Rosary beads that belonged to Genevieve Fiore
Rosary that belonged to Genevieve Fiore. Blessed by Pope Paul VI at the September 27, 1972 audience in Rome. Rosary consists of clear iridescent beads and gold colored metal. Relief profile image of Pope Paul VI on front of gold charm; Vatican and dove on back. Large gold cross with figure of Jesus nailed to cross. Rosary given in original white plastic box (2022.59.16.B). The box is lined with dark pink velvet on bottom and off white fabric on top. Gold text and image of Vatican embossed on top of lid. Printed paper label adhered to interior of top.
Donated to History Colorado by Philip D. Fiore.
The following is from the book, Italy in Colorado, by Alisa DiGiacomo.
Fiore
John Rocco and Genevieve (D’Amato) Fiore
One of six children, Genevieve D’Amato was born in 1912 in Wyoming to Lorenzo and Anna (Carleo) D’Amato, Italian immigrants from the Salerno province. Her father came to American in 1903, but returned to Italy a few years later to fulfill his required military duty under Italian law. In 1908, Lorenzo and Anna returned to America and settled in Pennsylvania where Lorenzo worked in a steel mill. The family then moved to Wyoming where Lorenzo worked as a miner and blacksmith before moving to Welby, Colorado to farm.
In 1930, Genevieve met John Fiore at an Assumption parish dance. The son of Rocco and Josephine (Arcieri/Archer) Fiore, John’s father worked as a scissors sharpener while his mother took care of John and his siblings. After his father died in 1918, his mother married Rocco Malpiede, a vegetable peddler with whom she had three more children. In 1933, John and Genevieve were married. They moved to north Denver, where John worked as a pressman for a publishing company while Genevieve cared for their three children: Hogan, Philip, and Roxanna.
In the mid-1940s, Genevieve began to promote and campaign for world peace, the result of two major events in her life: watching her father cry over the death of her nineteen-year-old brother in Italy during World War I and feelings of guilt because she had not tried to prevent World War II, a war in which three brothers, a brother-in-law, and many friends served; some who never returned and those changed forever when they came home. After working with pacifist Frederick Enholm and attending a conference of the newly formed United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), she co-founded the UNESCO Association of Colorado, the third UNESCO chapter in the world. A lifetime member, she served as president of the organization between 1947 and 1953.
Genevieve’s involvement in UNESCO led to work with other national and international programs, including the Peace Pole Project of the World Prayer Society—a project that inspires humankind to work toward harmony by erecting obelisks bearing messages of peace. The Peace Pole Project has spread to over 160 countries and succeeded in constructing over 100,000 poles; Genevieve Fiore led the Peace Pole project in Denver. Genevieve was also involved in the Sister Cities program established in 1956 under President Eisenhower’s administration. The aim of the organization, still active today, is to promote worldwide unity. Denver now has ten sister cities. Expressing her thoughts on peace and the Sister Cities program, Genevieve Fiore noted:
I really believe in my heart that the Sister Cities sentiment, ‘together we can build a better world,’ is still very valid; and in this millennium we’re going to reach a higher level of civilization. The world, and our government, should be solving our problems around the conference table.
Genevieve’s activism was lauded by the Dante Alighieri Society and Denver Catholic Register, and in 1975 the Italian government awarded her the title Cavaliere, an honor equivalent of knighthood, for her work with the Denver organization Il Circolo Italiano. In 1991, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.
The pieces in this collection belonged to Genevieve Fiore and are unique in that while manuscript materials and photographs can be found in public collections, few personal artifacts and family images are available. The pieces are also unique as they span her youth to adulthood and are being donated by her son Philip D. Fiore.
Engraved on back of cross: Roma
Engraved on front of charm: VI / PAULUS / PONT MAX / ROMA