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Coordinates: 41°49′24.5″N 71°25′27.5″W / 41.823472°N 71.424306°W / 41.823472; -71.424306
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Macaroni Riots
Location
Federal Hill, Providence, Rhode Island

41°49′24.5″N 71°25′27.5″W / 41.823472°N 71.424306°W / 41.823472; -71.424306
Caused byIncrease in the price of foodstuffs
Methods
Parties
Italian American protestors
Providence Police Department

1914 PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, MACARONI RIOTS.

- ON DeSIMONE 2014 RN, on p. 140

- Do DeSimone 2014 p. 133 intro. later.

- On Sullivan 1996 p. 59

Background

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Italian Americans in Federal Hill

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1912 street photograph of Atwells Avenue in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, by Lewis Hine

Federal Hill is a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, situated directly west of the city's Downtown district.[1] Beginning around the 1840s, Federal Hill became a working class neighborhood with a significant population of Irish Americans, many of whom had immigrated to the United States due to the Great Famine in Ireland.[2] Starting in the 1870s, Italian Americans began to settle in Federal Hill, and by 1895, the neighborhood was roughly evenly divided in population between Italian and Irish immigrants and their descendants.[3] By the beginning of the 20th century, the neighborhood had gained the designation as Providence's Little Italy,[4] and between 1905 and 1916, with many Irish Americans finding housing elsewhere, the neighborhood's Italian American population grew from 18,000 to over 40,000.[5] In addition to Federal Hill, other neighborhoods with sizeable Italian populations included Charles and Silver Lake.[6]

These immigrants and their descendants faced anti-Italian discrimination from the non-Italian White Americans in Providence.[4][7] For example, many Italian Americans who were employed by the city's streetcar operator were referred to by numbers instead of their surnames,[4] and some in the immigrant community were critical of reformers associated with the city's settlement movement, which sought to Americanize the community.[5] Additionally, a 1911 shootout between police officers and an Italian American murder suspect in Federal Hill damaged the relationship between the police and the community.[8] In some cases, Italian immigrants sought to resist discrimination by forming mutual benefit associations and joining activist groups, such as anarchist and socialist organizations and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a militant labor union.[4][9] In Federal Hill, the socialist movement included a weekly newspaper, the Labor Advocate, and the Italian Socialist Club.[7][10][note 1] On September 16, 1912,[11] local socialist activists held a 2,000-person parade in support of labor organizers who had been arrested during the recent Lawrence textile strike, including Italian IWW organizers Joseph James Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti.[12] During the parade, activists unfurled a red flag, leading to a violent confrontation between marchers and police that further soured relations.[13][14]

Price increases during World War I

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In 1913, the United States was experiencing a period of economic depression that was accompanied by a nationwide increase in the price of foodstuffs that was so severe that it was leading to some instances of starvation.[15] Early in the year, an increase in the price of ice led to a 10 percent price increase in milk in the neighboring states of Connecticut and Rhode Island, prompting the city government of Providence to launch an investigation into the cause of the former.[16] A year later, Mayor John Purroy Mitchel of New York City ordered a broader investigation that blamed a combination of the recent outbreak of World War I in Europe and increased hoarding as the main reasons for the rising food prices.[16] However, the investigation also noted that there had been some instances of collusion among sellers that may have contributed.[16]

An Italian grocery store on Atwells Avenue in Federal Hill, 2007

In Providence, much of the concern focused on the marked increase in wholesale prices for macaroni,[16] as well as other pasta and Italian cuisine food products.[5] Some in the Italian American community accused wholesalers of falsely labelling American-made pasta products as Italian-made and charging a greater price for their products.[16] Particular criticism was leveled against Frank P. Ventrone, a wholesaler of imported food products nicknamed the "Macaroni King",[17][18] with Labor Advocate accusing him of profiteering.[10] In late July 1914, studies into the increased cost of living were launched by both Providence Mayor Joseph H. Gainer and Rhode Island Governor Aram J. Pothier.[16] The mayor's investigation was carried out by the Rhode Island Retail Grocers' and Marketmen's Association, an employers' organization, while the governor's was carried out by the state's Commissioner of Industrial Statics George H. Webb.[19] By the following month, the price of foodstuffs in Federal Hill had increased 66 percent.[16][note 2]

Protests and riots

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August 22

[edit]

