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Billone, Carmella Messina (audio interview #1 of 2)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first interview with Carmella Billone, an 80-year-old Italian immigrant. I first met her at an ACWA retiree's function in 1973 and then again in February, 1974, when I arranged to interview her. I interviewed her in her apartment in North Hollywood. A very sweet woman, she looked considerably younger than her years and and moved with tremendous energy. Her daughter-in-law was present throughout the interview and occasionally would ask questions or clarify answers. Both were concerned about the ability to understand Carmella because of her thick, Italian accent. Because of my own familiarity with Italian - though not the Sicilian dialect - I did not have problems understanding her. TOPICS - family background and family history; living conditions in Italy; family life; household responsibilities; immigration to US; and living arrangements and housing in Chicago;work experiences in the garment industry; job skills and responsibilities; 1910 strike and picketing; wages and working conditions; unionism; marriage and children; and living conditions; 3/12/1974
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- 2020-03-27
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- File: lhgwcbillone1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-1:55)... Interview introduction. Contents are contained in the interview summary. (1:55-5:06)... Billone was born in Sicily in 1893, the fifth of six children. The town in which she lived was surrounded by thirteen smaller villages. Her parents owned a large farm on which they produced a variety of fruit. Her father made wine and oil from his crops. Her family did not live on the farm and it was approximately a two-hour walk from the town in which they lived. (5:06-10:22)... Billone went to school until the third grade and learned how to read and write. Three of her brothers immigrated to the United States seeking a "better life," and sent money back to Italy so that the rest of the family could emigrate. Life in Sicily was difficult for her family even though they were considered middle-class compared to the rest of the community. When he was not working on the family's own farm, Billone's brother worked as a farmhand for others, earning only ten cents a day. The family never lacked for food because of her father's large fruit farm. He produced several "pecks" of fruit a year and sold any surplus in town, using the money to purchase more land to farm. (10:22-16:12)... Billone's grandfather constructed his home in a mountainside. Most families living in the community lived in these cave-like structures. In addition to this home, her family owned two other homes where Billone lived most of the time. Their main home was three stories and housed her family and all of their animals. All the children slept in the same room as her parents. Although it was normal for the children to sleep in the same room where their parents "kissed," Billone notes that is no longer acceptable. When she was about ten years old, Billone and her sister moved into the family's third home, a one-room structure. (16:12-17:51)... Billone's family's homes had neither running water nor electricity. They obtained their water from a community well two or three blocks from their home. When she was a small girl, Billone began helping her mother carry water from the well. Her mother washed their clothes in a wooden tub. (17:51-19:48)... Billone explains that her family was better off than most of the people living in the town because they were able to feed themselves. Others had to find work in order to survive. Some worked as servants for wealthier families. There was a degree of shame associated with people who had to work outside the town. Billone's family did not work in other capacity besides agriculture. (19:48-26:46)... Billone and her siblings were born at four-year intervals. Her oldest brother served in the army for three years before immigrating to the US around 1904. He was followed by two brothers who immigrated over the next six years. Billone's mother died in 1908 at the age of forty-nine from bronchitis, and her father died a year later at the age of fifty. Like many people in town, her father died at a young age mainly due to hard work. Billone and her older sister and ten-year-old brother managed to take care of each after their parents died. They were supported by her older brothers who sent money from the US. Their father's farm was placed in a family trust and managed by a guardian. When she was fourteen years old, Billone left her brother and sister and immigrated to the US. (26:46-33:21)... Billone's aunt and uncle already lived in the US when her older brother immigrated in 1904. They loaned Billone roughly $50 so that she could come to the US with the understanding that she would pay them back once she found work. She and two friends took a train to Palermo and then traveled on a small boat to Naples where they boarded the San Giovani for the US. Billone describes the two-week passage and the conditions on the boat. She landed in New York on Labor Day in 1910. (33:21-37:39)... When Billone arrived in New York, she paid her travel fees and was provided with food. Although she did not know how to speak English, she knew how to say "Chicago." The immigration officials looked at her passport and transported her to a train station where she boarded a train bound for Chicago. The two friends that she traveled with to the US decided to stay in New York and Billone was alone during the two day train ride. When she arrived in Chicago, her brothers were waiting for her. (37:39-40:18)... Billone's brothers were working in construction when she came to the US. She moved into an apartment with her younger brother's family on the south side of Chicago in the 2200 block of Wentworth. It had a kitchen and three bedrooms. Her older brother also was married and lived in another apartment with his wife and family. (40:18-41:15)... Billone's maiden name was Messina. She learned how to sew in Italy and had some experience prior to emigrating. End of tape. File: lhgwcbillone2.mp3 (0:00-2:32)... Many of Billone's neighbors worked at Hart, Schaffner & Marx. She started working there hand stitching the belt lining inside pants. The work was piecework and she earned .06 cents for each pair of pants she finished. She believes she was able to finish only one pair of pants per day. (2:32-5:48)... When Billone started working at the shop, she joined the union and paid .50 cents for union dues. Two weeks later, the workers went on strike. She recalls that most of the garment shops were on strike at that time. The strike lasted for four months, during which time she