EARLY ITALIAN WELFARE LEAGUE MATERIAL FROM THE ESTATE OF OPERATIC MEZZO-SOPRANO NANA GENOVESE GAZZALE.
1619rif. 998911916-1922. 1916-1922. Very good. - A fascinating archive consisting of autograph letters signed by Carolyn Perera Nana Genovese Gazzale and others typed letters signed autograph notes flyers and other ephemera including a letter about securing Arturo Toscanini to conduct a benefit concert which was to be Toscanini's Carnegie Hall debut. Following is a detailed description of the material covering the period during and following the First World War: 1. A receipt for a donation given by Miss Genovese to the "Italian Bazaar for the Benefit of War Sufferers". The receipt is dated October 30 1916 and is signed by Arturo Di Pietro as secretary of the Italian Bazaar Committee. Di Pietro later was a contributor to "Il Nuovo Mondo" the anti-Fascist newspaper. 2. Undated circa 1916-17 Italian Red Cross flyer signed in print by its President Gian Giacomo Cavazzi Della Somaglia. Cavazzi 1869-1918 was a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy and from 1913 until the end of the war he was President of the Italian Red Cross. He actively collaborated with Tito Ricordi for the creation of the Hospital of the French Cities housed from January 1916 in a part of the Officine Ricordi. On the verso of the flyer are 2 handwritten columns of names and addresses of Italian Americans possibly members or potential donors. 3. Three items related to the Italian Red Cross: a A fund raising flyer in Italian translated: Those wounded in battle await proof of our sacred brotherhood. b A flyer in English from the American Red Cross - Italian Auxiliary requesting aid in "making surgical dressings hospital garments and knitted articles for our fighting men". c A receipt dated 1916 for a donation from Mme Genovese Gazzale signed with a stamp by Lionello Perera the Italian Delegate for the American Red Cross. Perera 1873-1942 was a prominent New York banker who had a prominent role in the creation of the Italian Welfare League. 4. A form letter addressed to "Mrs. Gazzale" asking her to become a member of the Italian Welfare League "And give it your support". "The Italian must be helped to understand America and America to understand the Italian so that he may become a self-respecting citizen and an integral part of the civic life of New York the second largest Italian city in the world." The letter is signed in ink "Luigina Littlefield / Chairman mem Com". 5. An autograph letter signed "Carolyn A. Perera" thanking Mme. Genovese for 2 tickets to a concert she was unable to use: "I should have loved to have heard you. May we make you a Director of the Italian League. I know your heart is with us." The wife of Lionello Perera Carolina Allen Perera 1883-1966 served from 1920 to 1942 as the League's first president. 6. Undated autograph letter signed "Carolyn A. Perera" thanking Mrs. Genovese for becoming "one of the Directors of the League for we need you and want you". She mentions a meeting Friday and asks her to "Bring in a list of possible members.". On the verso of the letter Genovese has written the names and addresses of 11 possible members. 7. An undated autograph letter on Italian Welfare League letterhead to Mme. Genovese signed "Carolyn A. Perera" soliciting money "to be sent thru the Italian Consulate to Italy for the earthquake sufferers." She mentions that Mrs. Wm. Guggenheim donated $500.00. The Garfagnana and Lunigiana regions were struck by a powerful earthquake on 7 September 1920. 8. A letter to Madame Genovese on Italian Welfare League letterhead dated September 22 1920. The letter signed by Margherita De Vecchi one of the founding members of the I.W.L. thanks Mme. Genovese for her contribution to the special fund for the earthquake victims. 9. A typed letter signed by Marie Di Giorgio a Vice-President of the Italian Welfare League. In the letter dated November 22 1920 she informs Mrs. Genovese that the I.W.L. "has secured Maestro Toscanini and the La Scala Orchestra for a Benefit Concert to be held at Carnegie Hall on the evening of January third." She asks for her "able assistance on the Committee of Arrangements". The January 3 1921 concert would be Toscanini's Carnegie Hall debut. 10. An undated receipt for $30.00 for three tickets from Nana Genovese. Signed probably with a stamp by Mrs. Stefano Paola Berizzi a founder and Treasurer of the I.W.L. 11. A pair of typed letters signed by the Italian baritone Ferruccio Corradetti are dated January 12 and February 4 1921. The letters in Italian concern business matters and are addressed to Signora Genovese. They are on "Lega Musicale Italiana Inc. New York" letterhead. 12. A third item signed in ink by Corradetti is a form letter inviting Nana Genovese to serve "as a member of the Honorary Dinner Committee" for Arturo Toscanini. The letter on "Lega Musicale Italiana" letterhead is subtitled "Banquet In Honor of Arturo Toscanini and La Scala Orchestra". The banquet is being planned for March 17 1921 the evening before Toscanini's second concert in Carnegie Hall. 13. A typed letter dated February 18th 1921 and signed "Vera L. Albore R.N." informs Mme. Genovese that "I have taken up the case of the Cuzzi family with Dr. and Mrs. Previtali and they do not know the exact physical condition of Mr. Cuzzi.Mrs. Previtali wishes me to thank you for the interest you have taken in this family.". 