The Italian Socialist Club took an active role in organizing opposition to the price increases, which they contended constituted price gouging,[10] and in mid-August 1914, they began to circulate flyers for a rally at the corner of Atwells Avenue and Dean Street in Federal Hill on August 22, a Saturday.[20][note 3] The rally attracted about 2,000 protestors, in addition to a detachment of over 70 law enforcement officers, including 7 mounted police officers on horseback.[20][19] Starting at 7:15 p.m., over a dozen members of the socialist club gave speeches denouncing the price increases and, in particular, Ventrone, who was accused of intentionally mislabeling American-made pasta as Italian-made and charging a higher price.[17][18] One speaker denounced the police in his speech, but because it was in Italian, the police, consisting largely of Irish and other non-Italian White Americans, did not interfere.[21][19] Following the rally, the crowd dispersed peacefully.[21][19]

Following the rally, the two members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives who represented Federal Hill, both members of the Democratic Party, reached out to Governor Pothier to take action on the issue of profiteering.[16] About a week after the rally,[16] At 10:30 a.m. on August 24, Mayor Gainer called a private conference to address the results of his study,[21] which he said revealed no evidence of price fixing or profiteering,[10] a conclusion also yielded by Governor Pothier's investigation.[19] However, these results were criticized by activists and the writers in the Labor Advocate,[19] who accused the mayor of engaging in a "whitewash".[16][10] Following this, activists began to circulate flyers for another rally to be held on August 29.[22] Ventrone believed that the flyers implied that his store would be attacked, and as a result, he requested police protection.[23]

August 29

[edit]

The second rally began in the early evening of August 29 at the same location as the first one a week prior,[24] with a crowd of about 1,000 people.[note 4] According to contemporary non-socialist media outlets, "agitators" from Boston and New York City had traveled to Providence to participate.[24] Again, members of the Socialist Club gave speeches urging the attendees to take action against the price increases, and following the conclusion of the speeches, a large group of protestors began to move down Atwells Avenue towards Ventrone's store,[23] which was located a few blocks away.[24] Upon reaching Ventrone's business at 240-244 Atwells Avenue,[20] the crowd began to break the windows and looted the building, stealing pasta and throwing foodstuffs onto the street.[25][4][10] Several other businesses located on the same city block, including a barber shop, a dry goods store, and a pharmacy, were also looted.[24][23] During the looting, one 20-year old rioter who had made it into Ventrone's store was struck by a projectile thrown by another rioter, sustaining a severe head injury.[24]

During the rioting, streetcar services in the area were suspended, and many street vendors' pushcarts were seized by the mob.[26] Additionally, firefighters arrived at the scene in response to a false alarm.[26] Possibly due to the peaceful nature of the previous week's rally,[4] the number of police officers present at this second rally proved ineffective at preventing the ensuing rioting.[23] However, as additional officers arrived at the scene, the mob's violence began to redirect from the stores to the police.[26][23] Rioters yelled insults at the officers and threw projectiles, such as rocks and bottles, causing some injuries.[26] Eventually, a shootout commenced between the rioters and the police, resulting in at least three rioters and one police officer getting shot.[26] The mob eventually scattered, fleeing from Atwells Avenue and attempting to regroup in smaller gatherings along the smaller side roads.[26] By 6 p.m., the disturbances had mostly ceased, with 100 police officers, including several on horseback, patrolling Federal Hill.[26] In total, only seven arrests were made,[23] while the damage to Ventrone's property amounted to roughly $2,000 (equivalent to $61,000 in 2023).[26]

August 30

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Through most of the early hours of the following day, August 30, Federal Hill was mostly peaceful.[26] However, this changed around 3 p.m. with the arrival a process server who had a writ of capias for a Federal Hill resident.[26] While the warrant specified that the individual was wanted for nonsupport, a crowd of Federal Hill residents believed that the arrest had something to do with the individuals involvement in the previous night's rioting, leading to a physical confrontation.[26][23] Shortly afterwards, a group of boys began marching down Acorn Street, waving a red flag that they had made out of a flannel shirt and proclaiming in Italian, "Viva la rivolta!" (transl. Long live the revolt).[26] This group of boys was eventually joined by several men who began throwing projectiles at the police.[27] Police responded by opening fire into the crowd.[28][29] During this confrontation, one police officer was knocked unconscious by a rock that had struck his head, while one fifteen-year-old protestor was shot in the chest, with many in the crowd believing the injury to be fatal.[28][30][note 5] Much of this fighting took place around the intersection of Atwells and Arthur Avenue.[30]

