Giovanni M. Di Silvestro (1879-1958) was born in Abruzzi, Italy. He earned a law degree after coming to the United States, and served the Order Sons of Italy in America as Supreme Venerable (1921-1935).
The Di Silvestro Order Sons of Italy in America collection (1909-1954) consists of Supreme Convention records (1921-1941), grand lodge records, and non-OSIA materials. Letters and telegrams detail the on-going communications of Di Silvestro during his seven terms as Supreme Venerable. Other documents, including materials of officers and lodges and newspaper clippings, describe the activities of grand lodges. Newspaper clippings describe OSIA banquets, meetings, pilgrimages to Italy, events in Italy, the Ethiopian War, and other events. Other documents concern OSIA resistance to the 1924 immigration law, the Italian World War I debt, Lega Italiana, the Sacco-Vanzetti case, the Dante Orphanage (Concordville, Pa.), and other topics. Early records include those of the Instituto Coloniale Italiana (1907-1913). Also included are Italian-American newspapers.
No inventory available.
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