Physical description: Wedding portrait of Joseph Carpinello (groom, seated at left) and Angeline Cominello (bride, seated at right) and attendants Brooks Cominello (best man and brother of the groom) and Rose Cominello Perito (maid of honor and sister of the bride). The couple was married at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Italian Catholic Church in Denver on April 19, 1918. Photo likely by Cavarra. See PCCLI0175 for image of Angeline and her bread oven. See below for more information.
This photograph is a digital scan of an original photograph lent for copying during the Italians of Colorado project. The original photograph is not owned by History Colorado. The digital scan was donated with permissions (see permissions in Registrar's file) and accessioned into the History Colorado collection.
Project description:
In 2002, the Colorado Historical Society (now known as History Colorado) founded the Colorado Italian American Preservation Association (CIAPA). A volunteer organization, CIAPA’s mission is to work collaboratively with the Society and other organizations to develop, support and coordinate projects that preserve, promote and celebrate Italian American culture and heritage. Since 2002, CIAPA has carried out its mission by meeting with people from the Colorado Italian American community, recording their stories and creating an archive of research materials that includes oral histories, photographs, moving images, sound recordings and artifacts. To date, CIAPA has helped the Society acquire over 200 oral histories, 600 artifacts and nearly 6,000 photographs. Since 2002, CIAPA has developed over 4,000 research files, all of which document the history, culture and traditions of Italian American families in Colorado.
Notes:
See MSS.02595 Joseph Carpinello file for additional information and images.
From Italy in Colorado
Carpinello
Joseph Gerald and Giuseppina “Josephine” (Santarelli) Carpinello
Joseph Carpinello was born in Denver in 1923 at his family home at 3446 Navajo Street. The son of Joseph and Angelina (Cominello) Carpinello, his father came to the America from Potenza, Italy in 1912. A produce peddler in the Denver Bottoms, his father also worked on the Chatfield Dam under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Joseph’s mother, also born in Denver, was the daughter of Rocco and Maria Arcangela (Laguardia) Cominello, immigrants from Potenza, Italy.
After graduating from North High School, Joseph served in World War II and then attended the Colorado State College of Education in Greeley (now known as the University of Northern Colorado) under the G.I. Bill. An educator from 1949 to 1984, Joseph also worked part-time as a recreation teacher, football official and mutual clerk at the local race tracks.
In 1949, Joseph married Giuseppina “Josephine” Santarelli. The daughter of Italian immigrants Joseph Cesidio and Luigia Ginetta “Jennie” (Piroddi) Santarelli, Josephine grew up in north Denver. In 1950, Joseph and Josephine’s first child, Barbara, was born, followed by Jody, Donald, and Kenny.
A Closer Look: Outdoor Bread Ovens
Angelina (Cominello) Carpinello’s photograph near her bread oven documents an important part of daily life for Italians in Colorado. Built by hand, these taller-than-a-person brick dome ovens dotted the landscape of Italian communities across Colorado, including Denver’s Little Italy. The all-day process of baking bread started early in the morning with bread dough set to rise while a fire in the oven burned for hours until the oven bricks were red hot. Once the logs in the fire had burned to ash, a special mop was used to clean the oven. Once clean, the oven was ready for the oversized bread loaves. Pushed swiftly into the back of the oven using a bread oven paddle, the loaf of dough cooked for about an hour with the door sealed tight. Once removed, the smell of homemade bread permeated the neighborhood.