Following the shooting, the responsible police officer was beaten and chased by the crowd, and he eventually fled to a fire station at the corner of Atwells and America Street.[28] Members of the crowd followed and engaged in fighting with the firefighters there.[28] One of the firefighters was shot in the face,[28] with a bullet striking his ear.[30] Eventually, Providence's Chief of Police John A. Murray sent every available officer to Federal Hill to quell the rioting, many equipped with nightsticks and on horseback.[28] On Atwells Avenue, the mob, numbering about 2,500 in total, clashed with about 300 police officers, exchanging gunfire, throwing projectiles, and assaulting each other for about 20 minutes before the police, with a volley of gunfire that struck about a dozen rioters, were able to disperse the large crowd.[28] During the fighting, the police fired so many bullets that an addition 1,200 rounds of ammunition were brought in from the city's Central Police Station.[28] Sporadic violence continued until about 7 p.m., when the police had effectively cleared Federal Hill of any crowds.[28]

In the aftermath, some of the injured were taken to Rhode Island Hospital,[28] though many of the injured protestors, fearful of being arrested, avoided the hospital and sought medical assistance elsewhere.[30] In total, the number of injured by gunfire included one firefighter, one police officer, and eleven civilians, while eight other police officers were treated for non-gunshot injuries.[32][note 6] Several commercial buildings were damaged, including a bakery, a Chinese laundry, a department store, and a pool hall, while additional damage occurred to a primary school and several tenements.[28]

August 31

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On August 31, about 200 police officers patrolled Federal Hill, especially the area around Atwells Avenue.[30] That same day, a meeting was held between Italian socialists and representatives of Ventrone's business, which was organized by a reporter for the local Evening Tribune newspaper.[30] During the meeting, Ventrone's representatives stated that, while Ventrone was not responsible for the increased food prices, he would agree to sell his pasta products to the general public at the same price that he was selling to retailers.[30] The socialists, who refused to give their names, agreed to the deal and signed on behalf of their socialist organization.[33] Additionally, the socialists denounced the violence from the previous nights' riots and publicly dispelled a rumor that they had invited Joe Sullivan, a noted anarchist from New York City, and Giovannitti to come to Providence to help lead the protests.[34] Throughout the day, while there were rumors of possible rioting planned in Silver Lake and along West Exchange Street, nothing came of these, and the day passed without a riot.[34] The following day, the deal was reported on by The Providence Journal.[34]

September 7

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Following the August 30 riot, socialist activists organized plans for a gathering on Labor Day, September 7, in Olneyville, a neighborhood near Federal Hill.[34] About 1,000 people attended this socialist rally, with several plainclothes law enforcement also in attendance.[34] Following the rally, about 100 people, mostly young men, began to make their way back to Federal Hill, where, upon arrival, an older man began speaking and urged the group to grab sticks and rocks.[34]


- INFO.[34]

- Violent protest occurred on Labor Day, INFO ON THAT.[4]



- AFTERMATH.[28][30]

- Ended on September 14, when neighborhood grocers agreed to lower prices.[35]



Aftermath

[edit]

- Newspapers dubbed the protests the "Macaroni Riots".[10]

- Became known as the Macaroni Riots.[19]

- REASONS FOR THE RIOTS.[36]

- Previous incident of mass social movement in Providence against price hikes among the Jewish community, INFO ON THAT.[12]

- Mob was only concerned with Ventrone, as evidenced by the localization of violence to his store and city block.[23]

- Following August 29 protest, Ventrone met with socialists and agreed to price reduction, INFO ON THAT.[10]

- Headline of Labor Advocate newspaper.[10]

- Led to a repeal in the price of pasta after only two days of protesting.[8]

- Twenty thousand dollars in damages and several dozen individuals injured.[37]

- Resulted in property damage in the neighborhood.[4]

- Several confrontations between Italian protestors and, mostly Irish, police officers.[4]

- List of injuries.[4]

- Worst outbreak of violence in Providence since the Dorr Rebellion.[37]

- Previous outbreaks of violence in 1824 and 1831, info on that.[7]

- Quote about "mutual feeling of dislike", USE QUOTE.[20]

- Quote about "climax of two years" with regards to IWW organizing.[38]

- Viewed by historian Abramovitz in the context of other price-driven protests from women during this time, OTHER INSTANCES HERE, INCLUDING ONE IN PROVIDENCE SEVERAL YEARS PRIOR.[39]

- May have also been pushback against some Protestant reforms.[5]

- Rioting stemmed from anti-Italian discrimination.[40][37]

- LATER HISTORY OF FEDERAL HILL.[8][41]

- Years later, Democrats took control of state politics, in part due to Italian involvement.[4]

- November 17, 2014: Rhode Island Labor History Society held a commemorative event at local church.[4]

- Compared to 2023 pasta price increases in Italy, info on that.[10]

