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The undersigned Informant Donor does hereby give and grant to the
Baltimore Neighborhood Heritage Project, as a donation to its archival
collection, the material listed below. I also authorize the University of
Baltimore to use said material for the purpose of research, according to the
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Addreas of Intervi
Description of Materials: One tape
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INTERVIEWER: Rosewin Sweeney
PROJECT: Baltimore Neighborhood Heritage
GENERAL OPIC(S) OF INTERVIEW:
Highlandtown politics, politicians, political clubs, trends.
DATE@)OF 1979. 7.27INTERVIEW:
CIRCUMSTANCES F TH E INTERVIEWPLACES, O ~ R S~ S E N T AND ~ I RLATIONSHIP TO m NFO- ETC.]
The interview took place in DiPietro's City Council Office.
There were several interruptions but no one stayed for the interview.Phones can be heard ringing in the background and a t one point the Counciloruses a pencil sharpener.
PLACE@)OF officeINTERVIEW:
PARTS F PARTICULAR VALUE TOPICS DSISCUSSD W GFSATES DETAIL, AFS.4 OFPARnCULAR EXPERTISE, ETC.]
The main value of the tape is as an assessment of the Highlandtown political sceneby an insider.DePietro has been active in politic since the twenties, however, he was not prominentuntil the sixties and therefore did not give orders but took them from those who
were more powerful.
GENERAL VALUATION=LIABILITY OFINFOFNANT, INFOFNATION CONTAUiD ONTAPE, ETC.]
Basically reliable bu t not really specific information.His perception of the situation now (e.g. with community groups) is colored by hisold-time political orientation.That orientation is of great interest. Since the politics of Highlandtown arechanging the "Old Guard" interpretation i s of value.
Perhaps pursue the relation of Highlandtown etnics to ethnic groups closer todowntown (Poles in Fells Point and Italians in Little Italy).DiPietro is more interested in talking about the present than the past.
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Dominic "Mimi" DiPietro
1ADDRESS: 3812 Claremont St. 1
I
D AT E F BIRTH: 1905 1PLACE F BIRTH: Abruzzi, Italy
1 RELIGION: Roman Catholic 1
1 26th Ward Democratic Club 1
P R E V I O U S ESIDENCES:
LIST YEARS:
~ C H O O L I N G ND/OR OTHER RAINING:~
LIST
- 6th grade
OCCUPATIONS:(EMPLOYMENT, VOLUNTEER OR MILTARY SERVICE) LIST YEARS:
Bethlehem Steel Corp. 1918-1936
City of Baltimore -
liaison with contractors
book bindery superintendent
Councilor
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SIBLINGS:LIST DATES F BIRTH:
NAME:
1D AT E F W A G E : 966 1R A C E F MARRIAGE: Baltimore 1
D AT E F BIRTH:
RELIGION: Roman Catholic
HER MOTHER:
HER FATHER:
1SPOUSE'S OCCUPATION: housewife
R A C E F BIRTH: Italy
HER OCCUPATION:
R A C E F BIRTH:
R A C E F BIRTH:
1LIST DATES F BIRTH: 1
FATHER'SNAME:
D AT E F BIRTH:
RELIGION: Roman Catholic
HIS MOTHER:
HIS FATHER:
R A C E F BIRTH: Italy
HIS OCCUPATION: Baker
R A C E F BIRTH:
R A C E F BIRTH:
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Name o f Interviewee: Dominic W. n i w Dl metro*
Site: RighlandtownName of Interviewer: Rasewin SweeneyDate o f Interview: 7 /27 /79
Place of Interview: City Counci l Office .. 9
Pietro: Part of it, yes, When Baltimore C i t y took over,
I don't know what year t h a t was, I never c o u l d , , .
Sweeney: 1918.
Di Pietro:'l918, No, it was l a t e r than t h a t , wasn't it?
