From Schiavi to Reading: the Tucci family

MEMORY, WORK, COMMUNITY

A family archive reveals what a community builds

The story collected by Polly Corvaia is more than a genealogy. The family’s departure from Schiavi di Abruzzo is intertwined with Pennsylvania’s coal mines, industrial work, education, a family business, cooking, gardening, sewing, and the community life of Reading.

The photographs taken in 1951 add another dimension to the story. They show people and places in Schiavi, cross the ocean, and reemerge from a suitcase more than seventy years later.

LEAVING TO BUILD

From Pennsylvania’s coal mines to a new home

Alfonso “Fons” Tucci was born in Schiavi in 1893. At the age of twelve, he moved to Rome, where he worked as a stable hand. In 1913, he emigrated to the United States and found work in the coal mines around Tamaqua, Pennsylvania.

After serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to Italy and married Angiolina Masciotta. He then left again for the United States to work and prepare for his family’s arrival. Angiolina and their son Umberto joined him in 1927.

Their story reveals the practical side of migration: work, separation, repeated departures, and the patient construction of family continuity between Schiavi and Reading.

WORK, EDUCATION, ENTERPRISE

From industrial work to a family enterprise

Umberto Tucci, born in Schiavi in 1923 and raised in Reading, left school early to work. Before serving in the U.S. Navy, he was employed by Orr & Sembower, a manufacturing company in the city.

After the war, he studied chemistry at Albright College, taught science, and earned a master’s degree from Temple University. During the 1950s and 1960s, he and his brother Angelo operated Keystone Furnace, a business specializing in the installation and repair of heating systems.

The business was also passed on to the next generation. Umberto later developed a career in real estate, participated in the city’s educational life, and served as president of the Beneficial Society Victor Emmanuel II.

THE SKILLS THAT HOLD A COMMUNITY TOGETHER

Cooking, gardening, and sewing as everyday know-how

Michelina Ciampini, originally from Ascoli Piceno, married Umberto in 1951 and moved to Reading. She learned English by attending evening classes and took part in the city’s political and community life.

She worked in the kitchen of the Beneficial Society Victor Emmanuel II and in the deli department at Ciotti’s Grocery Store. She cooked for her family and neighbors; she and Umberto grew and preserved fruit and vegetables; and she was also an accomplished seamstress, known for repairing clothing and making garments for other people.

These skills are more than domestic memories. They are practical forms of knowledge that create independence, care, services, and relationships, allowing a family culture to travel across generations.