- Commentary.[10]

Notes

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  1. ^ Multiple sources, including a 2023 article in the magazine Jacobin and a 1996 article by historian Russell J. DeSimone in the journal Italian Americana, refer to the group of Italian socialists in Providence as the "Italian Socialist Club".[7][10] However, in the same article, DeSimone also refers to the group as the "Italian Socialist Party".[7] Additionally, in a 1996 article for the journal Rhode Island History, historian Joseph W. Sullivan referred to the group as the "Italian Socialist Federation",[11] the terminology also used in a 2014 article in The Providence Journal.[4]
  2. ^ The source from which this percentage comes from does not give an exact timespan over which this price increase occurred.[16]
  3. ^ Multiple sources state that the first rally against the price increases occurred on August 22.[16][20][19] However, a 2014 article in The Providence Journal gives the date of August 21 for the first rally.[4]
  4. ^ Several sources state that there were around 1,000 people in attendance at the August 29 rally.[23][19][4] However, in a 2023 article for Jacobin, economist Brian Callaci states that this rally saw 2,000 attendees.[10]
  5. ^ Both sources that mention this event do not claim with certainty that the bullet wound was fatal. In a 1996 article for the journal Rhode Island History, historian Joseph W. Sullivan stated that the gunshot "[inflicted] an apparently fatal wound" that left the teenager "gravely wounded".[28] Meanwhile, in a 2014 article in the journal Italian Americana, historian Russell J. DeSimone said that the teenager "was thought to be fatally wounded" by the gunshot.[30] However, both of these sources note that, per contemporary records, it appears that the teenager later recovered from the gunshot.[31][30]
  6. ^ These figures come from historian Joseph W. Sullivan in a 1996 article in Rhode Island History.[32] However, historian Russell J. DeSimone gives a slightly different count in a 2014 article for Italian Americana of "eighteen people injured: six policemen, one fireman and eleven citizens".[30]

References

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  1. ^ Naumec 2017, p. 454.
  2. ^ Naumec 2017, p. 455.
  3. ^ Naumec 2017, pp. 455–456.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Molloy 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d Naumec 2017, p. 456.
  6. ^ DeSimone 2014, p. 133.
  7. ^ a b c d e DeSimone 2014, p. 135.
  8. ^ a b c Rhode Island Monthly 2007.
  9. ^ DeSimone 2014, pp. 134–135.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Callaci 2023.
  11. ^ a b Sullivan 1996, p. 52.
  12. ^ a b DeSimone 2014, p. 136.
  13. ^ DeSimone 2014, pp. 136–137.
  14. ^ Sullivan 1996, pp. 52–53.
  15. ^ Sullivan 1996, pp. 53, 55.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sullivan 1996, p. 55.
  17. ^ a b Sullivan 1996, pp. 55–56.
  18. ^ a b DeSimone 2014, pp. 137–138.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i DeSimone 2015.
  20. ^ a b c d e DeSimone 2014, p. 137.
  21. ^ a b c DeSimone 2014, p. 138.
  22. ^ DeSimone 2014, pp. 138–139.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i DeSimone 2014, p. 139.
  24. ^ a b c d e Sullivan 1996, p. 56.
  25. ^ Sullivan 2014, p. 139.
  26. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sullivan 1996, p. 57.
  27. ^ Sullivan 1996, pp. 57–58.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sullivan 1996, p. 58.
  29. ^ DeSimone 2014, pp. 139–140.
  30. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DeSimone 2014, p. 140.
  31. ^ Sullivan 1996, p. 64.
  32. ^ a b Sullivan 1996, pp. 58–59.
  33. ^ DeSimone 2014, pp. 140–141.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g DeSimone 2014, p. 141.
  35. ^ Sterne 2003, pp. 106–107.
  36. ^ Sullivan 1996, p. 59.
  37. ^ a b c Sterne 2003, p. 107.
  38. ^ Sullivan 1996, p. 51.
  39. ^ Abramovitz 2000, pp. 122–123.
  40. ^ Sterne 2016, p. 68.
  41. ^ Naumec 2017, p. 457.