1918, was it? It possibly could have been, yes, 1918. Cause
we had people coming from 1,;. - to East Avenue into Highland-
town because they could d r i n k there, and they couldn't drinkon th e o t h e r side. On one s ide o f East Avenue you c o u l d
d r i n k , on th e o t h e r side, you couldn" drink. And a l l them
people mould come up t o Highlandtown t o drink, cause it was
a county then.
Sweeney: ;Pas Jack Ofconnor he boss over there a t that p o i n t ?
I know h i s b ar was l i k e a hotspot for p o l i t i c a l activity.
Di Pietro: Jack OvConnor, Jack OVonnnor, no, no, it wasn'tJack 0' Connor, .
Sweeney: Re died, l f k e in 1923, but he m a y have passed out
of t h i n g s before you really became ac t i ve .
M Pietro: Yeah, that's r i gh t , yeah, before 3 rose, 1923,
h e l l , / l d be eighteen years o l d .
Sweeney: There's a guy named, I think, Wil l lam lf lp nd than
Frank Dotterwiech. Both o f them had been a c t i v e , when it was
in t h e county.
Di Psetro: A c t i v e , ac t ive . Well no, they wasn't a c t i v e , they
were--Rank Dotterwiech, he had a place r i g h t far u p the John
Booth Recreation Center there. And he had some homes on Eaton
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S t r e e t , and t h e n he awned a11 t h e back o f it, Te had a horse-*
shed down t h e r e , them days, you know, and he aas a c o n t r a c t o r.
Yeah, I can t e l l you a story about him, yeah. He rind up being
nothing, broke, I don't k n o w what t h e h e l l ha d i d w i t h hist
money af ter he became councilman. Out o f th e b u s i n e s s , g o t a
job 1~3th h e city and th e ' St ree t Yard, it was c a l l e dthen, as a clerk, then he passed away.
wasSweeney: Now,/the r e a s o n t h a t a r ea vas Regublican because*
r e a l l y German, and then when Gore gr?sru,as cane in, it g o t more
Democratic.
Di P i e t s o : Ve l l , we extended Znto the county, see , and t h e. county was a Republican County that time, and so everythingwas a turmofl. People who took over, anyhow, they were Repub-
l i cans , and they was mong his followers..
~weeney: You 'mentioned someone named, ~ 6 h n e r , in t h e Sun * i
a r t i c l e I read a b o u t . He was a German active in the Republican
Party, klnd of a competitor.W . , ' ,
M Pietro: Oh, but he lived in there, he Mr. h e r ,
John, as yo u go t h i s f i r s t name, 1 don't have it, Mr. A m e r ,
T always called him I4r. h e r . He was impressive, ha was...
I can tell you a little s to ry.
',?e had t h e s e v o t i n g booths at the time, about as big as
my icebox there, They were that hPgh, bu t they a little desk
l i k e t h i s here, a n d you had your paper and pencil, and thenI?--. 2L.
they g o t a l i t t l e swinging door here, and I used t o h o e that -,' ..
old l a d y and old+man r e a l good, t h a t was working for. 3 was
a young kid, and well, I used t o open the swinging door: up,
and crept in there w h i l e y ~ u as in there, and IF d g e t on my
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D I PTET30;120 f:1:3
knees you know, and I ' d see you work, and thatfs hard t o get
upderneath t h a t doggone thing, because.then they could see
you. And so, what they would get ' a ticket and went in, and
I h i d there, you b o w , and then I went mound here, like t h i s here,the onee sese at, end tore the ticket up. I g o t caught, Mr.
Green, that's who caught me. My Gad, Hr, Green grabbed me ,
like this, with one hand, h'e was tough, He put me behind a stone
wall. He said, ?"f yo u do t h a t again . " That :'la& t h e end o f it,Sweeney: But they were doing it t o o ?
Dl Pietro: XQ, no. That ~ l d ady w ~ u l d n f t e t them go I n t o
t h a t house. I was young, t h a t old lady liked me. They were
German p e o p l e , t o o . :7e g o t t h e T.:?. Club there now. I never
d i d it no more. f never d i d it no more. That guy gra.bbed me .
s h o v e d me up against the wall an d said "you little 'Wop'- i f I
ever catch you doing that again. . .Sweeney: H ow old were you when t h i s happened? You must have
been pretty l i t t l e , then.
