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Vincenzo Beltrone collection

Call Number

MS 3029

Date

1924-2017 (bulk, 1942-1950), inclusive

Creator

Beltrone, Vincenzo, 1895-1950

Extent

2.919 Linear feet (7 boxes)

Language of Materials

The documents in this collection are in English and Italian.

Abstract

Correspondence, poetry, and prose in English and Italian, by and relating to Italian-immigrant artist and writer Vincenzo Beltrone (1895–1950), a founding member of the Raven Poetry Circle of Greenwich Village. Beltrone's suspected pro-Fascist activities and editorials led to his investigation and arrest by the FBI in December 1941, and his internment as an alien enemy of the United States for nearly the duration of World War II. The collection includes a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) copy of Beltrone's FBI file, typescripts of virtually all his poetry, published matter by associates, and two small printing plate portraits.

Biographical/Historical Note

Throughout his work and correspondence the artist and poet Vincenzo Nicola Ostilio Beltrone (1895–1950) signed his name multiple ways: Vincenzo N. O. Beltrone, Vincenzo di Beltrone, Vincent Beltrone, and even "N. O. Belzo." This finding aid refers to him by the name he used most frequently—Vincenzo Beltrone—or, simply, Beltrone, but all the variants above (and possibly others) appear on documents throughout the collection.

Similarly, Beltrone's second wife and widow was known variously as Kate Felicita Fabian, Kate (or Kay) Fabian, Kate Beltrone, and Kate Fabian Beltrone. This finding aid uses the latter.

Vincenzo Beltrone was born on 7 August 1895 at Stignano, Calabria, Italy, to Giuseppe and Ildebranda (Cortesi) Beltrone. When he was twelve years old he emigrated to America, arriving at the Port of New York aboard the S.S. Sannio on 26 September 1907. He attended P.S. 7, on Chrystie Street, Manhattan, and later claimed to have graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1914.

On 5 June 1917 Beltrone registered for the World War I draft, listing his occupation as artist. He entered the U.S. Army on 25 October 1918, serving briefly in the Coast Artillery at Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. He was honorably discharged for a physical disability on 15 November.
In December 1923 he made the first of two trips back to Italy to see family (his parents and siblings did not remain permanently in America). A certified copy of his birth certificate in the collection (see box 4, folder 4) dates from this visit. He returned to New York aboard the S.S. Duilio on 21 October 1924.

At some point Beltrone began writing poetry, but an explosion and fire at his studio (then at 31 West 16th Street) destroyed all the work he had composed by 1 August 1927. He rebounded quickly, though, since he had verse to read at "Poets' Soiree" in Greenwich Village on the 25th. Also that year, Beltrone was supposedly named "Poet of the New York City School System." He became closely associated with Francis Lambert McCrudden (1872–1958), founder of the Raven Poetry Circle of Greenwich Village, whose members displayed and sold their works along a fence on Washington Square, charging prices like fifteen cents a poem. The Ravens adopted as their motto Beltrone's line: "Ink is the silent partner of remembrance."

On 6 May 1930 Beltrone married Mary Venezia D'Amato, whom he would divorce on 24 June 1935. In November of that year, he returned for the second time to Italy. Ostensibly he made the trip to settle his late father's estate, but once there was conscripted to serve—or possibly volunteered—in Mussolini's army during the Italo-Ethopian War. (His politics were widely known: on 18 June 1934 the New York Times labeled him an "artist, poet and Fascist editor.") Beltrone was stationed in Somaliland between December 1935 and September 1936. A small broadside from this time—"Ai Legionari dei Fasci Italiani all'Estero" ("To the Legions of Italian Fascists Abroad")—sends the praises of Rome to the victorious forces in Ogaden and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia (see box 4, folder 4).

Once back in New York—he returned on 1 April 1937 aboard the S.S. Conte di Savoia—Beltrone worked as an information-desk guard for the Italian Pavilion of the 1939 New York World's Fair. He began the process of naturalization, but his Italian military service and later editorials for the pro-fascist newspaper, Il Grido della Stirpe ("The Cry of the Race"; see box 5, folder 2 for examples), ended his chances of becoming an American citizen.

On 8 December 1941, Edward J. Ennis, chief counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, convinced President Roosevelt to extend to Italians the regulations then in place against Japanese aliens, who were being arrested as possible enemies of state. Beltrone was among the first Italians the FBI apprehended that very day "because of the belief that his continued freedom of movement was dangerous to the United States." (Domenico Trombetta, publisher of Il Grido della Stirpe, was also arrested and indicted as a foreign agent.)

Beltrone was interned for nearly the duration of World War II, at multiple locations. The dates he stayed at each facility (below) are drawn from his correspondence (see boxes 1–3):

  1. Ellis Island (1st time): December 1941–January 1942
  2. Camp McAlester, Oklahoma (1st time): January–March 1942
  3. Ellis Island (2nd time): March 1942
  4. Camp Upton, New York: March 1942
  5. Fort George G. Meade, Maryland: March–September 1942
  6. Camp McAlester, Oklahoma (2nd time): September 1942–May[?] 1943
  7. Fort Missoula, Montana: May[?] 1943–March 1944
  8. Ellis Island (3rd time): March 1944–May 1945

At Camp McAlester Beltrone painted murals for the Officer's Hall—"Conquest of the West" and "Indian Life"—and decorated the post chapel with religious scenes.

He was paroled in May 1945, and soon after married Kate Felicita Fabian (1903–1969), a fellow member of the Raven Poetry Circle and his most frequent correspondent during his long internment.