Sources

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Further reading

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[edit]






1902 PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND STREETCAR STRIKE

1908 BIRMINGHAM COAL STRIKE

EXOTIC DANCERS UNION

GSA LAS VEGAS SCANDAL

1914 MACARONI RIOT, PROVIDENCE

1974 PUERTO RICAN RIOT IN NEWARK

1931 UNITED CHARITIES CHICAGO RIOT

1976 HULL PRISON RIOT

1968 LONG BINH PRISON RIOT

2016 CURAÇAO OIL WORKERS STRIKE

1976 NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL RIOTS

1972 SHREWSBURY BUILDING WORKERS STRIKE

CENTURY LOFTS ATLANTA, former Chevrolet headquarters

1917 FEDERAL RAIDS ON IWW AND SOCIALIST PARTY

1936 MACBETH MINE EXPLOSION, LOGAN COUNTY, WV

1936 TROCADERO GRILL STRIKE

2013 SAINT HELENA AIRPORT STRIKE

1972 USS Constellation protest (Black Fraction)

2024 NORTH KOREAN TEXTILE DISPUTE IN JULIN PROVINCE

1893 Chidswell miner strike

196 KENSINGTON SQUATTING

TERRY'S PURGE, GEORGIA

SEARS TOWER PHILADELPHIA (similar to Ponce City Market)

1989 PEACHTREE 25TH BUILDING FIRE

TUCKERTON TOWER

SAMUEL DOWSE BRADWELL

OPERATION BLOOMING ONION

BORIS YELTSIN VISIT TO RANDALL'S

THE CHAPPARRALS, Atlanta band from the 1970s

2023 MEDIEVAL TIMES STRIKE

ATHENS CITY HALL IN GEORGIA

PEALE'S MASTODON

PAPER GENOCIDE

CASE OF BOUNKHAM PHONESAVANH

GEORGIA PLATFORM (New Georgia Encyclopedia article)

STATUE OF HANK AARON, ATLANTA

CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE KING (ATLANTA) (existing article needs a large overhaul)

THREE GOVERNORS CONTROVERSY (overhaul article)

MICHAEL KRUSE, political journalist

WASHINGTON AVENUE GREEN

SWEET GUM HEAD / MARTIN PADGETT / BILL SMITH (Atlanta LGBT history topics)

LIST OF GEORGIA HISTORICAL MARKERS (base it off of list of New Hampshire historical markers, but year instead of number)

1914 PRAIRIE CREEK MINE STRIKE, SEBASTIAN COUNTY, ARKANSAS

SHAKESPEARE MEMORIAL, PHILADELPHIA

1919 KNOXVILLE STREETCAR STRIKE (Use "Labor Conflict in Urban Appalachia: The Knoxville Streetcar Strike of 1919" by James A. Burran, Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Spring 1979).

MUSKEGON MUSEUM OF ART

2023 UAW MACK TRUCKS STRIKE

ROME SIT-INS

SWIFT'S PEANUT PORK FACTORY STRIKE, interracial strike that occurred in post-WWII Moultrie, GA (mentioned in Beyond Atlanta)

ANDERSON PARK, ATLANTA (mentioned in Beyond Atlanta)

JUNE 1943 RACE RIOT AT CAMP STEWART, GEORGIA (reported by the New York Times)

STATUE OF HENRY CLAY, LEXINGTON CEMETERY

BEAR CREEK MAROON NEAR SAVANNAH

1918-1919 SAVANNAH STREETCAR STRIKE

1915 PITTSBURGH STREETCAR STRIKE

1914 MONAGHAN MILL STRIKE

WILLIAM M. REILLY MEMORIAL, PHILADELPHIA

1917 TEXAS GULF COAST OIL STRIKE

THE PILGRIM by John Quincy Adams Ward

JOSEPH GABRIEL STARKE, Australian politician

1933 FUNSTEN NUT STRIKE

1916 MESABI IRON RANGE STRIKE, IWW

WHALEMAN STATUE, NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS

STATUE OF NICHOLAS HERKIMER

HERKIMER MONUMENT

STATUE OF THOMAS LOWRY, MINNEAPOLIS

MINGOE, 1691 RAIDERS

1915 ARIZONA MINERS STRIKE, COPPER MINES, 8,000 MINERS (also possibly known as Clifton-Morenci-Metcalf Strike)

1947 TERRYTOONS STRIKE

1831 SNOW TOWN RIOT, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

1898 by Andrew O'Connor

HILLANDALE FARMS FIRE

1970 ASBURY REVIVAL

1891 SAVANNAH DOCK WORKERS STRIKE (Philip S. Foner wrote about this in The Black Worker Vol. III)

PROPOSED WASHINGTON MONUMENT IN NEW YORK CITY (look up Atlas Obscura article)

1938 philly city workers strike plaque at city hall

PRESIDENTIAL STATUES IN RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

PRESIDENTS NORTH CAROLINA GAVE THE NATION, monument at the NC State House

  1. ^ Sterne 2003, pp. 106–107.
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