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TABLE OF CONTENTSInventory |
Guide to the Carmela George Papers
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Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator | George, Carmela, 1929- | |
| Title | Carmela George Papers, | |
| Dates: | 1966-2002 | |
| Abstract: | The Carmela George Papers (5 boxes, 1966-2002) document the everyday life of New York City’s Corona neighborhood and the community activist Carmela George during the neighborhood’s dramatic population shift from a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood to a predominately Latino-American neighborhood. Much of the papers consist of photographs of and ephemera from Corona’s people, churches, schools and Italian-owned businesses and shops. A smaller portion of the papers document the community activities of Carmela George and her 97th Place Block Association. | |
| Extent: | 5 boxes, 1.2 cubic feet | |
| Identification: | G-16 | |
| Location: | The material is located in the Archives at Queens Library. | |
Historical/Biographical Note
The Carmela George Papers (5 boxes, 1966-2002) document the everyday life of New York City’s Corona neighborhood and the community activist Carmela George during the neighborhood’s dramatic population shift from a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood to a predominately Latino-American neighborhood. Much of the papers consist of photographs of and ephemera from Corona’s people, churches, schools and Italian-owned businesses and shops. A smaller portion of the papers document the community activities of Carmela George and her 97th Place Block Association. The following are brief histories of some of the people, businesses and organizations documented in the papers.
Guiseppi “Joe” and Rosa “Rose” Guastadisegni were the parents of Carmela George. Joe was born January 6, 1901 in Giovinazzo, Bari, Italy. He came to the United States in 1922 and for much of his life was a barber. Rose was born Rosa Careccia 1909 in Italy. In 1927, Joe returned to Italy to find a wife. In October of that year Joe married Rose. They returned to the United States right after they got married.. Around the time Rose came to the United States she married Joe and they settled in Corona to raise a family. At some point Joe and Rose moved to Shirley, New York. Joe died in June 21, 1975 and Rose died in 1992.
Carmela was born in January 2, 1929 in Corona where she lived, married and raised a family. Alfred George was born June 5, 1925. Carmela and Alfred married in 1949 at the Church of St. Leo. Alfred worked for Western Electric Company. After his retirement from the electric company in 1960 he bought and operated a series of vending trucks. The first was an ice cream, which he operated for four or five years. From the next truck he sold candy, soda and cigarettes and from his final truck he sold candy, soda, cigarettes and hot dogs.
Beginning in the early 1970’s Corona’s city services began to deteriorate to such an extent that they only barely met its citizens’ needs. Garbage was not being collected at regular intervals. Prostitution, drug dealing, vandalism and other minor and major crime was becoming more common. The Long Island Rail Road’s embankment running through Corona became a dumping ground for almost anything. Houses were being illegally converted to accommodate more tenants. By 1975 the problem was so bad Carmela decided to take action. Going door-to-door explaining how organized neighbors can help themselves with these problems, she was able to convince them to form the 97th Place Block Association.
Her and her organization achieved a number of successes, mitigating many of these problems. They convinced the 110th Police Precinct to attend their meetings. They convinced New York City’s Sanitation Department to issue sanitation violations. They organized cleanup and mural painting days. They monitored and reported illegal housing conversions. They attempted to bridge the gap between the Corona’s native born population and recent immigrants.
As of the writing of this finding aid, Carmela George still lives in Corona.
More on Carmela George’s activism and the 97th Place Block Association can be found in Professor Roger Sanjek’s book The Future of Us All: Race Politics in New York City, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1998.
John Careccia, in three photographs, was Rose Guastadisegni’s brother.
Mike Centrone, 1915-2004, and his sister Mary Peragine, 1907-2004 owned and operated Centrone Pastry Shop at 40-09 104th Street.
Phil Dancona, 1901-1982, opened Phil’s Latticini in 1938 at 41-09 National Street.
Franklin Bakery at 108-43 Corona Avenue closed in 2000.
Joseph “Joe the Mailman” Galizia lived in Flushing and delivered mail for years to 97th Place.
Richard George son of Alfred and Carmela had a Queens Public Access Television show titled “Richard George Presents.” He moved to Far Rockaway in the late 1980s to live there full time. Following in his mother’s footsteps he became a neighborhood activist fighting the destruction of the Rockaway’s bungalows and promoting the neighborhood’s virtues.
Martin Greenstein owned Junction Lumber at 96-01 43rd Avenue.
Angelo Iurillo, 1941-, owned and operated Angelo’s Pizzeria at 39-03 103rd Street.
