Il Circolo Operaio Italiano (Italian Worker’s Club) was one of the groups headquartered at the Italian Hall. The club’s exclusively male membership sponsored Saturday evening dances at the building and hosted charitable events, including footraces and May Day celebrations. While there is much to be learned bout the club, it likely served as the link between the Italian community and the non-Italian groups that used the Hall for political rallies. Il Circolo Operaio Italiano would later merge with the Garibaldina Society. Among the club’s original members were Domenich Basso (who later owned a Chrysler dealership in Little Italy on North Broadway), Frank Ghiosso, Frank Aprato, John Duretto, Giacomo Castellano, John Aprato, Sam Meaglia, Otto Basso and John “Boccia” Denchio. If you have any information about the Il Circolo Operaio Italiano, its members, or the early history of the Italian Hall, please call (213) 485-8432.
L’Italo-Americano thanks for the historic photo the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles. The image can not be copied, printed or used in any other way without the permission of IAMLA.
The mission of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles is to promote awareness of different cultural heritage of Northern California through research, historic preservation, exhibitions and educational programs that examine the history and ongoing contributions of Italian-Americans in the multi-ethnic Los Angeles and in the United States.
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