attended meetings and heard speeches regarding better pay and working conditions. She knew that earning .06 cents per pair of pants was a low wage. While she was on strike, her brothers supported her and she helped take care of her brother's new baby. Her brothers paid the rent for the apartment in which they lived, which was $8-$10 a month. (5:48-10:14)... Billone remembers that her co-workers at Hart, Schaffner & Marx talked about better pay and working conditions. She occasionally attended union meetings, but it was difficult to do so because she had to walk to the union hall. During the strike she went to work at another shop earning .50 cents per pair of pants. She also took work home with her. When this shop went on strike, she found herself out of a job again. (10:14-13:29)... Billone describes how a co-worker gave her a knife in anticipation of forcing the floorlady to leave the shop when the workers walked out. (13:29-17:30)... Once the strike was called, Billone and her co-workers went to other shops and picketed. She describes her experiences picketing and the tactics they used to intimidate scabs. In Italian the word scab was synonymous with the word traitor. (17:30-19:12)... Billone remembers when an Italian man was killed during the 1910 strike [Editor's note: this was more likely the 1915 strike.] Everyone from the union attended this young man's funeral, which was held in a train depot. (19:12-21:19)... Billone simply "followed the crowd" when her co-workers decided to go out on strike. She was out of work for four months and when the strike ended she returned to Hart, Schaffner & Marx. She could not recall what union she joined. [Editor's note: at the time it was the United Garment Workers (UGW), which eventually became the ACWA.] She paid .50 a month union dues. (21:19-25:39)... When she returned to Hart, Schaffner & Marx after the 1910 strike, she continued to work on the belt lining of pants. Her wages increased and she starting making approximately $4 or $5 a week. She believes she had to make seventeen pairs of pants in order to make one dollar in wages. She eventually learned armhole basting. After the strike, she was transferred to a different shop within HS&M, but continued to make pants. She did not want to return to the shop where she worked prior to the strike because of her bad experiences with the chairlady in that shop. Billone remembers that this woman was protected by the police during the 1910 strike because she refused to stop working. (25:39-27:34)... During the 1910 strike, Billone was never struck by a police officer or involved in confrontations with scabs. She was one of a "bunch" who tried to stop people from taking work home with them. However, after she married her activities in this area lessened. (27:34-32:16)... Billone married in 1912 when she was eighteen years old. She met her husband in the neighborhood; he was from the same town in Italy Sicily. Her husband was a twenty-seven-year-old widower with two small children. Billone felt ashamed when she married because her family expected her to marry a single, young man, not a widower with children. Her husband worked as a construction laborer. She digresses and talks about the sick benefits offered by the Italian fraternal organizations in the neighborhood. (32:16-34:54)... Billone and her family were Catholics but did not attend church on a regular basis because of their busy work schedules. Although she believes that the Church did not support the 1910 strike, she cannot recall any specific statements made by the priests in opposition to the strike. She continued to work after she married because her husband was often out of work. They lived in a three-room apartment with a kitchen, a bedroom, and a living room. The bathroom was located down the hall and they shared it with six other families. They obtained water from a receptacle located in the hall. (34:54-39:50)... Billone did not work between the years 1913-17, during which time she gave birth to three children. After her third child was born, she went to work at a ladies garment shop and worked on women's pants for about three years. She joined the ILGWU and her wages averaged approximately $28 a week. Her sister-in-law took care of her children during the day, and when the two oldest children were old enough, Billone placed them in nursery school. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Carmella Messina Billone was the last of five children born to a peasant Sicilian family. The family's farm land was two hours from Nicosia, the town in which they lived. Although they were better off than others in the area, her brother had to hire out as a farm hand to supplement the family income until he left for the US. Eventually, in 1910, she left for the US, traveling with three girlfriends from Nicosia. She joined her brothers in Chicago and went to work immediately at Hart, Schaffner & Marx, where her sister-in-law and neighbors were all working. Within two weeks, when the workers walked out in the 1910 strike, she became an ardent union activist, joining Local 30. After WWI, she joined the Italian Local. Two years later, when she was eighteen, Billone married a neighbor who lived in the same building. He was a twenty-seven year old widower with two children. From 1913-1917, when she gave birth to her own children, she worked outside the home only sporadically. When her husband was injured on the job in 1925, she became the sole support of the family. In 1947, the family moved to California and she went to work as an armhole baster. After she retired in 1959, she and her husband became active in the ACWA Retirees Local. INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first interview with Carmella Billone, an 80-year-old Italian immigrant. I first met her at an ACWA retiree's function in 1973 and then again in February, 1974, when I arranged to interview her. I interviewed her in her apartment in North Hollywood. A very sweet woman, she looked considerably younger than her years and and moved with tremendous energy. Her daughter-in-law was present throughout the interview and occasionally would ask questions or clarify answers. Both were concerned about the ability to understand Carmella because of her thick, Italian accent. Because of my own familiarity with Italian - though not the Sicilian dialect - I did not have problems understanding her. TOPICS - family background and family history; living conditions in Italy; family life; household responsibilities; immigration to US; and living arrangements and housing in Chicago;work experiences in the garment industry; job skills and responsibilities; 1910 strike and picketing; wages and working conditions; unionism; marriage and children; and living conditions;
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