M Pietro: No, I w a s n q tittle, my eye, I w as chunky. I
was a ehlny businessman, with a great big m z n , And V ! ,
Green, he l i o e d on Mt. Pleasant Avenue. He pfcked m e up,
he picked m e up an d shoved me agaLnst that w a l l , Oh, and
he p u t h i s hand on my t h roa t , and h e wanted t o hit me. I
hol le red , t tDon f t hit me, Mr. Green, don't h i t me,, I won't do
it no more. V l l behave, ( laughs) . iTe used t o play aLX k i n d
of tricks on e~erybody.
Sweeaey: There arentt many Republicans l e f t over the re , a n p o r e .
Di. Pietro: . ;Ye don" have t o ROW. 'Je don1 t have t o now. Bedon't have. to.
Sweeney: A h , I guess thereps cornpe t i t inn amon3 t h e Democrats.
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M. Pietro: Thatfs competition m a n g the Democrats.
Sweeney: O k a y, 1 read about a lot of N f f e r e n t p o l i t i c a l clubs
fn East Baltimore, f read about Ren Preller's 26th Ward
Democratic Club, and then I read about,.,- 4 '
M Pietro: Who?
Sweeney: Hen Preller, the Ren Preller Club, and then f read
about yours*, the one t h a t you helped found.
M. Pietro: No, no, we still have one, yeah.
Sweeney: But that started out being an Stallan-American Club.
Di Pietro: 1 remember, that goes back some g e m s . It was an
Italian-American Democratic Club.* Sweeney: Oh.
M Pietro: mat's *hat 5 t was, an Italian-American Democratic
Club, an d well we had a l o t of people , t h a t was a c t i v e then,. . - - . . . . - .-. . - . - " - - . - . " " -
Galleors active, and the, ah, forget - h i s name. &,'%otter
was active then , and then, another big contractor was act ive .
It waa a11 c o n t r a c t o r s was active in clubs in them days.
Sweeney: Probably because of the connections t o th e e f t p An
f srms a f w i n n i n g co n tracts.
M Pietro: That's r i g h t . Yell, I donrt know what I t was for.
S~eeney: Ny grandfather used to be a contractor,
M metro: Well, that's r i g h t , They were a Lumber o f poli-
. t i c i a n s , yeah. But yeah, . h e I alian-American ~ e m o c atic Club
of th e city.
. Sweeney: Md yo u have t a be Italian t o get into this parti-
c u l a r club?
M P i e t r o : Italtan-American, all, Italian and American now.'
Sweeney: Oh, you d l d n r t have t o be of Italian descend?
M Pietro: No, anybody, It was an I t a l i a n o r l g f n a t e d , b u t '
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bf PIETRQ;l20 121:s
it was, r e 1st the Americans in, but what the hel1,'what did
them old men cars. They didn't care,
Swaeney: I ask because in the f f r s t ward, they had a--ah,. &
the first wwd Democratic Club--was a polish Club, and I'm
curiaue to whether, the club star ted o u t being one ethnlc
group, and then......
M P i e t r o : It was e t h n i c , Italian-American Denocratic Club,
m a t was the name o f t h e club. And then, now, l a t e r on In
years, why they--I joined that club, but w e had the Columbus
Peaocratic Club zround there. 'I e had the Robinson Street
Democratic Club, and we had t h e P a t Feebleyls Democratic Club,
and so, in th e f o r t i e s I t h i n k , I s t a r t working towards the
goa l o f c o n s o l i d a t i n g t h e m all, an d making one big club.
