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Frances Kenning On July 22nd, 1975. Your name, please, sir?
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Alexander Cafardi: Alexander R. Cafardi.
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Kenning: Okay. And your age?
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Cafardi: 77.
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Kenning: Okay. Where were you born, Mr. Cafardi? Cafardi:In Italy.
Kenning: In Italy. And what? What paese? What town.
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Cafardi: In the Gamberale.
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Kenning: Gamberale Province of Chieti. And what region of Italy is this
in, Abruzzo? Cafardi: Abruzzo. Kenning: Okay. And do you see yourself as
Italian or as an Italo-American?
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Cafardi: Well, I love the Italian people because I'm Italian and I love my
country, which is American, I'm a citizen many, many years.
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Cafardi: And I love the America.
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Kenning: So how do you see yourself? Do you do you feel that you are more
Italian or more American?
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Cafardi: I think I'm more American because I've been here a long time.
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Kenning: I see.
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Cafardi: But same time, I won't go against my religion or my friends,
because I'm Italian.
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Kenning: I see. What languages do you speak and understand?
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Cafardi: Italian and American.
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Kenning: So do you read and write Italian? Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning:
Do you? Did you study Italian in Italy or here? Cafardi: In Italy. In
Italy. Kenning: What is your occupation?
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Cafardi: Well, it's not much thing. My occupation, I have to tell you.
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Kenning: That's okay. Go ahead.
Cafardi: I came here when I was 15 years old. Kenning: Uh huh. Cafardi: I
work as a labourer and about a year and then after that I--I feel I cannot
do that kind of work, you know? So I got lucky enough to meet somebody to
learn my trade. My trade is a carpenter. But it's a carpenter, not just a
wood butchers. [laughs]
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Kenning: I see. A real carpenter.
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Cafardi: I studied for four years.
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Kenning: You studied for four years here in Pittsburgh?
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Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning: Uh huh.
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Kenning: Do you still work?
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Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. I'm in the construction business.
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Kenning: I see. Do you own the business?
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Cafardi: Me and my son. Kenning: Okay.
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Kenning: And what religion are you? Cafardi: Catholic. Kenning: What
parish do you go to?
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Cafardi: Saint Paul Cathedral. Since I came from 1900 and-- Kenning: Saint
Paul's Cathedral.
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Kenning: Right here in Oakland, huh? Cafardi: Yes, ma'am.
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Cafardi: Because I was away for about 15, 25 years. I wasn't in Saint
Agnes on Fifth Avenue.
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Kenning: Oh, I see. Do you go to church every Sunday? Cafardi: Yes, ma'am.
Kenning: You do? Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning: You're active. Are you
active in the parish? Cafardi: No, no, no.
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Cafardi: I'm going to church. I used to be active. I used to. I was about
for 25 years. I was usher. Kenning: Oh, I see. Cafardi: Yeah. Um, and also,
I was [unintelligible]--
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Kenning: Then I guess it's Saint Agnes, but not at Saint Paul.
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Cafardi: No, not at Saint Paul.
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Kenning: Okay. Why did you switch parishes?
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Cafardi: Well, I moved, I don't know, I lived next to Saint Agnes. So I
have a children. Was nice for me to be there. Then I went back to Saint
Agnes again.
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Kenning: I see. What about politics? How do you feel about politics?
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Cafardi: I don't I don't I'm not too much of the politics. You know, I'm
not because I'm in a construction game. And you can make you can vote over
one and not for the other, you know. Kenning: Do you belong to a-- Cafardi:
I'm equal to everybody.
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Kenning: Do you belong to any party? Specific party?
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Cafardi: I leave the the-- Democratic Party.
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Kenning: You belong to the Democratic Party. Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning:
But you weren't too interested in seeing.
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Cafardi: A see a good man and a Republican. I gave him my word.
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Kenning: I see.
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Cafardi: If I didn't see a good man and a Republican, I gave my vote.
Yeah. Then I go outside. Kenning: I see.
