Several years ago at a family gathering in Fort Wayne where Barb and Lee Shaffer had opened their home to extended family like me for a holiday or perhaps a christening of one of our mutual grandchildren an unexpected thing happened. Either Grace or I had brought a picture article of one of my father's paintings being donated to the old court house to be hung in the old court room.
The caption under the picture stated that the painting was by Don "Wop" Anglin. Barb and her sister Mary were sitting next to each other reading at the same time. It was when they read the word "Wop" that a small audible gasp came from their mouths. Having come from a very Italian family (Picchetti) ; that word was almost infamous.
I had to explain that my family was not Italian but my father looked so" Italian" as a child that his older brothers teased him and called him a wop. They probably did not know what the meaning of the word was but they knew it refered to Italians and was not good.
In the 1920s it was a derisive term used to put down people who did not obtain documentation. It meant "with out papers".
Barb and Mary's grandfather had worked very hard to get documentation and necessary sponsorship for many Italian families to settle south of Chicago in the farming community of North Judson , Indiana.
Jim ,Barb's son and my son in-law, googled his maternal grandfather's name and found a great web site that showed the early Italians in northern Indiana. Page 11 has a wonderful picture of Barb's grandfather and family. The guy who put this together is an example of excellence in genealogists. http://www.eboilini.com/PDFs/NjHist17.pdf is the link I can't seem to get to work here but is well worth the Internet search or just google Louie Picchetti -it is near the top of the list. They were all such great farmers and gardeners supplying Chicago restaurants and green grocers. The picture of the milk truck near the end of the pictures made me think of my farm experiences.
