Italian Americans
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Frank Simonetti Sr. talks about his arrival in the United States from southern Italy in 1914 and his eventual arrival in Grand Junction, Colorado in 1918, where he began a long career with the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. He remembers a fire that burnt down the D&RG icehouse, the railroad shop strike in 1922, and working a seven-day work week for thirty years. He recalls different kinds of locomotives. Angela Simonetti recalls growing up in the...
Format:
Voice Recording
Frank Simonetti Jr. talks about the arrival of his Italian immigrant parents in Grand Junction, Colorado, about his school days at the Whitman and St. Joseph’s School, and about the history of the downtown area. He speaks about working for the Citizens Finance Company for many years and about Melvin “Pappy” Due, a founding member and longtime president of the company. He describes what it was like to work for a financing and insurance company...
Format:
Compound
Dr. Peter Matteroli describes his time living in multiple buildings around downtown Grand Junction, including the YMCA building. Peter tells the story of his wild journey to take the Dental Board Exam in Salt Lake City, Utah, the trials and tribulations of opening up a dentist office in Grand Junction, getting shot in the ankle while rabbit hunting, his experience serving on the board of the Eagles Ball Club, and stories from the Grand Junction Lions...
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Voice Recording
To mark the centennial celebration of the town of Grand Junction, Colorado in 1981, the Mesa County Oral History Project wrote and recorded several radio plays about local history. Beginning on September 26, 1981, local radio stations KSTR, KREX-AM, KREX-FM, and KMSA broadcast the plays. Authors of the plays used interviews recorded by the Mesa County Oral History Project as inspiration. This archival recording contains the play Immigrants.
This...
Format:
Compound
Glenn McFall talks about his various jobs around Mesa County and about witnessing the unveiling of Christo’s Valley Curtain installation in Rifle Gap. He also discusses fishing and battling snow storms on the Grand Mesa, the deer population around Mesa County, his experiences during childhood growing up in Clifton, the old Midland Trail automobile route, drinking and making bootleg whiskey, Italian-Americans making bootleg wine, the Book Cliff Railway,...
Format:
Compound
In a three-part interview conducted over three days, Luisa Landini describes her childhood in Montale, Italy and her life after immigrating to the United States. In part one, she talks about life in Italy, working on a farm and in the fields, and her immigration to the United States via ship at the age of twenty-two. She talks about coming to America to marry Pete Landini and her homesickness for Italy when she arrived. She speaks about the family’s...