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Kenning: And how long have you lived in Pittsburgh?
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Cafardi: Since 1900.
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Kenning: 15. 1913.
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Cafardi: Well, 13 was the month of November. Which was the end of the
year. Kenning: Uh huh.
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Kenning: I understand you've been a long time member of the Italian Sons
and Daughters of America.
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Cafardi: ISDA. Italian Sons and Daughters of America.
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Kenning: How many years have you been with the ISDA?
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Cafardi: Uh, about 35--40 years, I would say.
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Kenning: Do you belong to any other fraternal organizations for Italians?
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Kenning: Which ones? Cafardi: Uh, San Lorenzo di Gamberale. San Lorenzo di
Gamberale Society.
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Kenning: Okay. San Lorenzo di Gamberale. Cafardi: Are you a member of di
Gamberale yourself? Kenning: No, I know people who are. Um--
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Cafardi: I build the I build that lodge 1938. We were in bad shape, you
know.
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Kenning: Do you want to tell me a little bit about that organization?
Okay. Cafardi: Very nice, people. Kenning: How was that begun? Why did you
start how.
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Cafardi: We started this since ninteen hundredd fourteen, San Lorenzo.
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Kenning: Uh huh. What kind of a club was it was.
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Cafardi: A mutual benefit association, you know, from mutual. Our part
help our part of the members of the lodge.
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Kenning: And these were all people from your village of Gamberale.
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Cafardi: Which they died. Nobody couldn't be in there except for
Gamberale.
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Kenning: Oh I see. And then.
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Cafardi: Then in 1938, he went from one place to the other. We had little
clock, you know, to get together. And. And finally, in 1938, they come
after me. And they own the clock. So the club. Just cost them. Cost them
anything extra.
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Kenning: Were you an officer in that club?
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Cafardi: I used to be an officer.
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Kenning: What?
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Cafardi: I was trusty.
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Kenning: Who were some of the most important members in starting that
club?
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Cafardi: Starting that club? Kenning: Yeah.
Kenning: Who were some of the more important? [simultaneous talking] What
were the. Do you care to give me some of their names?
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Cafardi: It was Pete Pasquale.
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Kenning: Pete Pasquale.
Cafardi: Pete Pasquale. I got a compliment we have here his father.
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Kenning: Okay. And yourself?
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Cafardi: Of course. It was about 15, 20.
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Kenning: Anybody else besides you and-- Cafardi: Mr. Shirley?
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Cafardi: They're all dead. That's it. Do you see?
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Kenning: How about now?
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Cafardi: Enrique [??]...This is my brother.
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Kenning: Okay?
Cafardi: He is my brother.
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Cafardi: What else? Kenning: How about now? Who are some of the most
important people now in that club?
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Cafardi: People. Is the president as a Bellisare president of the lodge
right now.
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Kenning: I know. Bellisare Filicide. What's his first name?
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Cafardi: Al, we call hikm Al.
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Kenning: Anybody else? Cafardi: Well.
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Cafardi: They have a ministry.
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Kenning: Are you still active in that organization?
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Cafardi: Not. Not for. I'm an officer. Not anymore, you know. But I've
been active. I used to be a president. Vice president. Treasurer. Um,
Finance secretary.
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Kenning: Um, so you said you started it to help out people from your
village. Help them out financially or in what way?
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Cafardi: Every which way. Financially, up in the [??] work and everything.
And I took care of everybody. You know what I mean?
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Kenning: You mean when they would come from Italy? Would you find them
jobs? Cafardi: Yes, ma'am.
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Cafardi: Yes, yes find them jobs working for me many times. Kennign: I
see. Cafardi: Yes.
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Kenning: It's also a social club. I understand. It's also a social club.
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Cafardi: How do you mean, social.
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Kenning: Well, they have parties and get togethers. Cafardi: Yeah. Yeah.
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Cafardi: We're going to have a big celebration the 10th of August.
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Kenning: Really? What kind of celebration?
