.
By Jay Trask
Collection Overview
Abstract
Vincent Massari was a Colorado Democratic legislator and newspaper publisher who was very active in the Italian-American community both locally and nationally. Massari was a strong anti-fascist voice speaking against Mussolini in the years leading up to the Second World War. Massari was also instrumental in the establishment of the Southern Colorado State College in Pueblo, CO.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
The collection contains scrap books assembled by Vincent Massari, Italian language newspapers and correspondence generated during his political career. The scrapbooks primarily contain newspaper clippings and ephemera. The documents detail Massari’s career, family and community involvement, United States relations with Italy and Italian-Americans in the news. Of particular interest is material documenting Massari’s anti-fascist beliefs, his participation and support of Columbus Day, and his successful push to create a four-year college in Pueblo.
Collection Historical Note
Vincent Massari was born in Luco dei Marsi, L’Aquila, Italy on November 29, 1898. Both Massari’s parents emigrated from Italy to the southern Colorado coal fields. Massari joined them in 1915 and begin working in the coal mines in Las Animas County, Colorado. After a brief period as a miner, Massari moved to Pueblo, CO to begin work as a union organizer for the Smelterman’s Union. He married a fellow Italian immigrant, Amalia Parasso, on August 3, 1917 in Pueblo. Massari left his work as a union organizer to start working for Hector Chiariglione. Chiariglione was very active in the Italian-American community and a central figure in the Columbian Federation. He published an Italian-language newspaper, L’Unione, and operated a travel agency that assisted immigrants in a variety of ways. Massari was involved in the operations of both the travel agency and the newspaper. Massari published a variety of newspapers and he became owner of L’Unione in 1926. In part, he used the newspapers to denounce the fascism of Benito Mussolini. Due to his anti-fascist messages, Massari was recruited by the United Stated Office of War Information to record Italian-language messages to be broadcast to the Italian people. Throughout his life, Massari was heavily involved with a variety of Italian-American organizations, societies and clubs and was president of the Italian-American Political Club and the Columbian Federation. He was involved with political activities and served for twenty-two years as a Democratic Senator and Representative in the Colorado legislature. As a politician, he spent considerable effort in fighting for a four-year college and university for Pueblo. He died November 16, 1976.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
Colorado State University-Pueblo Library
Access Restrictions:
There are no access restrictions on this collection
Use Restrictions:
Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.
Acquisition Method:
Acquisition information for the collection is unavailable.
Preferred Citation:
Vincent Massari Scrapbooks, Newspapers and Political Correspondence, Colorado State University-Pueblo Library, University Archives and Special Collections
Processing Information:
University Archivist Jay Trask completed minimal processing for the collection in December 2007. A preliminary finding aid was completed on December 13, 2007. Many of the scrapbooks were created using albums designed to showcase Christmas cards. The archivist elected to leave the cards within the scrapbooks, because removing the items would cause damage to the books.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Political Correspondence, 1957-1964],
[
Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1900-1972],
[
Series 3: Newspapers, 1897-1945],
[All]
- Series 1: Political Correspondence, 1957-1964
- This series consists of documents related to Massari’s career as a Colorado legislator. The materials focus on some of the important issues Massari tackled while in office, including the creation Southern Colorado State College, Sunday closing laws, the expansion of the Colorado State Hospital and the standardization of the Colorado State flag.
- Series arrangement: The folders are arranged alphabetically. Items within the folders have been left in original order.
-
UnitID: Series 1:
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Civil Service, 1957
- Folder 2: Colorado State Flag, 1957-1964
- Folder 3: Salaries, 1959
- Folder 4: Southern Colorado State College, 1959-1961
- Folder 5: State Hospital, 1959-1961
- Folder 6: Taxes, 1959
- Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1900-1972
- This series consists of 38 scrapbooks assembled by Massari. The scrapbooks include newspaper articles in both Italian and English. The articles are assembled from a wide variety of sources, including numerous Italian-American newspapers. The scrapbooks also include invitations, agendas, ballots and other ephemera. The materials focus on Massari’s political career, his family, his involvement in the community, the Columbian Federation, the creation of Southern Colorado State College, Columbus Day, anti-fascism and other Italian-Americans in the news. Some of the scrapbooks included loose material that has been placed into folders at the end of the respective book.
