(Pictures taken from the Archives of Labor Urban Affairs, Wayne State University)

“On January 11, 1943 newspaper publisher Carlo Tresca was murdered. The murder was orchestrated by Vito Genovese as a favor to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.”

Who was Carlo Tresca? In times where nothing seems left of the legacy of the Italian-American intellectuals of the 20th century, and Italy in this country became a matter of Jersey Shores and assorted cliches, I feel like it’s time to talk about these long forgotten and tenaciously hidden historical figures, in all their controversial and yet consistent contribution to this country’s history.

“Carlo Tresca (March 9, 1879 – January 11, 1943) was an Italian-born American newspaper editor, orator, and labor organizer who was a leader of the Industrial Workers of the World during the decade of the 1910s. Tresca is remembered as a leading public opponent of fascism, stalinism, and Mafia infiltration of the trade union movement. Tresca was assassinated by a Mafia gunman in 1943.”