Rosa (Macaluso) DeFriend (1916)

Born 9 Apr 1916 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Ancestors

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Biography

Rosa I. T. Macaluso is born 9 April 1916 in Cambridge, MA, the daughter of Francesco P. Macaluso and Esmeralda Zanucco. Her parents live at 122 Berkshire St in Cambridge. Her father is a lawyer.^[1]

Two years before her birth, Rosa's parents immigrated from Sicily, going first to New York, where Francesco's sister, Vincenza, lived.

By 1915, the family is living in Boston. Francesco, an Italian doctor of law, is employed by the Italian bank, Banco Stabile. He is also the founder of the first openly fascist journal in the United States, "Giovinezza."

In the 1920 federal census of Brooklyn, NY, Francesco Macaluso, an alien resident who arrived with his wife in 1914, heads a household. He is 33 and his wife, Esmeralda, is 30 (b. 1890). Their children are Ferdinand, 5 (b. 1915), Rose, 3 yr 8 mo, and Armando, five months. The children were all born in New York, according to this record. Francesco is a lawyer who works at an office.^[2]

The family lives in Brooklyn in 1930, when they appear on the federal census. Francis is a lawyer (it doesn't say for whom), 43 years old. Esmeralda is 40, Ferdinand is 15, Rose, 14, and Armando 10.^[3]

In 1933, Rosa, her parents, and her younger brother travel to Sicily. Her older brother, Ferdinand, who is eighteen at this time, does not join them.

The manifest of the SS Saturnia sailing from Palermo on 22 October 1933 includes:

• Francesco Macaluso, 47 (b. 1886), lawyer, married, born in Casteltermini
• Esmeralda Macaluso, 44 (b. 1889), housewife, born in Naples
• Rosa Macaluso, 17 (b. 1916), an American citizen born in Cambridge OH (actually born in Cambridge MA)
• Armando Vittorio Macaluso, 14 (b. 1919), also a USC, born in NYC.

Francesco and Esmeralda's last permanent residence is in Brooklyn.^[4]

Rosa's father is the president and general manager of Esperia Films, which is active from 1936-40 as an importer of Italian fascist propaganda to Italian-speaking residents of New York. All 29 of Esperia's 1940 releases "attempted to convince spectators that under the leadership of Mussolini Italy was a strong and mighty nation."^[5]

Francesco makes a number of trips to Sicily during this period. On one of these, Rosa accompanies him. Both appear on the manifest of the SS Vulcania sailing from Palermo on 25 May 1936. Francesco's last permanent residence is in Brooklyn.^[6]

The 1940 federal census shows the Macaluso family living in Brooklyn. According to their responses, the family lived there in 1935. Francis Macaluso, the head, is 53, Esmeralda is 50, Ferdinand is 25, Rose, 23, and Armando, 20. In this census, Francesco (Francis) is an advisor to a film imports business. Presumably working for the same film importing business are his son, a correspondent, and Rose, a bookkeeper.^[7]

Shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Francesco, who is still a resident alien, is arrested and interned for the duration of the war.

During WWII, both of Rosa's brothers enlist. Her father's fate after the war is not known. Her mother and at least one brother both live long lives in the United States.

According to her older brother's obituary, Rosa marries and is living in Los Angeles in 2011.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ "Massachusetts State Vital Records, 1841-1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:23YS-TXK : 4 December 2014), Rosa I T Macaluso, 09 Apr 1916; citing Birth, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, certificate number 1650, page 476, State Archives, Boston.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9R6T-35T?cc=1488411&wc=QZJ5-7WY%3A1036473601%2C1036473602%2C1038476601%2C1589341104 : 14 December 2015), New York > Kings > Brooklyn Assembly District 16 > image 9 of 30; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRH1-DHG?cc=1810731&wc=QZFQ-878%3A649437801%2C649437802%2C650387801%2C1589286765 : 10 December 2015), New York > Kings > Brooklyn (Districts 1001-1250) > image 25 of 29; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002).
4. ↑ "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5DY-39QG?cc=1923888&wc=MFKS-RWL%3A1030018001 : 2 October 2015), > image 364 of 913; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
5. ↑ Francesco di Legge. "L'aquila e il littorio: direttive, strutture e strumenti della propaganda fascista negli Stati Uniti d'America (1922-1941)." Accessed http://road.unimol.it/bitstream/2192/306/1/Tesi_F_DiLegge.pdf on 19 February 2017.
6. ↑ "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5FZ-9WF3?cc=1923888&wc=MFKQ-MM9%3A1030037901 : 2 October 2015), > image 411 of 842; citing NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MY-R6H4?cc=2000219&wc=QZXR-8M6%3A790105101%2C795835101%2C803688901%2C803784201 : accessed 19 February 2017), New York > Kings > New York City, Brooklyn, Assembly District 9 > image 5 of 8; citing Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012.
8. ↑ Obituary of Ferdinand Macaluso. Accessed http://phillipsfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/264/Ferdinand-Macaluso/obituary.html on 19 February 2017.