer,and jurist from Massachusetts. He served as U.S. Attorney General from 1869 to 1870,and was the first head of the newly created Department of Justice. Hoar assisted President Ulysses S. Grant in appointing two United States Supreme Court justices and was himself nominated to the Court. His nomination was rejected by the United States Senate,in part for his positions on patronage reform. In 1871,Hoar was appointed by Grant to the United States high commission that negotiated the Treaty of Washington between the U.S. and the United Kingdom,helping to settle the Alabama Claims.
Henry Laurens Dawes was an attorney and politician,a Republican United States Senator and United States Representative from Massachusetts. He is notable for the Dawes Act (1887),which was intended to stimulate the assimilation of Native Americans by ending the tribal government and control of communal lands. Especially directed at the tribes in Indian Territory,it provided for the allotment of tribal lands to individual households of tribal members,and for their being granted United States citizenship. This also made them subject to state and federal taxes. In addition,extinguishing tribal land claims in this territory later enabled the admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907.
The Massachusetts Republican Party (MassGOP) is the Massachusetts branch of the U.S. Republican Party.
John Denison Baldwin was an American politician,Congregationalist minister,newspaper editor,and popular anthropological writer. He was a member of the Connecticut State House of Representatives and later a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts.
North Square in the North End of Boston,Massachusetts,United States,sits at the intersection of Moon,Prince,North,Garden Court and Sun Court Streets. Paul Revere lived here,as did other notables in the 17th and 18th centuries. Prior to July 4,1788,the area was known as Clarke's Square.
Frederick Charles Langone was an American politician who served as a member of the Boston City Council from 1961 to 1971 and from 1973 to 1983. He was Council President in 1966. Langone,unofficially dubbed the mayor of the North End,was known as a defender of the "common guy" and an opponent of gentrification,as well as a budget expert who was extremely knowledgeable about the workings of city government. He was also known for his colorful personality.
The 1877 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1877. Incumbent Republican Senator George S. Boutwell,who had won a special election for the remainder of Henry Wilson's term,was defeated by reformist U.S. Representative George Frisbie Hoar.
The 1883 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1883. Incumbent Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar was re-elected to a second term in office despite a serious challenge from Democrats and members of his own party.
The 1889 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1889. Incumbent Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar was re-elected to a third term in office with no serious opposition.
The 1895 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1895. Incumbent Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar was re-elected to a fourth term in office.
The 1901 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in January 1901. Incumbent Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar was re-elected to a fifth term in office.
John James Smith was a barber shop owner,abolitionist,a three-term Massachusetts state representative,and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican,he served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was born in Richmond Virginia. He took part in the California Gold Rush.
Clementina Poto Langone (1896–1964) was a civic leader from the North End of Boston who is remembered for her service to the Italian-American community. During the Great Depression she was known as a "Good Samaritan" who distributed food and clothing to the poor and advocated for them politically. As a member of the Massachusetts Board of Immigration and Americanization,she helped hundreds of Italian immigrants assimilate and obtain U.S. citizenship. She served as vice chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Joseph A. Langone Jr. (1896–1960) was a Massachusetts state senator from 1933 to 1940,and was Boston Election Commissioner in the 1940s.
Not all of the 5 million Italians who immigrated to the United States between 1820 and 1978 came through Ellis Island. Many came through other ports,including the Port of Boston. Exactly how many stayed in Boston is unknown,but it was enough to make Italians the second largest ancestry group in Boston,after the Irish. Most settled initially in the North End;others settled in East Boston,the West End,Roxbury,and other neighborhoods. These groups of Italians now mainly reside in the suburbs mostly north/northwest of the city. But the North end and Eastie still retain much of there Italian culture.
A statue of Christopher Columbus was installed in Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park,in Boston's North End,in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. On June 11,2020,the statue was removed for an undisclosed period after it was decapitated by protestors on the evening of June 9,2020 during the George Floyd protests.