Italian American Club of San Pedro
with the newly-dedicated “Via Italia”
street sign in front
Garibaldina M.B. Society (Est. 1877, merged 1888)
Società Garibaldina di Mutua Beneficenza
4533 N. Figueroa
Los Angeles, CA
The Society went co-ed in 1945.
Italian American Club
1903 S. Cabrillo Ave.
San Pedro, CA
Tel: (310) 831-3183
California Italian American Foundation
Pres.: Giuseppe Catalano
Tel: (310) 493-0292
Circolo A.L.I.
Pres.: Anna Riggs
Tel: (661) 259-2075
Club Italia
Pres.: Attilo Micale
C/o Casa Italiana
Columbus Explorers
Pres.: Frank Claro
Tel: (626) 288-2026
COM.IT.ES.(Comitato degli italiani residenti all’estero)
Pres.: Giovanni Zuccarello
Tel: (818) 787-1696
http://www.comitesla.org/
See: INSTITUTIONS, Civic
Italian American Club of San Pedro
Pres.: Grace Ciolino
Tel: (310) 548-8447
South Bay Italian Club
Pres.: Carmela Funicello
Tel: (310) 547-5807
A Bit of History: The Garibaldina Society:the Oldest Italian Association in Los Angeles. The Garibaldina formed in 1888 (merging in 1916 with the Italian Mutual Benevolence Society, founded in1877) is the oldest Italian association in Southern California. It held regular meetings in the Italian Hall (Pueblo of Los Angeles), build in 1907, as a social center for the Italian community.
See: HISTORY, El Pueblo.
See: Italian Hall: http://firehousejailmuseum.tripod.com/hihf/id2.html .
Read more about the Garibaldina and the history of the early Italian settlement: Gloria Ricci Lothrop, Italians of Los Angeles , Historical Society of Southern California, 2003.
A Bit of History: DB Club (Dago Bastards Club), San Pedro. Rumorhas it that an informal group of old-time Italians, largely fisherman, from San Pedro, banded together and called themselves the “Dago Bastards.” (“Dago” was one of the derogatory terms used for Italians in the early days of immigration; see John Fante’s collection of short stories: Dago Red, 1940; see: WRITERS). Read more about John Royal (Giovanni Reale) and the DB Club in: Old Ties, New Attachments: Italian-American Folklife in the West, edited by David A. Taylor, John Alexander Williams, Library of Congress, 1992.