ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH: A Family Working to Keep an Italian Heritage Alive

Keeping culture alive: Anna Bailey with son Dan, daughter Brianna, and Husband Chuck

October, Italian Heritage Month in Massachusetts, is celebrated in different ways by different people. Many in Franklin have immigrant connections dating back to the early 20th and both remember and celebrate moments of survival and some of triumph. Paul DeBaggis, for instance, a former Selectman, recalls the time in the 1970s when the once-powerless immigrant group could claim as its own, every member of the Board of Selectman.

But immigrants of Italian heritage arriving after World War II had a somewhat different experience. Annamaria Bailey, who grew up in Walpole but resides in Franklin with husband Charles, is a case in point.

Thanks to modern telecommunications and air travel, the connections to Italy have remained fresh.

Anna (as she is usually known), who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, explained that her father came to the US in 1958 with nothing but the address of someone to stay with in Boston’s North End neighborhood. Her mother, came later, after her father was established and became a US citizen. Both parents came from the Province of Avellino and had married in Italy.

Anna, however, admits her experience, being the youngest born in the US and not needing to make as many cultural adjustments, has made her the “most Italian” of her siblings – always working to experience and preserve old family traditions and keep her ties. In fact, as a small child she benefited from the fact that her parents both worked and had no childcare for her when the school year was over. So, for several years, she was sent to Italy each summer to spend time with grandmother, aunt, uncles, and cousins.

“We are still really close,” she said. And as her own family has grown up, she has tried to bring them to Italy when circumstances permitted. And husband Charles “Chuck” Bailey, has also worked hard to master Italian, making him in effect part of the community both there and here.

“Growing up, food was everything,” recalled Anna. “Saturday night my mother made homemade bread and pizza – it wasn’t something that came from Papa Gino’s!”

Sunday centered on going to Church and gathering as a family for a midday meal with pasta and a sauce that had simmered all morning. “As I child, I didn’t go on vacations, as an Italian family we saved every penny and we spent time with family,” she added.

In terms of work, “it was always something instilled in us from a young age; unlike most little kids we were focused on working and helping around the house,” she explained.

As a young adult, Anna admits that her mother’s dream of her marrying and having children wasn’t exactly her dream...at first.

But growing up in Walpole, she had gotten to know Chuck and developed a great respect for his character and ability. “Chuck’s cousin was my best friend, and I knew him since we were kids. I had great respect for him and his military service in Korea where he completed 24 patrols on the DMZ. Anna was also taking classes at Dean.

Chuck was later stationed at Fort Drum, NY and they had a short long-distance courtship followed by marriage, in 1990, to ‘my best friend.’

“He embraced my culture,” Anna said. “I am American first, but my heritage is in my DNA,” she added.

In 1993, the couple was finally able to put a down payment on a small home in Franklin – and fell in love with the town. “We would walk to the Nason Street Playground with the strollers and the older Italian ladies would all come out to say hello, it was great,” added Anna.

Since then, both of their children have gone on from the Franklin Public schools to college and great careers, and Chuck spent 20 years as a member of the Franklin Fire Department and president of the Union.

“I am grateful for the sacrifices my parents made to come to this country and for the rich culture and traditions that I am able to keep alive in my family today”, said Anna.