The little known histories of immigrant Italians in Gloucester during the World War II era will be the focus of a special presentation by Maria “Mia” Millefoglie and Laura Ventimiglia.
The talk, which includes viewing a clip from a documentary in the making, will be held Thursday, April 30, at 1 p.m. at the Rose Baker Center for Living Well in Gloucester. While the talk is free, registration is requested by signing up at the center’s front desk or calling 978-325-5812.
Millefoglie and Ventimiglia will talk about the project “Branded,” a public history initiative exploring the experiences of Sicilian and Italian immigrants in Gloucester who were classified as “enemy aliens” during World War II.
Millefoglie, the project originator, calls the overall research effort Cape Anncestry, which to date has received two grants totalling $9,000 to forge ahead. The most recent grant of $4,000 came from the Essex Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative, and a $5,000 grant came from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The project’s fiscal sponsor is the Cape Ann Community Foundation.
A National Archives brief overview of the World War II Enemy Alien Control Program noted that immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526 and 2527 to authorize the United States to detain allegedly potentially dangerous enemy aliens; those targeted were primarily individuals of German, Italian or Japanese descent.
Cape Anncestry focuses on the Italians and Sicilians who flocked to Gloucester where jobs in the fishing industry were abundant. But the Pearl Harbor attacks drastically impacted this population.
“At the height of the war, more than 600,000 Italian Americans nationwide were required to carry identification cards and were subject to surveillance, curfews, and travel restrictions under the Alien Enemies Act. In Gloucester, as in other coastal areas, non-citizen Italian immigrants were barred from the waterfront and prohibited from fishing. Some had their vessels requisitioned for military use, cutting off livelihoods and disrupting the city’s fishing economy,” Millefoglie said of her research.
She noted that recent national reporting has focused on the invocation of the Alien Enemy Act by President Donald Trump in relation to contemporary immigrant policy.
“As I followed current news, time seemed to collapse,” Millefoglie said. “While researching my family’s past — three generations of Sicilian immigrants who settled in Gloucester — I realized the same statute shaping today’s immigration debates had once governed the fate of my grandfathers during World War II.”
“Branded” is Cape Anncestry’s inaugural project, and is being developed by its organizational partners, including Ventimiglia, a community historian and author, and Sal Zerilli, a filmmaker who will lead documentary production with videographer Matthew Bradley.
Through archival research, oral histories, public programs and the planned documentary film, Cape Anncestry aims to preserve local stories while connecting past war-time policies to present-day immigration debates, Millefoglie said.
Her presentation at Sawyer Free Library last fall drew 120 people and she wants to continue to share this project with the community.
Grant funding will support filming, editing, and post-production, with the goal of making the completed documentary free and accessible to the public.
“We are so excited to secure additional funds for our expanded ‘Branded’ project. It’s been remarkable to witness a simple concept grow into a full history project for our community,” Millefoglie said.
This project is personal for Millefoglie whose grandfathers both immigrated from Terrasini, Sicily. Decades ago, her mother gave her a box containing old photographs and documents, and these sparked her research many years later.
“I began to examine what went on, especially in Gloucester, and especially with fishermen, and that launched a writing series, called ‘Branded,’” she said. “Both my grandfathers were fishermen, and one had his (citizenship) application dismissed and the other was filed as pending. Eventually both got there and became U.S. citizens.”
Millefoglie welcomes others to come forward so their families’ stories can be documented. She can be contacted through her website, miamillefoglie.com.
“These stories beg us to ask questions,” she said. “How is it different today and what do we do to shape immigration policy and what lessons do we learn from the past?”
Gail McCarthy may be contacted at 978-675-2706, or gmccarthy@northofboston.com.