Anthony Julian celebrates his Italian heritage

By Leo Leonhart

Special to The Vindicator

YOUNGSTOWN

It is late March and Anthony Julian and his wife, Joan, have hit the road on their 1,250-mile road trip from their son’s home in Naples, Fla., back to Youngstown.

The idea of swapping warm winter days in the Sunshine State for the fickle spring weather in Northeast Ohio is offset by an anticipation of the arrival of their 15th grandchild, Gemma Rose.

The five children and 15 grandchildren of Anthony, youngest of Giovanina (Jenny) and Rocco Guilano’s seven children, represent a legacy for the late immigrant from Colobraro, Italy, who exactly 100 years ago this November stepped off the boat onto Ellis Island and then made his way to Brier Hill.

A proud Italian-American, Julian, for the past 25 years, has been a central figure in organizing the Greater Youngstown Italian Fest, which each year attracts some 50,000 people to the streets of downtown Youngstown.

The event, sponsored by Youngstown’s Italian Heritage Foundation, takes more than two days to set up. Besides traditional music, dancing, socializing, and of course food, its events include contests involving pasta and Italian sausage eating, Miss Italian Fest and Little King and Queen pageants, homemade wine and homemade beer judging, grape-stomping, and boccie and morra tournaments.

Since 1992, the YIHF has raised about $150,000 for local charities, and it annually awards four $1,000 scholarships to Italian-American students attending YSU.

Youngstown’s Fest is but one of the many Italian heritage celebrations that take place annually across the United States. Italian-American communities in virtually every town and city of significance have an equivalent event honoring Italian traditions.

Where larger populations of Italian-Americans are concentrated, there are big festivals, such as Youngstown’s. In smaller Italian communities, the celebration may be limited to spaghetti dinners in the church hall. Nevertheless, the tradition lives.

In Youngstown, where great numbers of Italians settled during the early 20th century, two other celebrations take place — the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Italian Festival celebrates the heritage of the Italian neighborhood Smoky Hollow, and the Brier Hill Italian Fest unfolds on the red brick streets at Calvin & Victoria.

Both neighborhoods once were heavily populated by immigrants from Southern Italy, many from villages as Colobraro, Valsinni, Tursi, Montalbano and Rotondella in the Southern Province of Matera.

As the Julians motor northward along I-75, Anthony reminisces about his Brier Hill youth ... growing up in the old house on Funston Street near West Federal Street. Back then, the skies overhead were smoke-filled. The air sometimes reeked of sulfur from the coking plant emissions of the Youngstown Sheet & Tube. Soils were black and gritty from the fallout of soot, but still great for raising tomatoes and Italian peppers, found growing in practically everyone’s back yard. Rocco, his older brother Nicola and sister Rosaria co-owned a small plot on Davis Lane.

Despite the unhealthy and unpleasant shroud of pollution of those old days, Rocco held a steady job with YS&T as a craneman. He earned enough to comfortably support his large family and was glad for the local steel industry, which brought him and so many of his paisani to Brier Hill.

Growing up as the “baby” of the family, Anthony enjoyed the perks of having his half-dozen older siblings work things out ahead of him. There was also the disadvantage of wearing a lot of “hand-me-downs,” which Anthony grew into at an early age, being more than 6 feet tall and by far the tallest of his brothers.

Unfortunately, he suffered another, more serious, disadvantage, a congenital heart condition, which held him back physically. Not easily discouraged, Anthony undertook a profession as a watchmaker upon high school graduation. He learned precision skills that would serve him well throughout his career.

After 12 years as a jeweler, he was offered a position with the city. His aptitude soon earned him a promotion to Sealer of Weights and Measures. Later, in response to growing public concerns, Anthony proposed legislation to establish an Office of Consumer Affairs and soon became its founding director.

In organizing the fledgling office, he met with former Miss America Bess Myerson, then head of New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs. As director, he was an advocate for consumer protection, settled utility disputes, and he presided at consumer- fraud hearings.

He was a frequent guest on local television news spots, and eventually he had his own “Consumer Action Line” television show. His work in consumer protection ultimately earned him recognition in the Congressional Record “for his tireless efforts on behalf of the common man.”

In 1980, Anthony was elected to the Youngstown Board of Education, where he served for 16 years, including two terms as board president. Among his many accomplishments was the establishment of a yellow bus program for students with special needs. He also has served on the Selective Service Board for more than 20 years.

Over his long career, the other honors he was awarded and public service roles he fulfilled are too numerous to mention.

It was at the peak of his professional career that he became active in the celebration of his Italian heritage. He was elected trustee of the YIHF, and then chairman of the Brier Hill Reunion and Scholarship Committee. But perhaps the role he most enjoyed has been as chairman of the Miss Italian Beauty & Talent Pageant. As the only remaining founding member of the Youngstown Fest, he is looking forward to 2011 as his 26th consecutive year.

Nearing the outskirts of Youngstown, Anthony’s expectation of his new granddaughter and the late summer festas wells up as an inner pride.

“L’America nel cuore mio. Italia nell’anima mia” [America in my heart. Italy in my soul], he thinks to himself. Soon he will again be celebrating the tradition started with Rocco’s arrival 100 years ago, the carefree old days in that special Brier Hill neighborhood, and of course, his mom’s cucina. And it will be special.

Leo Leonhart, Ph.D., a cousin of Anthony Julian’s, is a principal hydrogeologist with Hargis and Associates Inc. in Tucson, Ariz.