Then another guy cane In, t ! a r c r a t e l l i , he had a b l g club. He
just formed a clu'b all aver the s t a t e . Be c a l l e d h f s s e l f ,
the S t a t e Democratic Club, t h e Italfan State Democratic Club, I
an d that was a mushroom club, and it wind up gone and then I i
took t h a t over. So we c a n talk about it. 1
Sweeney: How about t h e Cl ippe r Club like the Hlghlandtown Club,
an d ?
IM Pietro: Well, the Clipper Club used t a be the Potomae
Club once, an d I t used to be, I forgot the name of it, and then
later on in years, when (buzzer goes off) f c a n ' t remember
names t o o w e l l ,
Sweeney: I think you were talking about thed i f f e r en t
clubs,and t h e Clipper Club was th e l a s t one. That was the role of
those clubs? They were nore important in the past t h a n they
a r e now.
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Di Pietro: IJo, they. ',?ell, think they're just i i p o r t a n t.now as they ever was. Sure, because ;ve had men in there, The
Democrat clubs ba s a l l men, and these o t h e r t h i n g s t h a t they. i
have t o d a y, theyfre men an d women together. Of course we d i d
have a l a d i e s auxiliary Democratic club. Ye still g o t some o f
them yet . But, I thought t h e c lubs in them d a y s , well, they
were c l u b s of c l u b s , and they talked about c l e d n g the i r
neighborhood. They t a lked about getting t h i n g s done for t h e
neighborhood. In them days, it was very little to g e t done,
and they were m o r e political sinded than t h e s e peop le are, these
community civic z roups are, because a c i v i c group c R n start up1
over night, And one lady c a n go out and g e t f o u r , f i v e , s i x ,
t e n people , and g e t a boundary Tine, and a ~ k e h e i r boundary
line. They say they control that group. That's all well and
good. Thatts n o t h i n g wrong with t h a t . But they're there f o r a1
motive, and, that's it. %re a club, they ge t nembers a l l
over the city of Baltimore, an d they t r y t g help a11 over the
city o f Baltimore, and whatever. Llke say, a g r o u p of fel lo\vs
would come I n t o the c lub t h a t I ' m president of, th e Untted
Democratic Club of the twenty-sixth ward.
Tell, w e got people t h a t l i v e s in the firet &strict, and
the f i r s t ward, They wasn't getting enough things done fo r
them. They c o m a in as a group, five or s i x . They had an 3.n-
pu t into the club, and they c a m e in, and every first da y of
th e month, they come in with compla in t s and they w a n t thledone and they w a n t t h a t done. Naturally, I ' m th e president,
they give it to m e and I see t h a t it g e t s done. J w r i t e back
to them, or f report back t o t h e m the next meetlng, and of
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course, we're no t f i g h t i n g anybody, an d nobody is frightened
of these improvenent assaciations, All they're worrying about
They s h o u l d g e t into t h e fuhdamental p ~ s t
o f the n e i s h b o r h o o d , t h e functions of the neighborhood, t o get
r i d of the r a t s , and the dog feeces, 2nd th e cockroaches that's
in these _ n ~ o p l e s ' ones. ;Yo, t h y d m f t do t h a t ,
saeeney: They"e k i n d g f s i n g l e issue zroups, more or Less,
Di Pietro: '.'!el?., they%rc. ; : w e o f ur5n.n renewal, people , that's
all. They "re laoktng fq r rene-::xl. The;r uant t o change t h a t
zoning . Theyfre nore zone--ah, 1 dsnrth o w
-:$hat to tell youabout it--but they th ink t o o much of zoning. They don't w a n t
no industry in t h e i r neighborhoods. They d b n t t want t h i s in
th e neighborhoods, ',;Rere Xn the hell w e we going t o ge t o u r
t a x d o l l a r s , i f vie don't 3ut i n d u s t r y someplace?
I d ~ n f t e sn snokesteck industry, b g t th e li&t i n d u s t r y
as I think every neighborhood s h o u l d have light industry in
it. Because I have a l o t of i t fn my nefghborhood, mcl
I ' m surrounded ~ t i t h eavy industry, and gee whiz, and I thin!