Saturday, April 12, 2008

Italians vs. Italians on Stamford Wikipedia

In a previous post, I wrote about my surprise that Wikipedia contains a surprisingly detailed entry on the West Side. I thought the description of crime had some over-dramatic elements to it. Another part of the entry, called “ethnic groups,” struck me as funny. As you know, anyone can write and edit Wikipedia entries. This one sounds like it was written by competing Italian-American clubs.

The first paragraph says, “Many Italian-Americans in the neighborhood in the Twentieth century immigrated from Minturno, Italy and communities near it. The Minturnese Social Club, founded in 1939 and only made up of members whose families hailed from Minturno, had 120 members in 2007.” The paragraph goes on to describe the elaborate parade of Harvest Festival 2007, which included a stuffed rooster, a marching band, a float with miniature palm trees, and "men carrying a yellow throne with a portrait of the Maddona delle Grazie."

The next paragraph somewhat aggressively responds: “Another group of Italians in Stamford, came here from Settefrati, Italy. They also have a Social Club located on 23 Virgil Street, in Stamford, CT. The Settefratese tradition in Stamford is to have a Mass for their Patron Saint, La Madonna di Canneto, followed by Sagne e Fagioli at the Club.” (Italics mine.)

Italians, I'm not poking fun, but it sounds like there might be some gossip there...

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