Last week we did a quick recap of the Irish and French-Canadian migrations into Connecticut. Allen B. Lincoln said that in 1903, “when the French-Canadians withdrew from St. Joseph's and organized their own parish, the remaining Irish-Americans were concerned that Saint Joseph's would perish because of lack of funds, but the French-Canadians were soon replaced by an influx of Polish and Italian immigrants. (It was reported that by 1920, there were 1400 Poles and 400 Italians in the city.) All four nationalities had been drawn to Willimantic to seek employment in the cotton and silk mills. A 1909 article in “The Courant” stated that there were “now between 600 and 700” Polish residents with most of the men and many of the women working in the mills. The article went on to say that, “in two houses in the Horseshoe Park section of the city, there live about 150 Poles”. By this time, the Polish citizens had organized a society and had opened several businesses including grocery stores and a bakery. They had also built a hall on Elm Street “with capital furnished by a wealthy Polish woman of Boston”. One example of Willimantic’s Polish population’s desire to be good citizens, is a meeting held in 1919 in the Town Hall where hundreds of Polish residents gathered to hear about “Americanization”. “Twenty little Polish girls dressed in white carried American Flags and had a part in the program singing patriotic songs”. That same evening, a huge audience gathered in Saint Mary’s Hall for some vocal and musical entertainment to raise funds for the newly founded “White Eagle Polish-American Band”. The long musical program featured several patriotic songs including “The Star Spangled Banner”, “America” and “The National Emblem March”.  Turning now to the Italian migration into Willimantic, Tom Beardsley wrote that, “Charles Dondero was one of the first Italians to settle in Willimantic”. He arrived in the city in 1879 and opened a fruit stand on the corner of Railroad and Main Streets. He then opened a store on North Street. He later became involved in real estate and built properties on Valley Street. Several families arrived in the 1890s to work in the mills but, according to Tom, “ the  largest influx came in 1899, arriving as builders for the construction of American Thread‘s Mill  No. 5.  More Italians arrived in I907 to dig the foundations for American Thread’s Mill No. 6.” Various other groups came to the cities as new mills such as the Rossi Velvet and Willimantic Silk Company mills opened. A quick glance through the 1920 City Directory shows several Italian owned businesses such as a florist, several fruit/vegetable dealers, four grocers, and a variety store. Onofrio Lombardo (left, today’s photo) of  Palermo, Sicily, founded a  confectionery and fruit store  in Willimantic in 1903.By the 1930s, the local Italian- Americans had formed two voluntary societies, the Guissepe Garibaldi Lodge No. 267, and the  Princess Yolanda Lodge No. I526 Sons and Daughters of Italy, who  met at the Elks Club on Pleasant  Street.  On June 19, 1932, the lodge held its first Italian Flag Day celebration. The program consisted of a procession down Valley Street to Saint Joseph’s Church where the American and Italian flags were blessed. From Saint Joseph’s, there was a parade to the Elks grounds where “patriotic exercises” were conducted. Willimantic Police, the Elks band, the Connecticut National Guard and the American Legion all participated. In reading about the groups of immigrants coming to Willimantic, I noticed that a large portion of all the nationalities settled in the southeast section of the City, perhaps because of the availability of mill housing. Brick Row and Stone Row as well were filled with immigrants. The movement northwest continued up into the area around Jackson Place and lower Jackson Street which became heavily populated by Irish-American workers. Nearby Milk Street hosted a large number of French-Canadians. As the financial situation of the immigrants improved they began to move and to purchase property along Jackson Street and then up into “Prospect Hill”. Next week, we’ll finally take a look at “The Canadian Conventions”.

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