THE VITALE FAMILY sailed from Palermo, Sicily in 1907 to start a new life here in America. Pictured with her four children is matriarch Josephine Vitale. They lived in Brooklyn, New York and she had five more children with her husband, Sal. All nine were high school and college educated. Three of her sons owned their own plumbing business after World War II on Long Island and two of her daughters owned businesses, Julia had a pasta store on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, while Jennie owned a hotel in Stamford, New York. The four children above are Mary, Jennie, James and Julia.
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NEW LOTS section of Brooklyn was the site of this workforce, where many immigrants from Italy were hired for their skill as masons and carpenters. Sal Vitale, pictured in back with the stick, was one of these talented men. He and his wife, Josephine educated nine children, who all did their parents’ proud. Photos were sent in by grandson, Sal Vitale of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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ADDEO & SONS BAKERY located in the Little Italy section of the Bronx, New York, was founded over 80 years ago. Pictured here are the original owners Gennaro and Vincenza Addeo in front of the famed bakery. Located at 2372 Hughes Avenue, it is still run by the Addeo family.
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ALL ABOARD – Photographed on the deck of the Andrea Doria on a 1954 voyage from New York to Naples, Italy, are Ernesta Porcelli of Bloomfield, New Jersey, with one of the crew members of the ship. During the voyage, Ernesta had dinner with the Captain and got a chance to steer the mighty ocean liner.
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LATER IN THE DAY, Ernesta and her mother-in-law, Marie Porcelli enjoyed the sea air on deck of the Andrea Doria. Ernesta remarked that the ship’s stewards were wonderful and the food on the ocean liner was beyond compare to any of the other ship she had sailed on. Tragically, on July 26, 1956, the Andrea Doria sunk after a collision with the MS Stockholm.
