Feature Article

Immigrant laborers and their families from all three regions had a profound impact on the community. Those who secured permanent employment with the Niles Fire Brick Company quickly moved out of rented or company housing, becoming property owners with a vested interest in the community.¹⁰ Many lived in ethnic enclaves such as "Little Italy," which developed on the city's east side in the shadows of the company's factories. Migrants from Olive Hill established their presence within walking distance of the plant on the south side of Niles in what was vernacularly known as "Goat Hill."

These immigrants also established a number of ethnic organizations and churches to serve their needs and interests. Among the most visible contributions were those of Italian immigrants. By 1906 Italian workers and their families established a Roman Catholic parish for Italian-Americans, and later dedicated their newly constructed church building in 1924. Among the self-help associations developed by this group were the Bagnoli Club, established to promote literacy and citizenship among its members, and the San Filippo Neri Club, a self-insurance association. The long standing local emphasis on education in the old Western Reserve and the Niles Fire Brick's tendency to promote literate workers also encouraged employees to educate themselves and their children. In addition to sending their children in significant numbers to local public and parochial schools, many adults attended classes sponsored by local self-help associations such as the San Filippo Neri Club and Bagnoli Club.¹¹ A closer examination of this group of Italian immigrants' and their offsprings' activities between 1890 and the advent of the United States' entry into World War I clearly illustrates these developments. The records of the NFB contain a wealth of information concerning their work lives and economic status. When these documents are supplemented by city directors and oral histories a clear picture emerges focusing on the depth of their experiences.

The earliest payrolls reveal that by 1893, three of the NFB's two dozen employees came from the southern Italian mountain town, Bagnoli-Irpino. Their appearance in the record signaled the start of a trend that continued until the implementation of quota legislation in the 1920s. While the majority of the Italian recruits used the NFB as a temporary, first employer, a significant number (between one-quarter and one-third) established a more permanent working relationship with the firm. By 1900 this group of immigrants represented a small but significant portion of the labor cohort at the brickyard. Whereas in 1893 these Italians constituted about twelve percent of the work force, their share in the labor pool grew, albeit unevenly, to twenty percent by 1900.¹² Although some of the increase represented temporary or transient labor, there existed a core of permanent, skilled employees; for example, Carmel Laborial, Michael Infante and Lorenzo Pallante remained fully employed throughout the period.¹³ The only exceptions to this occurred when Infante and Pallante left Niles in order to visit family and friends abroad. Payrolls and oral histories indicate that the men made return trips to seek out family members, and then returned to the United States and the NFB.¹⁴ Upon their return to Niles they found their jobs at their previous skilled-ratings waiting for them.

The NFB hired all their laborers, with the exception of the plant manager and the foremen, on a daily basis. The number of employees changed daily according to the work at hand. The potential labor pool gathered at the plant gates early each morning to see who would work that day. While the plant superintendent, Patrick J. Sheehan,¹⁵ set the total number of workers, individual crew bosses or foremen appeared to have selected their gangs independently. By 1907, approximately one-third of the regular shift managers were Italians and their crews reflected their origins.¹⁶

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