Beltrone died on 26 January 1950, aged fifty-four. Until her death fourteen years later, Kate worked toward compiling an omnibus edition of her husband's work, drawn from his sole known published volume, Eroica and Other Poems (New York: S. F. Vanni, 1940), as well as unpublished material, some of it composed during internment. The project never materialized, apparently, but much of Beltrone's writing survives in this collection (see boxes 5 and 6).

[This biographical note is drawn from Roslyn Bernstein's article, "Alien Enemy M68-279: The Unresolved Case of Vincenzo Beltrone" (see box 4, folder 8), from New York Times items concerning Beltrone (2 and 26 August 1927; 18 June 1934), from documents in his WWII Alien Enemy Detention and Internment Case File (see box 4, folders 5-7), and from his obituary in the Raven Anthology no. 84 (April 1950).]

Arrangement

The collection is organized in four series:

Series I. Correspondence, 1924–1968 (bulk, 1942-1945)

Series II. Series II. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents and Bernstein research, 1940–2017 (bulk, 1940-1947)

Series III. Writings, 1930s–ca. 1950

Series IV. Print matter, 1933–1959

Material is generally ordered chronologically, with some exceptions clarified at the series level.

Scope and Contents

The correspondence in the Vincenzo Beltrone Collection spans 1924–1968, but at its core are the letters exchanged between Beltrone and his fiancée (later wife), Kate Felicita Fabian (1903–1969), during his internment as an alien enemy of the United States, 1941–1945. Beltrone and Fabian each wrote often—sometimes more than once per day—to and from the locations of his internment, which changed with dizzying frequency (see the Biographical/Historical Note for places and dates). The letters describe conditions in the camps, Beltrone's health, and endless efforts to clear his name. A number of the letters have been razored or redacted by government censors.

Some correspondence is with Edward J. Ennis (1908–1990), director of the alien enemy control unit of the Department of Justice, and Howard F. Corcoran (1906–1989), U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

A few letters are from Beltrone's fellow detainees on Ellis Island, congratulating him on his release. One, from a woman named Gloria McCleod (postmarked 19 June 1945), describes her attempted suicide: "I am sincerly sorry I had to let you see such an unpleasant sight as it must of been to see me jump from the balcony." Another frequent correspondent in the collection is Raven Poetry Circle founder Francis Lambert McCrudden. (See Series I.)

While researching her article "Alien Enemy M68-279: The Unresolved Case of Vincenzo Beltrone," published in the May/June 1987 issue of Attenzione, Roslyn Bernstein (donor of this collection) requested and received by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) a copy of Beltrone's WWII Alien Enemy Detention and Internment Case File from the U.S. Department of Justice. It contains correspondence, questionnaires, affidavits, and other documents dating between 1940 and 1947 that tell the complete story of Beltrone's arrest, internment, and eventual release. (See Series II.)

The collection includes typescript and manuscript versions of virtually all Beltrone's poetry and some of his prose, in Italian and English. He was an active member of the Raven Poetry Circle of Greenwich Village, and some sheets show evidence of having been thumbtacked for display and sale at Raven shows on Washington Square. After her husband's death, Kate Fabian Beltrone worked to assemble an omnibus edition of his writing called Poetic Letters. This never materialized, apparently, but the projected book was to include 293 poems, some drawn from his only known published volume, Eroica and Other Poems (New York: S. F. Vanni, 1940). The drafts for a number of these sections survive in the collection, but it is unclear at what stage Kate left the project on her death in 1969. There are also photocopies of pages from journals Beltrone kept while serving as a private in the signal corps of the Italian army in Somaliland, 1935–1936, and copies of some of the pro-Fascist editorials he wrote for the newspaper Il Grido della Stirpe, or "The Cry of the Race." (See Series III.)

A mix of published material—mostly poetry books (some in Italian) and poetry journals—that belonged to Vincenzo Beltrone and his widow, rounds out the collection. Kate Fabian Beltrone, a poet herself, was a contributing editor to PEGASUS: The Poetry Quarterly, in which she published her late husband's verse along with her own. A few scattered issues are in box 7, folder 2. The collection also includes two small woodblock printing plate portraits of Beltrone, one of which is reproduced in the 1987 version of Roslyn Bernstein's article, "Alien Enemy M68-279: The Unresolved Case of Vincenzo Beltrone." (See Series IV.)

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Vincenzo Beltrone Collection, MS 3029, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Roslyn Bernstein in honor of Frank Fabian, 2017.

Related Materials

At the New-York Historical Society:
Photographs of Vincenzo Beltrone are found in the Raven Poetry Circle of Greenwich Village collection [graphic], ca. 1933-ca. 1954 (box 1; box 2, folders 1, 3, 4, and 5; box 3, folders 8, 14, and 15), and in the Raven Poetry Circle of Greenwich Village papers, ca. 1930s-2000s (folder 4). The latter collection has a copy of Raven founder Francis Lambert McCrudden's book, Harp of the Minettas (1938), for which Beltrone wrote the preface. The collection also includes a bound run of the Raven Anthology from December 1933 (no. 1) through October 1940 (no. 61), which carried poetry by Beltrone in many issues. A single issue of the Raven Anthology from April 1950 (no. 84), with McCrudden's obituary for Beltrone (who died 26 January 1950), is filed in the printed collections under PS580 .R38.

At the Center for Migration Studies (CMS):
Beltrone published at least one book, Eroica and Other Poems (New York: S. F. Vanni, 1940). The only publicly-held copy appears to be that in the Italian American Writers Collection (CMS.016) at CMS. The collection includes an undated manuscript for Beltrone's "Articoli e Ritagli. Poesia. Prosa." ["Articles and Scraps. Poetry. Prose."]

Collection processed by

Joseph Ditta, June 2017

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:51:21 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.

Processing Information

Processed by archivist Joseph Ditta, June 2017. Mansucript collection number corrected (from MS2039 to MS3029), November 2018.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024