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Vincent Massari Scrapbooks, Newspapers and Political Correspondence

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Political Correspondence

Scrapbooks

Newspapers

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Title: Vincent Massari Scrapbooks, Newspapers and Political Correspondence, 1897-1972

Primary Creator: Vincent Massari

Extent: 6.0 Boxes

Arrangement: The records are arranged into three series. The contents of each series are arranged chronological. The series are as follows:

Subjects: Anti-fascism -- United States -- Newspapers, Colorado State University-Pueblo -- History, Italian Americans -- Colorado -- Pueblo, Politics & government -- Colorado, Southern Colorado State College

Forms of Material: Newspapers, Scrapbooks

Languages: English, Italian

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.

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.

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.

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.