| Marano Marchesato, province of Cosenza, Calabria,
is located about five miles west of Cosenza, near
the villages of Marano Principato, Rende, San Fili,
and Castrolibero. The current population is
about 2,200, and its altitude is 550 meters above
sea level.
Although a plaque in its church, Our Lady of Mount
Carmel (Maria SS. del Carmelo) states that a church
has existed on this spot since about 1100 AD., the
beginnings of the current village can be traced
to 1638. In that year an earthquake devastated houses
in the area, and refugees from Rende relocated in
the older village.
There then followed a dispute between the Marchese
of Rende and the Prince (Principe) of Castelfranco
over the villages in the area. In consequence, one
village, Marano Marchesato, was assigned to the
Marchese, and the other, Marano Principato, was
assigned to the Prince.
The economy of Marano Marchesato is agriculturally
based with grains, potatoes, olives, chestnuts,
and grapes the chief crops. Beginning in the 1880s,
with land scarce and taxes high, men from the village
began a migration to North and South America.
At that time the population was approximately 2,800.
Early immigrants were mainly sojourning young men
seeking jobs to provide funds with which they could
return to Italy and establish their family. These
men began a chain migration that flowed from Marano
Marchesato to the Near West Side Little Italy in
Chicago. From there, the laborers were hired
as railroad workers, and they worked on track gangs
in the West and Midwest. By the time the great migration
slowed to a trickle due to immigration legislation
in the US in 1924, hundreds of men and women had
left Marano Marchesato for the New World. Other
popular locations for these immigrants were Kenosha
and Racine, Wisconsin; New York; Pittsburgh; Ohio;
New Jersey; and Trinidad, Colorado. The flow actually
continued slowly during the 1930s, resumed again
following World War II and continued into the 1960s.
The main impact of the immigration from this area
was felt in the Chicago colony and in Kenosha, where
literally hundreds of paesani settled. Due to the
large number of return immigrants, there was a closeness
between the paesani in the US and those who stayed
or returned to Italy; to this day there are immigrants
and descendants of immigrants who return to Marano
Marchesato to visit.
(Additional reference: Dizionario dei Comuni
Italiani, by Gustave Valente)
Originally appeared on the PIE
homepage and resubmitted to ICC by Pete Belmonte.
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