Transcript
Page 1: KHS Museum Theatre - Birds of Passage: Vincent Scopa of "Tallie Holler"

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”Birds of Passage

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

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Birds of PassageVincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

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Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

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www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspective. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, Ky. 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

Page 2: KHS Museum Theatre - Birds of Passage: Vincent Scopa of "Tallie Holler"

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”Birds of Passage

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

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Birds of PassageVincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

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Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

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Welcome to your new home, a coal town in eastern Kentucky, 1930. Like other immigrants, you have come to America in search of a job that can help you earn money to return to Italy and buy your own land. Unfortunately you don’t speak the language or know your way around.

Meet Vincent Scopa, an Italian immigrant and injured miner, now working in the company store. He and his family of five live in a modest home and take on boarders

to earn additional income. They live in a community of other Italians who continue to keep the traditions of the old country.

Scopa represents thousands of workers and their families – Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Swedish, Scottish, and Russian – who migrated to the mines.

To learn more, see the following:Eller, Ronald D. • Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930. Knoxville, 1982.Taylor, Paul F. • Bloody Harlan: The United Mine Workers of America in Harlan County, Kentucky, 1931-1941. Lanham, Md., 1990.

Vincent Scopa – Adam LuckeySince graduating from Georgetown College in 1999, Adam has worked extensively with most of the theatres in Central Kentucky. He teaches with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Kentucky, is an associate artist with Actors Guild of Lexington, and is the Museum Theatre specialist for the Kentucky Historical Society.

Director/Alternate Actor – Greg HardisonKHS museum theatre coordinator, Greg Hardison, has received awards for his work in Florida, Virginia, and Kentucky, and he currently serves on the board of the International Museum Theatre Alliance.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than forty original productions, often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collection. Each play is presented within KHS exhibition spaces and is designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds, and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibitions to learn more. Audience members often find that they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Special thanks: Joseph Scopa, Bobbie Goddard – Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, Doug Cantrell – Elizabethtown Community College, Larry LaFollette – Southeast Community College, Lynne Hollingsworth – KHS special collections curator, Mike Thomas – script development and original director, Mark Funk – dialect coach, David McElrath/Joe Buniff – set design and construction, Jake Turner - lighting design. Costume: Tailored by Cathy West, consulted by Julienne Foster – KHS head registrar. Photo credits: (cover) Joseph Carruba, an Italian Immigrant, stands in the center of his coworkers, Lynch, ca. 1920 – cour-tesy South East Kentucky Community and Technical College, Appalachian Archives (SKCTC). (opposite page) Stonemasons Dominic and Francesca Mongiardo are seated at center, ca. 1928 – courtesy Daniel Mongiardo.(this page, from left) Ital-ians celebrating the Fourth of July in Lynch, 1927 – courtesy SKCTC. Certificate of Naturalization for Dominic Mongiardo, 1915 – courtesy Daniel Mongiardo.

Glossary:

Birds of passage: slang term given to immigrants working only to earn

money to purchase land in their home country or those who moved from

coal camp to coal camp seeking the highest wages to achieve this goal.

Shack rousters: those who force miners to return to work.

Padrone: contractor of Italian laborers, usually a fellow immigrant.

Scab: one who refuses to join a labor union or honor a striking union’s

picket line.

Scrip: money loaned to miners and used to purchase goods in a store

owned and operated by the company and paid back to the company

out of the next paycheck.

Tallie/Dago: negative slang terms describing Italian miners stalks.

Page 3: KHS Museum Theatre - Birds of Passage: Vincent Scopa of "Tallie Holler"

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”Birds of Passage

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

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Birds of PassageVincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

k

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

k

Welcome to your new home, a coal town in eastern Kentucky, 1930. Like other immigrants, you have come to America in search of a job that can help you earn money to return to Italy and buy your own land. Unfortunately you don’t speak the language or know your way around.

Meet Vincent Scopa, an Italian immigrant and injured miner, now working in the company store. He and his family of five live in a modest home and take on boarders

to earn additional income. They live in a community of other Italians who continue to keep the traditions of the old country.

Scopa represents thousands of workers and their families – Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Swedish, Scottish, and Russian – who migrated to the mines.

To learn more, see the following:Eller, Ronald D. • Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South, 1880-1930. Knoxville, 1982.Taylor, Paul F. • Bloody Harlan: The United Mine Workers of America in Harlan County, Kentucky, 1931-1941. Lanham, Md., 1990.

Vincent Scopa – Adam LuckeySince graduating from Georgetown College in 1999, Adam has worked extensively with most of the theatres in Central Kentucky. He teaches with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Kentucky, is an associate artist with Actors Guild of Lexington, and is the Museum Theatre specialist for the Kentucky Historical Society.

Director/Alternate Actor – Greg HardisonKHS museum theatre coordinator, Greg Hardison, has received awards for his work in Florida, Virginia, and Kentucky, and he currently serves on the board of the International Museum Theatre Alliance.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than forty original productions, often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collection. Each play is presented within KHS exhibition spaces and is designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds, and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibitions to learn more. Audience members often find that they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Special thanks: Joseph Scopa, Bobbie Goddard – Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, Doug Cantrell – Elizabethtown Community College, Larry LaFollette – Southeast Community College, Lynne Hollingsworth – KHS special collections curator, Mike Thomas – script development and original director, Mark Funk – dialect coach, David McElrath/Joe Buniff – set design and construction, Jake Turner - lighting design. Costume: Tailored by Cathy West, consulted by Julienne Foster – KHS head registrar. Photo credits: (cover) Joseph Carruba, an Italian Immigrant, stands in the center of his coworkers, Lynch, ca. 1920 – cour-tesy South East Kentucky Community and Technical College, Appalachian Archives (SKCTC). (opposite page) Stonemasons Dominic and Francesca Mongiardo are seated at center, ca. 1928 – courtesy Daniel Mongiardo.(this page, from left) Ital-ians celebrating the Fourth of July in Lynch, 1927 – courtesy SKCTC. Certificate of Naturalization for Dominic Mongiardo, 1915 – courtesy Daniel Mongiardo.

Glossary:

Birds of passage: slang term given to immigrants working only to earn

money to purchase land in their home country or those who moved from

coal camp to coal camp seeking the highest wages to achieve this goal.

Shack rousters: those who force miners to return to work.

Padrone: contractor of Italian laborers, usually a fellow immigrant.

Scab: one who refuses to join a labor union or honor a striking union’s

picket line.

Scrip: money loaned to miners and used to purchase goods in a store

owned and operated by the company and paid back to the company

out of the next paycheck.

Tallie/Dago: negative slang terms describing Italian miners stalks.

Page 4: KHS Museum Theatre - Birds of Passage: Vincent Scopa of "Tallie Holler"

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”Birds of Passage

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Birds of PassageVincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

k

Vincent Scopa of “Tallie Holler”

Birds of Passagek

k

www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspective. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, Ky. 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.


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