Allied Families: The Aiuppy/Glorioso family in the 1920 Census

My great-aunt Sandy is married to a man named Anthony Aiuppy, who is of half Sicilian descent. Out of interest in the genealogy of my relatives, I have researched the Aiuppy family and established their Italian origin as Lascari, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily. Anthony is the grandson of Sicilian immigrants on his father's side, Henry Aiuppy and Frances Glorioso. In 1920, this couple was married, and living with the in-laws. Let's take a look at the 1920 Census and see what we can learn about this family, broken down by each family member. The household consists of six individuals, and is residing in Ward 33 of Chicago, Illinois. 

• Vincent Glorioso, Head of Household: This is France's father, so this is Anthony's great-grandfather and Henry Aiuppy's father-in-law. He is listed as being 64 years old, born in Italy, and immigrated in 1886, with parents born in Italy. His native language is Italian and he is unable to speak English. He is an unemployed laborer, renting his home. He is an alien, and is unable to write. 
• Sadie Glorioso, Wife of Vincent: This is the wife of Vincent and father of Frances, so Anthony's great-grandmother and Henry Aiuppy's mother-in-law. She is listed as being 60 years old, born in Italy, and immigrated in 1907, with parents born in Italy. Her native language is Italian and she is unable to speak English. She works as a Finisher for a Tailor Shop. She is an alien, and is unable to write. 
• Henry Aruppy, Son-in-law of Vincent: This is the husband of Frances and Vincent's son-in-law, so Anthony's paternal grandfather. He is listed as being 24 years old, born in Italy, and immigrated in 1912, with parents born in Italy. His native language is Italian, but he is also able to speak English. He is a laborer for a truck company. He is naturalized, and can read and write. 
• Francis Aruppy, Daughter of Vincent: This is the wife of Henry Aiuppy, and Vincent's daughter, so Anthony's paternal grandmother. She is listed as being 19 years old, born in Italy, and immigrated in 1907, with her parents of course being born in Italy. Her native language is Italian, but she is also able to speak English. She does not work. She is naturalized, and can read and write. 
• Stephen Nicolosi, Son-in-law of Vincent: This is the husband of Mary, one of France's sisters, so Henry's brother-in-law and Vincent's son-in-law. He is listed as being 28 years old, born in Italy, and immigrated in 1913, with parents born in Italy. His native language is Italian, but he is also able to speak English. He is a laborer for a can company. He is in the process of naturalization, as he lists that his papers were submitted. He is able to read and write. 
• Mary Nicolosi, Daughter of Vincent: This is the wife of Stephen Nicolosi, and France's younger sister, so Henry Aiuppy's sister-in-law. She is listed as being 18 years old, born in Italy, and immigrated in 1907, with her parents of course being born in Italy. Her native language is Italian, but she is also able to speak English. She does not work. She is an alien, and can read and write. 

So, what observations can we draw from the 1920 Census for this family? First, the household is entirely comprised of Italian immigrants. All six individuals were born in Italy, specifically, on the island of Sicily. Everybody in the family immigrated after the completion of the Risorgimento, or Italian unification, when Italian emigration skyrocketed. Prior to Italian unification, Sicily was part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and Vincent would have been born when Sicily was still under that Kingdom. Like most Italian Americans, the Glorioso/Aiuppy/Nicolosi family was comprised of immigrants from the Mezzogiorno, or the more rural, impoverished south of the Italian peninsula, in contrast to the more urban and high cultured north, birthplace of the Renaissance. 

Everybody in the family can speak Italian, and as every member of the household was originally from Italy, it was of course their first language, and as Vincent and Sadie only spoke Italian, it was almost certainly the language of home life. Their daughters and son-in-laws, however, could speak English, which was a necessity for life in their new country. As the family grew and the daughters had children, these children almost certainly were not raised speaking fluent Italian, which was the death of the language in the family. They may have known some basic Italian, but not enough to survive back in Sicily. This is common in immigrant families, the language does not survive past a few generations. Even in my own family, this is evident. The Dutch language died out with the grandchildren of the original immigrants in my family. As the children all could speak English, they probably would translate for Vincent and Sadie if necessary. 

The employment situation for the family seems consistent with an extended Italian American immigrant family in that time. Vincent, the elderly head of household, does not work, but Sadie, his elderly wife, works in a Tailor Shop as a Finisher. As her job was related to clothing, this was probably a side job she took on. I wonder if she made clothes for the family. The two daughters of the household do not work, and likely didn't go to school either, so I wonder what they did all day, besides probably helping their mother around the house when she was home, and possibly taking care of their elderly father when their mom was at work. Meanwhile, Vincent's son-in-laws were both laborers, Henry Aiuppy for a truck company and Stephen Nicolosi for a can company. Both were young Italian immigrant men, likely with very little education, and manual labor jobs were the normal source of employment. Their listed occupations make me wonder if Henry drove trucks, or if Stephen collected or made cans, for example. 

One confusing thing about this family are the years of immigration, specifically within the Glorioso family. According to the Census, Vincent immigrated in 1886, while Sadie and the girls came in 1907. The two sons-in-law, Henry Aiuppy and Stephen Nicolosi, immigrated after the Glorioso family, in 1912 and 1913 respectively. I wonder why Vincent's immigration year is wildly different from Sadie and his daughters. Some possible reasons come to mind. Maybe he just lied on the Census. Maybe he came first, and later sent for his wife and daughters. This suggestion, however, is less likely because his daughters were conceived after 1886, and I don't know how a poor Italian immigrant like Vincent would've been able to afford several round trips to Sicily and back. Maybe he immigrated once in 1886, but then returned to Sicily and came back in 1907. Who knows for sure- the truth may never be known. As a side note, every individual in this family came to America during the major wave of Italian immigration to Chicago: "Most Chicago Italians, however, trace their ancestry to the wave of unskilled southern immigrants who came to the United States between 1880 and 1914". 

In researching this Census record, I've begun to take a strong interest in this family. I wonder how much Italian and Sicilian culture played a role in the extended Glorioso family. Chicago had a vibrant Italian immigrant community, and was the city of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the famous Italian American Catholic Saint. I wonder if the family frequented Italian groceries, or followed events in Italy, for example. The true life of the family is unknown now, but the descendants of this family have a proud origin! 

For anyone further interested in exploring the Italian American community in Chicago, this link to the article "Chicago's Italians: Immigrants, Ethnics, Achievers, 1850-1985" may be of some interest: https://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/iht629936.html