- Series arrangement: The scrapbooks are arranged chronologically.
-
UnitID: Series 2:
- Box 2
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1900-1905, 1912, 1922-1926
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1927-1933
- Item 3: Scrapbook, 1934-1937
- Item 4: Scrapbook, 1938-1942
- Box 3
- Item 5: Scrapbook, 1940-1965
- Item 6: Scrapbook, 1943
- Item 7: Scrapbook, 1946
- Item 8: Scrapbook, 1947
- Box 4
- Item 9: Scrapbook, 1948
- Item 10: Scrapbook, 1949
- Item 11: Scrapbook, 1950
- Item 12: Scrapbook, 1951
- Item 13: Scrapbook, 1952
- Item 14: Scrapbook, 1953
- Item 15: Scrapbook, 1954
- Box 5
- Item 19: Scrapbook, 01-1958 to 10-1958
- Item 20: Scrapbook, 11-1958 to 12-1958
- Box 6
- Folder 1: Colorado State Flag, 1957-1964
- Folder 2: Civil Service, 1957
- Folder 3: Taxes, 1957-1964
- Folder 4: 4-Year College Vol. 1, 1959-1961
- Folder 5: 4-Year College Vol. 2, 1959-1961
- Folder 6: 4-Year College Vol. 3, 1957-1964
- Folder 7: 4-Year College Vol. 4, 1960-1961
- Folder 8: Solaries, No Date
- Folder 9: State Hospital Vol. 1, 1959-1960
- Folder 10: State Hospital Vol. 2, 1957-1960
- Folder 11: State Hospital Massari Papers, 1959
- Folder 12: Junday Closing, 1960-1963
- Box 7
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1956
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1955
- Item 3: Scrapbook, 1957
- Box 8
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1958
- Item 2: Scarpbook, 1959
- Box 9
- Item 1: Scarpbook, 1961 Vol. 1
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1961 Vol. 2
- Box 10
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1962
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1963
- Item 3: Scrapbook, 1964
- Item 4: Scrapbook, 1965
- Item 5: Scrapbook, 1966
- Box 11
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1967
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1968
- Item 3: Scrapbook, 1969
- Box 12
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1970 Vol. 1
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1970 Vol. 2
- Item 3: Scrapbook, 1971
- Box 13
- Folder 1: Newspapers, 1968
- Item 1: Scrapbook, 1971
- Item 2: Scrapbook, 1972 Vol. 1
- Item 3: Scrapbook, 1972 Vol. 2
- Series 3: Newspapers, 1897-1945
- The series consists primarily large bound volumes of L’Unione, a Pueblo-based Italian language newspaper. Some of the volumes include other titles, including Il Risveglio, Marsica Nuova, and additional English and Italian language newspapers.
- Series arrangement: The oversize bound volumes are arranged chronologically. The newspapers are located in the oversize books section of the closed stacks.
-
UnitID: Series 3:
- Item 1: 1897-1898
- Item 2: 1899
- Item 3: 1900
- Item 4: 1915-1917
- Item 5: Multiple titles, 1917-1918
- Item 6: 1917
- Item 7: 1919-1921
- Item 8: 1921-1922
- Item 9: 1923
- Item 10: 1925-1926
- Item 11: 1926
- Item 12: 1927
- Item 13: 1931
- Item 14: 1932
- Item 15: 1933
- Item 16: 1934
- Item 17: 1935
- Item 18: 1936
- Item 19: 1938
- Item 20: 1939
- Item 21: 1940
- Item 22: 1941
- Item 23: 1942
- Item 24: 1943
- Item 25: 1944
- Item 26: 1945
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Political Correspondence, 1957-1964],
[
Series 2: Scrapbooks, 1900-1972],
[
Series 3: Newspapers, 1897-1945],
[All]