Morgenbesser’s Chicken Market on 109-25 46th Avenue was a live poultry market. It was bought by J. P. Live Poultry.
Newfield’s 5 and 10 Store at 40-22 National Street was the neighborhood’s 5 and dime store for many years until it closed in the late 1980’s.
Angelo Peudenti, 1909-1977, was a local Corona figure.
Potash Fruit market was an open air market. It became a Tops Supermarket and in 2001 was a Corona Food Plaza.
Wilbur H. Proctor House was built 1872 by Wilbur H. Proctor a Civil War veteran on 102nd Street and Alstyne Avenue. The neighbors attempted to save it from destruction but it was demolished.
The Edward E. Sanford House was built around 1871 and on February 10, 1987 through Carmela George’s dedication she convinced the city to designate it a New York City landmark. The house remained in the Sanford family until 1982 when Francis A. Sanford died. That same year her executrix sold the property to Gary Phillips. In 1995 Mr. Phillips sold it to Chand Raghbir Tangri and in 1999 he sold it to Francisco Fernandez. Even with the landmark status, the property has changed significantly.
Vincent Tomeo, Corona resident and Queens College Landmark Scholar, researched Corona and produced an exhibit on Corona for the Queens Museum of Art. He became a history teacher at Francis Lewis High School in Queens.
Tony’s Pizzeria and Restaurant was located 45-17 104th Street and moved in 2002 to 45-18 104th Street.
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Scope and Content Note
The Carmela George Papers (5 boxes, 1966-2002) document the everyday life of New York City’s Corona neighborhood and the community activist Carmela George during the neighborhood’s dramatic population shift from a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood to a predominately Latino-American neighborhood. Much of the papers consist of photographs of and ephemera from Corona’s people, churches, schools and Italian-owned businesses and shops. A smaller portion of the papers document the community activities of Carmela George and her 97th Place Block Association. The papers are in the form of clippings, correspondence, ephemera and photographs – negatives and prints. Below are descriptions of series and their photographs whose descriptions are not obvious from the inventory listing.
All the photographs in this collection are of interiors and exteriors of Corona’s businesses, churches, community activities and people. All the photographs are digitized and available on the Archives at Queens Library’s image database. The photographs of businesses are of the businesses’ owners and employees working and its customers. The photographs of churches are interior and exterior images of the Church of St. Leo’s and Mount Carmel Church. The photographs of the 97th Place Block Association’s Cleanup and Mural Painting Day, 1976, document members painting the murals and standing in front of them. These photographs also document New York City’s Department of Sanitation’s “Cleanest Block” award ceremony in 1978 given to the block association. The photographs of people document the neighborhood’s well known residents including Harry “The Peddler” Pennachio, Angelo Peudenti and William Sforza.
The largest paper based series, Sanford House Landmark (1 folder, 1987), consists of clippings, correspondence, landmark designation and notes documenting the neighborhoods effort to save the house from demolition. Included in this series are Carmela’s notes and a speech she gave at the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing.
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Arrangement
The papers are grouped into series and sub series by name of business, school, subject and person’s name.
The series and sub series are arranged in alphabetical order. The photographs are physically separate from the paper documents and are in chronological order.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Creator of item, date of item (if known), identification of item, if a photograph its control number. The Carmela George Papers, Archives at Queens Library, Queens Borough Public Library.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the Queens Borough Public Library by Ms. George
Access Restrictions
Open for research without restrictions. Manuscripts are only available in the Archives at Queens Library, please call (718) 990-0770 for hours. Manuscript users will be required to complete the division's Manuscript Usage Form and deposit their photograph identification or Queens Borough Public Library card with a staff member. The identification will be returned to the user after she/he has returned the material. Manuscript users will deposit all their personal items behind the reference desk. Manuscript users must use the division's loose sheets of paper for note taking. To reiterate, no pen of any type is permitted. Paper and a pencil are available upon request. Manuscript users may be required to use special handling procedures depending on the conditions of the material.
Use Restrictions
Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the:
- Archives at Queens Library
- Queens Borough Public Library
- 89-11 Merrick Boulevard
- Jamaica, NY 11432
- Phone: (718) 990-0770.
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Access Points
Subject Names:
- George, Carmela, 1929-
Subject Organizations:
- 97th Place Block Association
Subject Topics:
- Citizens' associations
- Italian Americans
- Restaurants
- Stores, Retail
Subject Places:
- Corona (New York, N.Y.)
Document Types:
- Photographs
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Inventory
[The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.]
