Our Stories
American Heritage
The journeys of our families in America — and an invitation to share yours.
Our members have shared these treasured stories and photographs of life in America. Each one is a thread in the fabric of our community.
Cavanna’s
From Janet Scagnelli: A photo of my great-aunt Maddelena “Madame” Cavanna in her Boston restaurant, Cavanna’s — she is the first person seated on the stool. She ran a boarding house upstairs. Her husband Giuseppi Morisi went back to Europe and she stayed with her two daughters. She later moved to Durham, CT and opened the Durham Inn, which she sold to Frank Forlini. They opened a restaurant together; she then sold her part and opened a hot dog stand outside her house over the county line in Madison, CT — which I used to run when I was about 10! Uncle Joe had returned by then.
November 1950
Possibly one of the earliest meetings of what was then called the Società Val Trebbia. Left to right: Giuseppe (Joseph) Macellari, Founder Giovanni (John) Draghi, Founder Paul Draghi, and Giuseppe (Joseph) Draghi. This was before they began meeting at Forlini’s — and from the aprons, it looks like they did their own cooking. Both Giuseppes were cooks by trade, and Giovanni owned and ran his own diner in Brooklyn.
Società Dinner Dances From Years Gone By
With thanks to Christina Forlini for sharing these photographs.
