Third in a series on my Italian-American great grandaunt Rose Curcio of Gloversville, Fulton County, New York, who died 15 years ago this month at the age of 105.
The Oct. 2001 obituary of my Aunt Rosie Curcio contains not only her brief history but a portrait of the changing role of women in the 20th Century. The second paragraph describes her education and her glove industry career.
Main Street, Gloversville, Fulton County, N.Y. Aunt Rosie took a new path open to women in the 20th Century when she attended the Gloversville Business School, which prepared her for a long, productive glove industry careerBy: Boston Public Library
A lifelong resident and a graduate of the Gloversville Business School, she was employed as a secretary and bookkeeper at the former Hilts Willard Glove Manufacturers in Gloversville until her retirement at age 75.
New prospects for women
When Aunt Rosie was born in 1896, women still wore floor-length dresses. They could not vote and their lives were circumscribed in many ways — both socially and legally.
But social movements in which women played a leading role — from the fight to abolish slavery to the suffrage movement demanding a woman’s right to vote — opened new possibilities for women at the dawn of the 20th Century.
I would love to have been in the household of my great, great grandparents Antonio and Antoinette (Del Negro) Curcio when the decision was made that Aunt Rosie — one of their younger daughters — would to go to business school.
Aunt Rosie goes to school
Did Rosie ask to go or did her parents suggest it? Did economic necessity drive the decision or was she ambitious? However it came about, off to school she went — and by the time of the 1920 U.S. Census (excerpted below) Rosie, 23, was working as a stenographer in a glove factory office.
1920 U.S. Census of the Curcio household at 128 East Fulton St. in Gloversville, Fulton Co., N.Y. Source: Family Search
Person No.
Name
Role
Age
Occupation
33
Antonio Curcio
Head
66
None
34
Antoinette Curcio
Wife
61
None
35
John Curcio
Son
26
Chauffeur, Vegetable Truck
36
Rose Curcio
Dau
23
Stenographer, Glove Factory Office
37
Josephine Curcio
Dau
17
Glove Maker, Glove Shop
The census also shows several boarders living in the Curcio’s 128 East Fulton Street home — the Santos family and Alexander S. Davey, a baker — likely providing rental income.
Family head Dean P. Santos worked as a junk collector in a junk shop. He may have worked in the shop then operated next door by my great grandfather Peter [DiLorenzo] Laurence, whose wife Mamie was the Curcio’s oldest daughter.
So Aunt Rosie’s income, enhanced by her education, was surely helpful to her family. She was later promoted to bookkeeper and decided to keep working beyond her retirement age.
“Why work so long?” my mom and I asked her during an oral history interview in 1992. Aunt Rosie told us she felt good, so why not? And besides, what would she do with herself if she was not working? Spoken like a working woman proud of her career!
Up next, Aunt Rosie’s family and social life. Please stop back.
Second in a series on my Italian-American great grandaunt Rose Curcio of Gloversville, Fulton County, New York, who died 15 years ago this month at the age of 105.
On 11 Oct. 2001, a family friend sent my mother an non-sourced obituary of my great grandaunt Rose Curcio. It’s not long, as obituaries go — a bit longer than the Schenectady Sunday Gazette version I found online — but its few paragraphs describe a life unusual for a woman born in the late 1800s. What more could I find out about her?
Map of Gloversville, Fulton County, N.Y. (1868).Click here to enlarge.As my Italian and German immigrant ancestors arrived to work in the glove and leather industry, the surnames on this map changed. The Curcio family lived on East Fulton Street near the corner of Wells Street, on the right side of this map. Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Miss Rose Curcio, 105, formerly of Gloversville, died Saturday morning [4 Oct. 2001] at the Fulton County Residential Health Care Facility, where she resided since 1989. Born in Gloversville on July 23, 1896, the daughter of Antonio and Antoinette (Del Negro) Curcio, she was one of 15 children.
The Curcio family in 1900
Aunt Rosie was a younger sister of my great grandmother Mary “Mamie” (Curcio) Laurence — who was known as “Little Grandma” in our family because, like Rosie, she stood barely five feet tall.
Little Grandma was the oldest, and Aunt Rosie was part of a younger group of siblings. Rosie, at age 4, was listed for the first time with the Curcio family in the 1900 U.S. Census for Gloversville, Fulton County, N.Y., which is excerpted below.
1900 U.S. Census : Curcio Household at 128 East Fulton Street, Gloversville, Fulton County, N.Y. Source: FamilySearch
Person No.
Name
Role
Gender
Age
Birthplace
78
A [Antonio] Curcio
Head
M
35
Italy
79
Anthontia Curcio [Antoinette]
Wife
F
38
Italy
80
Mamie Curcio
Dau
F
16
New York
81
Mike Curcio
Son
M
15
New York
82
Julia Curcio
Dau
F
13
New York
83
Millie Curcio
Dau
F
10
New York
84
Angel Curcio
Dau
F
7
New York
85
Jennie Curcio
Dau
F
5
New York
86
Rosie Curcio
Dau
F
4
New York
87
Annie Curcio
Dau
F
1
New York
Born in 1896 to parents who had survived a brief residence in Manhattan’s notorious Five Points area, Rose was a young child at the dawn of the 20th Century — a girl to whom new possibilities would open as she reached young adulthood.
She went on to lead a far different life than Little Grandma, her oldest sister. More on this in the next post.
First in a series on my Italian-American great grandaunt Rose Curcio of Gloversville, Fulton County, New York, who died 15 years ago this month at the age of 105.
On Oct. 20, 2001, one of my Mom’s cousins wrote to tell her about the passing of Aunt Rose Curcio — a younger sister of my Italian-American great grandmother Mary “Mamie” (Curcio) Laurence.
A birds eye view of Gloversville, Fulton County, N.Y. My great grandaunt Rose Curcio lived here for all 105 years of her rich, full life — working in a glove company office until she was 75 and devoting herself to her siblings and their families. Photo: City of Gloversville Historic Photos
Dear Peggy, I didn’t know if anyone told you that Aunt Rose Curcio passed away on Oct. 4, 2001. She was 105 years old. Her death was more or less due to old age.
She had lived through 3 centuries and was the oldest resident at the Infirmary. Her mind was sill okay up until about a month before she died.
She had a picture of you with her on her bulletin board. Thought you might want it. Hope this letter finds you in good health.
A cherished family visit
Tucked in with the note was a photo I took of my mom with Aunt Rosie (then a spry 95) when we stopped to visit her during a 1992 family history trip to my mother’s hometown — Gloversville, Fulton County, N.Y.
We spent a couple of hours with Rosie that day — laughing and reminiscing as we interviewed her about the Italian-American branch of our family — and later mailed her the snapshot. She must have cherished the time spent with us, because she kept that photo in a place of pride until the end of her life.
The secret to a long, full life
Born at the end of the 19th Century, Aunt Rosie Curcio lived through the entire 20th Century and witnessed the dawn of the 21st Century. She was the longest living member of her family of origin –and of any of my relatives on either side.
During our visit, we talked a lot about Rosie’s parents; her large, extended family; and daily life in the lovely Mohawk Valley town situated south of New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
However, not until I read her obituary did I learn more about Rosie herself. Carried in the Schenectady, N.Y., Sunday Gazette on 7 Oct. 2001, the obituary spoke eloquently of her life, her work and her social engagement.
What was the secret of Rosie’s longevity and upbeat spirit? That’s something I hope to explore in the next few posts.