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Cafardi: San Lorenzo Day. San Lorenzo--
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Kenning: San Lorenzo Day.
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Cafardi: San Lorenzo di Gamberale.
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Kenning: Um. What do they do for this festival?
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Cafardi: Well, we're second benefit.
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Kenning: At the festival.
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Cafardi: Oh at the festival. Well, they have a little fun. They have
music. I think of like the old fashioned of having a parade like that.
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Kenning: Oh, that's nice. Okay. Now, what about the Italian Sons and
Daughters?
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Cafardi: Well, that's very nice.
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Kenning: Very nice. You've been in this organization for 40 some years.
Have you been an officer there? Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning: What offices
have you held?
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Cafardi: I was national council for one year for two years. And one was I
ran the May Club for five years.
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Kenning: What's the May Club.
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Cafardi: Of the club.
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Kenning: It's their club.
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Cafardi: Well, that's the belong to the ISDA.
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Kenning: I see. Cafardi: Yes.
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Cafardi: And I was the treasurer over there. I was trustees for many
years. And we have people. We have each other. I mean, we. Mhm. Let's take
a big thing.
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Kenning: Okay. Or most of these people from your village or-- Cafardi:
It's all over. Kenning: All over? Cafardi: Yeah. Kenning: Where were your
parents born? Cafardi: Italy. Kenning: Which village? Cafardi: Same place.
Kenning: That would be Gamberale in the Abruzzo. Okay. Did your parents
come to America with you?
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Cafardi: One my father came for a couple of years then went back.
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Kenning: Why did you come with your father? Cafardi: No. Kenning: How did
you happen to come?
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Cafardi: My father was here. He signed for it. Kenning: He sent for you.
Cafardi: 1913. Kenning: Uh huh.
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Kenning: And did your mother remain in Italy?
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Cafardi: My mother died when she was 33 years old. I lost my mother when I
was five years old. Kenning: I see.
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Kenning: So where did you enter the United States. Cafardi: In
Philadelphia. Kenning: Philadelphia. Cafardi: We both came to Philadelphia.
You didn't go through New York? Cafardi: No.
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Cafardi: I got off in Philadelphia.
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Kenning: Mm. So when you came, did you intend to stay here in the United
States.
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Cafardi: For the first month? Five-six months. I was. I want to go back so
fast. Kenning: Really?
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Kenning: Why?
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Cafardi: Well, because it wasn't. It wasn't for me. You know what I mean?
After six months, everything's changed.
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Kenning: Why, didn't you like it here?
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Cafardi: You know, you don't know the language specially. Kenning: Right.
Cafardi: And that's the thing.
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Kenning: You really miss Italy.
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Cafardi: I went to night school over there, when I came over.
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Kenning: So when you came. Where did you live? In Pittsburgh. What area?
Cafardi: Oakland. Kenning: You went straight to Oakland? Cafardi: Yes,
ma'am. Kenning: Why did you go to Oakland?
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Cafardi: I had my sister there. My sister and brother.
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Kenning: And what what neighborhood was the Panther Hollow?
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Cafardi: Yes.
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Kenning: And where most of the people in your neighborhood. Italians?
Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning: And we're all.
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Cafardi: Italians in one. One town, Gamberale.
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Kenning: All from the same village?
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Cafardi: Yeah. So very few nationality. Very few.
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Kenning: What was your father's occupation?
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Cafardi: He was just a policeman. Kenning: A policeman.
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Kenning: In Italy?
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Cafardi: Yeah.
Kenning: What did he do? Construction.
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Cafardi: Construction.
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Kenning: Did your mother ever work outside of the home? Carfardi: No,
ma'am. Kenning: How many brothers and sisters did you have?
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Cafardi: Two brothers and three sisters. Kenning: Okay.
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Kenning: Did they all come to the United States?
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Cafardi: No. No.
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Kenning: [??] in Gamberale--
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Cafardi: I went over four years ago. Kenning: Oh. Oh, yeah. Cafardi:
Before that, I went. But it's years ago.
