The legacy of rule by foreign nations after the fall of the Roman Empire greatly contributed to the belief of people in Italy that family comes first. The idea of being “Italian” solidified when Rome joined the Italian Republic in 1870. In America, being part of the Italian community aided immigrants from Italy in their transition to life in a new land, with many living in Little Italy neighborhoods that offered residents safety, freedom to speak their own language, shop in Italian-owned businesses and practice their Catholic faith. Italian Americans, including Tony Persichetti, retained the belief in family first and the value of being part of a greater community.
Anthony “Tony” Persichetti (Persichette) was born in Denver on March 1, 1909. His father, Marziale Persichetti, was born in Torricella, Italy in 1869. Located in the Apulia region of southeast Italy, Torricella was, and remains, well known for its agriculture including olives, grapes, wheat, figs and sheep ranching. Tony’s mother Teresa was born in 1883 in Penne, a town in the Abruzzo region of central Italy. Tony’s father came to America in 1897, followed by his mother in 1907. That same year, Marziale Persichetti and Teresa DiMartino were married at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Denver. One of seven children, Tony Persichetti grew up helping his father on the family’s small truck farm just outside of Denver.
On January 19, 1930, Tony Persichetti (age 20) married Adeline Daddario (age 16) at St. Patrick’s Church in Denver. The daughter of Italian immigrants, Adeline also grew up in a farming family. After their marriage, the couple lived with Adeline’s parents and siblings at 1821 W 38thAvenue in Denver’s Little Italy. In 1931 the couple’s daughter Theresa was born, followed by Jeannie in 1937. By 1940, Tony and Adeline Persichetti were operating their own farm, known as Clear Creek Gardens, at 6100 Pecos Street in Adams County, Colorado. Celery, lettuce, cabbage, onions and cauliflower were the primary crops grown on the Persichetti farm.
Hardworking, industrious and generous, the Persichetti family (including Tony’s siblings) lived within about a 5-mile radius of one another in Adams County. A majority of their other neighbors were also Italian and Italian American. Interestingly, in November of 1943, Tony Persichetti took in a Japanese-American alien family and sponsored them for two years; this act kept the Hara family from relocating to an internment camp. Tony Persichetti’s deed is interesting in that during World War II over 1.5 million Italian Americans fought for their country, with many downplaying their Italian heritage for fear of being perceived as disloyal to America or a supporter of Fascist Italy.
For readers unaware, at the same time Italian Americans served in World War II, nearly 2,000 Italian aliens in America were sent to prison camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, and President Roosevelt’s Presidential Proclamations authorizing the United States to detain allegedly potentially dangerous enemy aliens.By the end of the war, over 31,000 suspected enemy aliens and their families (mostly individuals of German, Italian, or Japanese ancestry)had been interned at Immigration and Naturalization Services internment camps and military facilities throughout the United States.
A complex time for Italian Americans in American history, the willingness of Tony Persichetti to help the Hara family during World War II reflects not only the generosity of the Persichetti family, but also, the characteristic of Italian American loyalty to family and community. Despite facing suspicion as an American of Italian descent, Tony Persichetti also faced discrimination as a supporter of the Japanese, when he entered into a Share Crop Agreement with Rikichi Hara on November 29, 1943. The agreement stated that Persichetti would provide a place for the Hara family to live at no cost, along with land for use by Hara (and his sons Ben and Henry) between January 1, 1944 and January 1, 1945. Persichetti would also provide Hara with water, seed and horses, trucks and tractors for use in cultivation and preparation of the soil and transportation of crops at no cost. In return, the Hara family would provide the labor necessary for growing, harvesting and selling the crops, at no cost to Persichetti.
Born in Hiroshima-ken, Japan in 1883, Rikichi Hara came to the United States in 1903. After living in Seattle, Washington and Sunrise, Wyoming, he came to Colorado around 1916, settling in the Grand Junction area and then Ft. Lupton with his wife Yuku. In 1917 his daughter Yurie was born in Weld County, followed by sons Ben and Henry.
Rikichi Hara died in Adams County in 1971. Tony Persichetti died in Adams County in 1991. By: Alisa DiGiacomo
