By Eugene Gino Mahofski, La Nostra Voce
Christmastime was ripe to “redd up” — Pittsburgh’s way of saying “tidy up” — the corner where copies of La Nostra Voce and the Unione (printed by Annie and Larry Frediani) were stowed. Several hardy house plants needed additional growing space. My intention was to page through, cut out, and save printed stories. Forgotten copies and unexpected memories dated back to 2007.
Hours turned into a couple of days. Why? Well, stopping to say, “may their soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace” when late ISDA members’ faces showed up on the turning pages.
This article will appear in the December edition of La Nostra Voce, ISDA’s monthly newspaper that chronicles Italian American news, history, culture and recipes. Subscribe today!
Emotions were mixed as the stories sparked recollections. Regina Coeli Italian Church and School brought thoughts of our Manchester neighborhood. The location where the Italian language could be heard with passing neighbors stopping to talk. The dialects from Molise, Abruzzo and Sicilian Regione were palpable.
Several stories of catching burglars, drug dealers, armed robbers, killers, and other bad guys faded away upon coming up on the article of a Sunday trip taken with my wife on December 6, 2007.
Pat and I traveled to West Virginia on the anniversary of the Monongah Mine Disaster. In 1907, it was here where hundreds of coal miners lost their lives, including 171 Italians. Massive explosions erupted in Monongah Mine 6 and Mine 8. The blasts were felt for miles. Large clouds of dirt and smoke permeated the atmosphere.
During our visit we attended mass and prayed at the Monongah Heroine Statue that was erected in memory of the beloved widows of the miners lost in the disaster. We walked the hillside where miners were buried; there were so many victims that mass graves were necessary.
Our late ISDA member, Honorable Consulate of Italy and friend Joseph F. D’Andrea, born in Molise, Italy, labored to keep these lost miners and their families in our memory. Joe was a warehouse of Italian history and culture and enjoyed drinking espresso.
Italians from Molise, Calabria, Abruzzo, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Piermonte left Ellis Island to live and lose their lives in Monongah. Safety was not a major concern. English, Turkish, German, Polish, Russian, and Hungarian immigrants suffered the same plight. Underage children also worked in the mines; their deaths were not included in the almost 500 lost. Some widows lost both husband and sons.
Marianna Gatto, an ISDA Contributing Editor, furnished the February 2022 La Nostra Voce with a compelling article telling the full story of this disaster to ensure that these hardworking Italian Americans are never forgotten.
“Where the rain never falls, and the sun never shines, it’s dark as a dungeon, way down in the mines.”