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Kenning: So you've only made two trips back.
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Kenning: Huh? Cafardi: And I'm going to make one with my wife now. Next
year.
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Kenning: Next year? Oh, that's nice. Did anyone else ever share your home
when you came here? Did you ever have relatives or boarders?
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Cafardi: Not me. No, I wasn't boarder with my sister. Kenning: I see.
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Kenning: Was your sister married? Cafardi: She was married. Kenning: And
you lived with her family. And then when did you move out of your sister's
home?
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Cafardi: After I got married. Kenning: I see.
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Kenning: Hey, what is your education?
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Cafardi: My education is as a carpenter. Huh. And then I. And then I.
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Kenning: How far did you go in school?
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Cafardi: I went four years. I went four years. Three years in Italy. And
over here I went to school. Night, school, off and on. And I learned my
trade at the same time. I was married when I was 20 years old. And after
that, I studied every night. I took up architecture and engineering.
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Kenning: Where did you take that from?
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Cafardi: I had some of the correspondence school and.
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Cafardi: Some I went to a.
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Cafardi: Carnegie Park Nights.
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Kenning: Carnegie Tech nights. So you have some college credits? Cafardi:
Well, I.
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Cafardi: Don't have no college credit. I just learned most of what they
had to learn. Kenning: Did you? Cafardi: I can watch that talk. I can do
engineer work. Kenning: Did you? Cafardi: I don't have enough credit. I'm
not a I didn't graduate.
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Kenning: Did you get a high school diploma in the United States? Cafardi:
No. Kenning: How did you get accepted to Carnegie?
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Cafardi: Well, I knew what they wanted to do.
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Kenning: Did they? Have you taken-- Cafardi: night school?
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Cafardi: Yeah. And like, you go to school and they want you to miss high
school and so forth. And 21 learn a trade. You know what I mean? Kenning: I
see. Cafardi: You're just taking a chance. Yeah, And I had a correspondence
with an architect.
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Kenning: So you were self-educated?
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Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Self-educated. And I have an Italian who's who? Oh,
you know what it is. You know what it is?
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Kenning: The book. Yeah. Kenning: Yeah. Cafardi: You know.
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Cafardi: I think it's one. It's Carnegie Tech in New York or something.
This book I'm talking about. You see my picture out in that?
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Kenning: Oh, you're in. Like, who's who?
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Cafardi: Who's who? Yes, ma'am.
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Kenning: Oh, I see. They wrote you up? Cafardi: Yes. Kenning: Maybe you'll
let me look at it before I leave here.
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Cafardi: You don't? I have one in my grandson. I think he has it. But
there's one in the Carnegie Library.
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Kenning: It's who's who in America? Yes, in Italian. What was the very
first job you had either in Italy or here? Did you ever work in Italy?
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Cafardi: Well, Italy, everybody works. Kenning: What did you do? Cafardi:
Later on, the house.
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Kenning: Laborer In the farm.
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Cafardi: On the farm. Are you going to plant wheat? Kenning: Wheat?
Cafardi: Yeah.
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Kenning: Okay. And then when.
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Cafardi: They don't go to work every day.
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Kenning: No, I know.
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Cafardi: Throw their staff and they eat them. And during the winter.
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Kenning: I see. Well, then what was the first job you had when you came to
the United States?
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Cafardi: Labor job?
00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:52.000
Kenning: The laborer.
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Cafardi: I worked with the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Railways.
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Kenning: The very first job.
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Cafardi: My first job.
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Kenning: Right here in Pittsburgh.
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Cafardi: In Pittsburgh. And I was really. I was working pretty hard and I
love the work, you know, And it kept me good, kept me. They gave me even
the the first year they gave me a little over one year. They they gave me a
life policy. Kenning: insurance. Cafardi: But that's like everything, you
know.
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Kenning: So then what? Why did you quit?