14. In a typed letter dated Oct-21 Albore asks Mme Genovese to speak to a Mr. Ely at the Rutherford Post Office on behalf of Mr. Cuzzi. She signs "Vera L. Albore R.N. / Headworker". 15. In an autograph letter signed "Vera L. Albore" she writes Mme. Genovese that Mr. Ely "will try to get Mr. Cuzzi work." She thanks Genovese for all she has done and implores "Please dont forget me and my dear people as I am anxious to help and with help from our ladies I can do more- I will do all I can for Mrs. Cuzzi". Although Albore signs with the terminal vowel "e" her name on the league's letterhead reads "Miss V. Albori R.N. Head Worker". 16. An autograph letter signed "Luigina Littlefield / Chairman mem Com" asks Mme Genovese to join the membership committee and "appeal to all the Italians you come across and to all lovers of our beautiful Italy to help us in this great work which is so much needed." On April 25 1921 Littlefield sends Genovese a thank you note "for the check and the new members". 17. In an autograph letter on her 38 West 83rd Street letterhead Carolyn Perera asks Mme. Genovese to help in the current membership campaign "by asking a few of your frinds to join. I note neither M. Scaramelli or the Antolinis are members." 18. In a response to Perera Genovese sends a draft of a letter she has written to Mrs. Antolini. "Mrs. L. Perera has kindly asked me to write you about our membership campaign.We cared for or investigated for relief over 250 Italian families last month as a part of our work". She signs "Nana Gazzale". On the verso of the letter is a draft of a note she has written to Mrs. Perera dated April 18 1921 letting her know she has written to Mrs. Antolini and to Mrs. Scaramelli. She signs the note "Nana Genovese". 19. The printed membership application for the Italian Welfare League. Annual membership dues were $5.00 and Life membership was $100.00. 20. A densely written autograph letter realized on both sides of Italian Welfare League letterhead and signed "Carolyn A. Perera". In her letter addressed to Mrs. Genovese Perera asks if she can help "a Miss Le Conte an Italian 21 years who is ambitious to become a singer." "Perhaps you could persuade someone to teach her or if you are sufficiently interested maybe you will give her some instruction.I forgot to say Miss Le Conte is one of 10 children & absolutely without means." Nana Genovese has scrawled a draft of her reply in the empty spaces on the verso of the letter. "I had promised Miss Labori ie Albori to secure her a place in the Metropolitan Opera Chorus." 21. A form letter dated April 8 1925 on Italian Welfare League letterhead. Signed in ink by Nan Ceribelli the letter is soliciting contributions to an "Emergency Fund" by having a "Renewal Membership Drive". 22. There are 3 lists of names and addresses one identified as "Life Members" with 14 names a second with 19 names identified on the verso as "For Benefit of Red Cross' and a third with 13 names and no further identification. 23 "The Christmas Work of the Italian Welfare League" an undated 4-page brochure describing the donations given "twenty families so poor that they would have had no Christmas except what we gave them" and the "Christmas party on Ellis Island" undertaken because of an appeal made by Concert Soprano Alma Simpson. The various donors and the categories of their gifts are listed. 24. An April 19 1920 receipt for a donation made by Mrs. Gazzale to the Sunshine Settlement. Sunshine Settlement was a society formed in 1900 to provide education health services and seaside visits for poor children and their mothers. The receipt is signed by the treasurer S.E. Furry with his note turning down the idea of a concert benefit proposed by the singer. 25. Three autograph letters circa February 1920 in Italian soliciting funds for discharged Italian solders. Two of the letters are on cards with black borders and the third is on "Italian Committee for Discharged Italian Soldiers" letterhead. The three letters are signed by Paola Berizzi a founding member if the Italian Welfare League. Also included is a receipt for a ten dollar donation signed by Berizzi. 26. Three letters related to a benefit concert given by Nana Genovese for the "Paterson NJ Committee Near East Relief Formerly American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief / Operating in Armenia the Caucasus Persia Syria and Greece". All three of the letters are signed "D. A. Kurk" ie Diran A. Kurkjian. A May 5 1922 autograph letter thanking Genovese for sending the program for her concert and identifying her accompanist as Alberto Bimboni. "If personal efforts mean anything this mass meeting should be a real big thing." The "Mass Meeting" with the concert took place on Mother's Day May 14 1922. A typed letter dated May 15 thanks Genovese for helping make the event a complete success. "Results secured in pledges and cash totaled nearly $1000. You had an important part in the success of this meeting and in the name of the starving children in the Near East." An autograph note on a following Tuesday sends clippings not here presentand states that the correspondent will telephone her about an upcoming meeting in Morristown. Unique. [1916-1922].
