Interview of Ann Blumberg (née Capone)

Title

Interview of Ann Blumberg (née Capone)

Subject

Oral History, Italian-American, South Florida

Description

  • Name: Ann Blumberg Capone

  • Place and date of birth: Mount Vernon, New York, September 24, 1921

  • Generation: 1st

  • Family origin: 
    • Grandparents: 
        • Rosa Tremonti, from Afragola (Naples, Italy)
        • Domenico Capone, from Afragola (Naples, Italy)

  • Spoken languages: 
    • English (native language)
    • Some knowledge of Neapolitan dialects

Relocation in Florida: 1950

List of the Italian Expressions and Traditions Mentioned in the interview:


Paesano (countryman)


Destino (destiny)


Cartelle (word indicating a mix of different powders used to produce “fake wine”) 


Sega, sega (original nursery rhyme)

Ann’s version

Sega, sega mastu Ciccio,

na panèlla e na sacìccia;

‘a panèlla ce ‘a mangiàmmo

e ‘a sacìccia ce ‘a stipàmmo;

ce ‘a stipàmmo pe' Natale,

quanno vènene 'e zampugnàre.

E zampugnàre nun vènene cchiù

a saciccia t'à mangi tu.

Sega, sega mastu Ciccio,
‘na panella e nu saciccio;
‘o saciccio ci ‘o mangiammo
e ‘a panèlla ce ‘a stipammo…

Creator

Ann Blumberg (née Capone)

Source

Inteview

Publisher

Program of Italian of the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature, Florida Atlantic University

Date

03-24-2017

Contributor

Viviana Pezzullo

Rights

Program of Italian of the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature, Florida Atlantic University

Relation

Italian-American Oral History Collection at Florida Atlantic University Digital Library

Format

Audio mp3

Language

en

Type

Oral History

Coverage

US-FL, 2017

Original Format

Audio mp3

Duration

00:17:03

Bit Rate/Frequency

130Kbits/s

Interviewer

Viviana Pezzullo, Vincenza Iadevaia

Interviewee

Ann Blumberg (née Capone)

Time Summary


TIMING

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION

00:01 - 00:45

AC’s date and place of birth and list of schools attended.

00:46 - 01:23

AC’s job at Columbia University.

01:24 - 02:00

AC’s father name and place of birth. 

Age when he came to America.

02:01 - 03:03

America as a “land of opportunity”. 

AC’s father decision to move to America.

03:04 - 03:20

Paesanos in America.

03:21 - 03:44

Location of AC’s father in America 

03:45 - 04:20

How AC’s parents got married.

04:21 - 04:37

Age of AC’s parents when they got married.

04:38 - 04:53

Reason of the marriage.

04:54 - 05:40

AC’s father wine production.

The importance of a wine cellar to store bottles.

05:41 - 06:52

AC’s memories and anecdote about her father’s wine. 

06:53 - 06:56

AC’s health conditions.

06:57 - 07:21

AC’s father visiting Ann in Florida.

Impressions and reason to refuse to move there.

07:22 - 07:31

Reason why AC moved to Florida.

07:32 - 08:07

Story and year of moving to Florida. 

08:08 - 10:43

AC’s story of her job in Florida and how she knew her future husband.

10:44 - 11:10

Il Destino, the Fate.

11:11 - 12:43

The story of her parents; her mother was an orphan.

12:44 - 13.56

Anecdote about AC’s mother going to the convent.

13:57 - 15:05

AC’s mother had a good education and learned how to embroider.

15:06 - 15:28

Italian as the only language spoken within her family.

15:29 - 16:02

“Sega sega”, an Italian lullaby.

16:03 - 17:03

AC’s visit to the convent. 

Meeting Suor Virginia.

Citation

Ann Blumberg (née Capone), “Interview of Ann Blumberg (née Capone),” Italian-American Memories: Documentary Archive, accessed April 19, 2024, https://itamm.omeka.net/items/show/275.