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Cafardi: I quit because it was a job. Coming up, pay more money. Am I
supposed to have them? Kenning: Uh huh. Cafardi: And they give it to
somebody else. Kenning: Oh.
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Kenning: How did you get your first job?
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Cafardi: Well, my father was here.
00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.000
Kenning: Then where did you go when you left there? The railway. Cafardi:
I went to.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:18:00.000
Cafardi: I went to the building trade. That's when I joined the
Carpenters. Union.
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:05.000
Kenning: And you started taking going to school to be a carpenter?
Cafardi: Yes, ma'am. Kenning: How did you get into that?
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:24.000
Cafardi: Just what I told you before. The supervisor of the job. You see
me so active, you see me so good. And he asked me if I wanted to run a
carpenter. Kenning: Good. Cafardi: I said I'm willing to do it. Uh huh.
That's good. God bless you, sir. So good. But you have to, like, do it, you
know?
00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:34.000
Kenning: That's right. You have to have a special talent. Do you remember
how much you earned?
00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:42.000
Cafardi: Oh, my gosh. I know. No, you don't mean. I only so much money in
here from you, though I don't have now.
00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:48.000
Kenning: So on your. On your first job, when did you start to support
anyone else besides yourself?
00:18:48.000 --> 00:18:56.000
Cafardi: Well, I was 16. I got married with my wife.
00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:02.000
Kenning: So what are some of the best jobs you ever had? Either your
favorite jobs or the worst jobs in your life.
00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.000
Cafardi: I have all kinds of jobs. Kenning: Which one.
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:11.000
Kenning: Sticks out?
Cafardi: I have a I have a monument in the city of Pittsburgh. What? I
tell you. Yes.
00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:26.000
Kenning: Where's that?
Cafardi: Do you know Frick Park? Kenning: Yes. Cafardi: On the boulevard.
Go there. On the Boulevard of Beachwood. All that work. So much stuff. Down
to a park. And some of the homeless side.
00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.000
Kenning: Are these homes you're talking about.
00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:32.000
Cafardi: That's city jobs. City parks.
00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:34.000
Kenning: You mean walls?
00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:45.000
Cafardi: Walls. All kinds of walls. Buildings over little homes. No homes.
Building for the city of Pittsburgh. Kenning: Buildings? Cafardi: Yeah.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:53.000
Kenning: Oh, okay. What? What. What are some of the jobs that you enjoyed
the most or jobs you didn't enjoy?
00:19:53.000 --> 00:20:03.000
Cafardi: Well, I tell you, I enjoyed going there all. I didn't know what
to do when I started the plant. You know what I mean? Kenning: Right?
Cafardi: You love everyone. You.
00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.000
Kenning: You enjoy all of them. Cafardi: All of them.
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:21.000
Cafardi: Now I'm feeling a little park Park with the. Polish healer. You
know, we're Polish. Kenning: Yes. Cafardi: Well, put the little foxes on
there. Kenning: Oh, do you do.
00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:26.000
Kenning: You do the asphalt work or do you do everything?
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:34.000
Cafardi: I just finish up a big job with the north side. Sumari. Oh,
sweet.
00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:35.000
Kenning: How big is your company now?
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:38.000
Cafardi: Well, me and my two sons.
00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:45.000
Kenning: Do you have other employees? How many? Ten. 15. Kenning: How many
trucks do you have?
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:53.000
Cafardi: We talk to each. Back.
00:20:53.000 --> 00:21:07.000
Kenning: So you said most most of the people in Oakland in Panther Hollow
were Italians and from your village, I know you still live in a very
Italian neighborhood. Have you lived around Italians all your life here in
Pittsburgh?
00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:09.000
Cafardi: Not near. Near.
00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:12.000
Kenning: You stayed right in this area of Oakland.
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:24.000
Cafardi: For six years. I know that in Bethel Park, where my daughter and
my wife died and I stayed there for six years. Bethel Park.
00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:25.000
Kenning: How did you like that?
