Lynn is a deep melting pot of different ethnicities and it takes digging to find a definitive history describing a specific nationality or ethnic or racial group’s origins and history in the city.
James Calogero provided a snapshot of Lynn’s Italian American population in1941 in an Item story that claims almost 12,000 residents of Italian descent lived in Lynn, as well as Saugus and Swampscott, during the World War II years when the city’s population was 100,000.
He describes an Italian migration to Lynn that began in the 1880s with immigrants settling in East Lynn in the neighborhoods centered on Holy Family Church on Bessom Street and in West Lynn around Blossom Street where St. Francis Church was built.
St. Francis chapel was dedicated on Nov. 14, 1926 and Holy Family’s construction was completed in 1922 with the Rev. Paul Sozzi the first pastor assisted by the Rev. Joseph Nardone.
The Italian Mutual Aid Society was founded in 1905 with 75 members and the first Lynn Sons of Italy lodge formed in 1918 with 28 members, expanding a year later to 250. That number doubled by 1924 when the lodges formed the local United Lodge with officers including Joseph Scipione, Angelo M. Luise and Anthony Reitano.
Italian-American women in Lynn had already organized the Daughters of Italy in 1921 with Rosina Del Campo and Carolina Gallucci taking the lead in organizing efforts. The Daughters of Italy and the Cairoli lodge helped support the Home for Homeless Italian Children in Boston in the 1930s and helped set the stage for an era in American urban history, including Lynn’s, when ethnic origins were closely linked to politics and social life.
Future Mayor Pasquale Caggiano was involved in the 1930s with the Dante Junior Lodge led by Frank Nuccio, Francis J. Peralta, Lorenzo Terenzi, Antonia Reitano and Galleano Peluso. Caggiano and Nuccio organized a drum and bugle corps that traveled and performed including a show in New York City at the World’s Fair.
The Dante Lodge also sponsored a girls drum corps with Angelina Foti helping to lead it. The Lynn Bees Service Club organized in 1935 by Italian-American merchants in Lynn hosted an annual Christmas party for Lynn children and sponsored scholarships.
Its members included Francis Peralta, Delphin Ambrose, Constantine DiGerolamo and Frank Sarra.
The Italian-American Citizens Club organized in 1936 and met in the rear of 18 Blossom St. with a companion organization, the Swampscott Naturalization Club, also organized. Tony Luise, Armando Voci and Edmond Tocco were among the club’s first officers.
Not to be outdone, the West Lynn Italian Civic Association organized in 1938 with Joseph Raimo leading the effort aided by members including Tony A. Garofano and Louis J. Panakio. The Association dedicated its 51 Spencer St. building on its first anniversary with a plaque that read, “Built by donations and labor of worthy Lynn Italians.”
The Italian Community Center was located in City Hall Square and members helped celebrate the July day in 1931 when an Italian from Lynn attracted global attention.
John Polando, a Forest Hill Avenue resident, established a new non-stop flight record with a 49 hour and 20 minutes, 5,000 mile trip from New York to Istanbul, Turkey.
Lynn’s pioneering Italian-American politicians included Tony A. Garofano, who cut hair in Lynn for more than 35 years and served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for 13 years. Garofano was one of the original members of the state Board of Registration of Barbers and he carved out a legislative specialty in the House focusing on transportation and public safety.
Louis Poltrino served on the Panama Canal Commission and the list of pioneering Italian-American athletes in Lynn included Carl Palombo, Lou Bufalino at Swampscott High School and Emmanuel Boverini. Mike Gangi, Michael Faia and Peter Palumbo were top bowlers in the city at a time when bowling and bowling leagues were a social mainstay. Palumbo, according to Calogero’s history, was the city’s best candlepin bowler in the 1940s.
Sam Videtta was Happy Valley’s champion golfer from 1937 to 1939 and Orlando Fanti was among the first in a long line of Lynn boxers.
Clubs and social societies closely linked to ethnic heritage have largely gone the way of the rotary-dial telephone. But they remain building blocks in the foundation that makes Lynn a great city.