What Goes Around Comes Around?

Around the turn of the 20th century, a young Italian immigrant named Enrico “Henry” Caputo arrived to work in the steel mills of western Pennsylvania. In 1906 he married another Italian immigrant, Anna Fuoco, the 14-year-old daughter of a janitor. (The Fuocos would later Americanize their last name to its literal translation: “Fire.”)

Enrico Caputo’s WWI draft registration

Henry and Anna would have eight American-born children together. Here’s the family in Cleveland in the 1930 census, along with Anna’s widowed mother, Emily Fire, and a son-in-law.

But it’s important to remember that Italian immigrants like the Caputos and the Fuocos were not exactly welcomed with open arms.

In 1891, 19 Italian-Americans were indicted for the murder of the New Orleans police chief. After many of the defendants were acquitted, and a mistrial declared for others, a massive riot broke out at the prison where they were being held. 11 of the men were brutally lynched by an angry mob.