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:37.000
Cafardi: Very good. I had to come back here because I had my honeymoon.
Kenning: Oh, I see. Cafardi: Anyway, I used to come here every morning to
stay all day long. Kenning: I see.
00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.000
Kenning: Do you like living around other Italians?
00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:43.000
Cafardi: I do. I love the Italian language. Do you? If anybody can talk to
me Italian I love.
00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:52.000
Kenning: Okay. You're so polite in Italian. Okay. When are.
00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:53.000
Cafardi: You.
00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:55.000
Kenning: From Calabria?
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:57.000
Cafardi: My wife. Oh, yeah.
00:21:57.000 --> 00:22:01.000
Kenning: So when you came to the United States did not. No, no.
00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:05.000
Kenning: I studied. Cafardi: Jenny, I want to talk.
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:14.000
Kenning: We'll talk later. Okay. So when you came to the United States,
what were the some of the hardest problems you faced in the Pittsburgh
area? Well.
00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:29.000
Cafardi: Naturally, the financial, financial and we had very, very cheap
wedding day, you know. Sure. Very good question. And like today, I have a
man who makes the worst man I got next to $7 a night.
00:22:29.000 --> 00:23:12.000
Kenning: That's not bad. So your problems were. I'm teasing you. It's very
good. So. The problems that you faced then were mostly financial in the
United States. Okay. Did you make enough to support yourself? Yes. That's
very good.
00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.000
Cafardi: Yes, we're there.
00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:17.000
Kenning: Was it better than Italy, which you made here? Cafardi: Well.
00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:23.000
Cafardi: Yes, much better. I can see the light. There are.
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:27.000
Kenning: Many things.
00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:36.000
Cafardi: That people. What? I mean now. I mean.
00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:43.000
Kenning: Okay, let's just jump back a minute. So how were you treated as
an Italian in this country? Cafardi: Well, it wasn't too good. Kenning: In
what way?
00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:45.000
Cafardi: Which way? Because I was Italian.
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:48.000
Kenning: And the other nationality.
00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:54.000
Cafardi: They didn't care for the times. They want to keep them so long.
00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.000
Kenning: Would they make fun of you?
00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:25.000
Cafardi: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I want to tell you this one thing. When I
started to learn my trade, I learned my trade. And I was an Irish, you
know? Then my partner, they gave you a pardon. You supposed to learn it.
You supposed to tell me what to do. And sometime I didn't understand. You
understand the language. The language. And then he told me. You got to. He
said you ain't going to be no carpenter. And one of my friends heard it,
you know.
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:26.000
Kenning: He understood.
00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:41.000
Cafardi: You understood? And he said he went to this man here. He says,
Hey, mister, you just wait a few years of this, boy. You'll see what you
going to get. And that's what happened. I learned my language. I could
learn a good trade. Beside what I did was.
00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:45.000
Kenning: What nationality was the boss of your company where you were
learning the carpenter trade?
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.000
Cafardi: I think it was, uh. Jewish.
00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:54.000
Kenning: Jewish? Cafardi: Jewish. Kenning: Did. Did your boss show? They
didn't show you any prejudice?
00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:57.000
Cafardi: No. No. Kenning: Which group.
00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:01.000
Cafardi: They love Italians. Kenning: Really? Which group treated you the
worst?
00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:03.000
Cafardi: The worst was the Irish.
00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:04.000
Kenning: The Irish.
00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:06.000
Cafardi: And German.
00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:11.000
Kenning: I see. Were you ever denied entrance to a restaurant or anything
like this?
00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:19.000
Cafardi: One time I was denied. I was 23 years old and I was denied to get
a glass of beer in the saloon. Kenning: Really? Cafardi: Only time I got.
00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:21.000
Kenning: What kind of bar was it?
00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.000
Cafardi: Well, just, you know.
00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:26.000
Kenning: Was it one nationality group?
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:31.000
Cafardi: Polish bar. Kenning: Polish bar. Cafardi: I come home from work,
we stop it because I look too young.
00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:39.000
Kenning: Too young. Oh, it wasn't because you were Italian. Cafardi: No,
no, no, no. Kenning: I see. And were you ever called any names by groups?
00:25:39.000 --> 00:26:09.000
Cafardi: Oh, no question about it, you know. Did you? One time an Irish
man. He can call my one. My man Dago, you know. And I went right up to him
and I said, Listen, mister, I said, you don't know what that means. What?
Nothing. I said, Dago. I said, Diego, you know what Diego means. I said,
Then he says, Now some of my clams. I said, some of the clumsy. His name
was Diego.
00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:11.000
Kenning: So you're you're really proud.
00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:12.000
Cafardi: Absolutely.
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:18.000
Kenning: That's good. That's good. Um, what about.
00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:19.000
Cafardi: This country? I mean.
00:26:19.000 --> 00:26:26.000
Kenning: Did you ever feel any prejudice toward any groups? Cafardi: No.
No. Kenning: You didn't. Did you feel. I met.
00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:28.000
Cafardi: Him. I met the friends.
00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:57.000
Kenning: Did you feel a lot of hostility toward the Irish and the Germans?
Cafardi: No, no, no. Kenning: Did you ever have trouble with housing
because you were Italian? Cafardi: Housing? Kenning: Yeah. Finding a place
to live or something. Cause you were all the Italians stuck together. Okay.
What's the first organization of Italian people that you remember in the
Pittsburgh area? Being organized.
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.000
Cafardi: Well, just what I told you, this was one the first time
organization.
00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:03.000
Kenning: Which one is that?
00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:13.000
Cafardi: The salon. Enzo Gambardella. Kenning: Okay. Cafardi: There was
one of the best suits.
00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:16.000
Kenning: So they had insurance policy, sick benefits and.
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:23.000
Cafardi: Sick benefits and a death benefit. I still have it.
00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:32.000
Kenning: And these people, the organizations did help the people. How
about the Italian sons and daughters? You wanted to say something?
00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:45.000
Cafardi: We want to go a bit more together. You know. Any politician, if
it's Italian, they'll help. That's pretty good.
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:54.000
Kenning: Did they ever help immigrants when they came to this country with
housing jobs like San Lorenzo? Did they ever help them with particular
things like this?
00:27:54.000 --> 00:28:24.000
Cafardi: Well, I mean. Everybody help everybody. Help yourself. Have a
picnic someday day today. You know, everybody got give everybody money by
the bushels. You know, the levees got $0.20 an hour. Well, didn't work ten
hours a day for $2. We'll never.
00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.000
Kenning: Know.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:54.000
Cafardi: What's this one again? I got time to see you. Well.
00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:05.000
Kenning: You make your friends belong to the ISDA. Cafardi: Oh, yes.
Kenning: And what about San Lorenzo? Many, many.
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:16.000
Cafardi: Letters back to me. Like. Kenning: Really? Cafardi: Because I
grew up my school. I build my trap for nothing. Yes.
00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:19.000
Kenning: Let me see.
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:21.000
Cafardi: Oh, no. Cell phone.
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:24.000
Kenning: What's. What's this.
00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:45.000
Cafardi: Honey? Jenny Cafardi: Triad on the 13th of July was honored with
the ISda registered ISda member, and he presented that. That's a copy of
the plaque made in Brown Bronze to give to the national president of ISDA
Lodge and Bishop Oscar Sandra. They gave him to have it displayed at the
ISda building for 19 Wood Street.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:46.000
Kenning: Oh, nice words there.
00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.000
Cafardi: Very beautiful words. That's mine. I mean, they.
00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:50.000
Jenny Cafardi: They gave him one for coffee.
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:57.000
Cafardi: They gave me a coffee. He was the one who presented his picture
in the paper. I have a plaque. I took a picture with it. Five priest.
00:29:57.000 --> 00:30:57.000
Kenning: Oh, that's wonderful. Really? Is that.
