Table of Contents
Personal Interview of Rita Serravalle on Factory Work in the 1960s
(13 February 2019)
“Back in Calabria, Italy, Rita Serravalle worked on her parent’s farm and had no experience in the factory setting. She arrived in Canada without her husband, Vincenzo Serravalle, as he found work in Germany, and she overcame many barriers, such as obstacles of language….She also faced discrimination in Canada and was called many offensive names and was told that no one was going to hire an Italian immigrant. She did not arrive with much in Canada but her contributions to society and as a woman in the electrical field are remarkable.” – Julia Serravalle
Introduction
This project explores immigrant women in the 1960s during the post-war boom. Italian immigrant women are not only the foundation of the family but they were also the bedrock to the economy and the workplace. In hopes for a better life, Italian immigrants came to Canada with empty trunks and a big dream; this, however, did not come without sacrifice. Within a generation, the institutional life and rhetoric of the migrants, often when on the threshold of assimilation, moved from companilismo and regionalism toward a pan-Italian sensibility. Many immigrant women came to Canada from Italy and all over Europe and found work in factories. This project will include archives and interviews with my Nonna, Rita Serravalle, who worked in a factory in the 1960s called Federal Pioneer Limited, which today is known as Schneider Electric. In this factory Rita Serravalle, built circuit breakers and completed many projects providing electricity throughout the city for projects that include the Toronto subway, The CN Tower, The Rogers Centre, and millions of homes across Toronto in 1967.
Results
Upon interviewing and collecting archival material from Rita Serravalle, it is revealed that factory work during the 1960s was predominantly filled with women. Rita Serravalle stated in her interview that the factory where she was employed had about 60% women and 40% men working with the machines.
Some of the major struggles Rita Serravalle faced coming to Canada and in the workplace include language barriers and discrimination. The role of women in this workplace was to work with machines and weld; the women were on their feet all day, sometimes for eight hours straight. The women in the factory were also shocked at the lack of male presence in this industry.
Discussion
The findings in this study depict the importance of how immigrant women challenged the stereotypical notions of females being confined to the home. Photographs and documents from the private collection of Rita Serravalle found in her home were analyzed with an interview, discussing women in factory work and immigrant women struggles for oral evidence. Other evidence examined were archival photographs and information from the City of Toronto which include files of construction, renovation, and maintenance of power distribution infrastructure.
The evidence shows that women, just like men, can be providers. Back in Calabria, Italy, Rita Serravalle worked on her parent’s farm and had no experience in the factory setting. She arrived in Canada without her husband, Vincenzo Serravalle, as he found work in Germany, and she overcame many barriers, such as obstacles of language (as the major obstacle the community faced). Rita had a very hard time reading and writing in English at her work, but she was able to learn it as best as she could. She also faced discrimination in Canada and was called many offensive names and was told that no one was going to hire an Italian immigrant. She did not arrive with much in Canada but her contributions to society and as a woman in the electrical field are remarkable. This suggests that women, just like their male counterparts are capable of making a life, being independent and supporting their families.
The research conducted, which uses my grandmother as an Italian immigrant woman, opens doors to further topics in the Italian-Canadian immigrant experience: The use of an intersectional lens (race, class, gender, etc.) to compare the barriers and obstacles of women across different cultures when immigrating to Canada. Further literature on the contributions of Italian women and men would be beneficial because many of these people constructed Toronto and Canada into the country it is today through building infrastructure, providing electricity and other trades. More use of interviewing as a methodological tool would be beneficial to academia and literature as it captures and follows the lives of immigrants and brings their narratives to life.
Works Cited
“East York Hydro-Electric Commission Engineering and Construction Project Files.” Federal Pioneer Limited, Waterman, Toronto. Fonds 404, Series 1731, File 12.
Serravalle, Rita. Interview on Factory Work in the 1960s. 13 February 2019.
Serravalle, Rita. Photos and Documents from Federal Pioneer. 13 February 2019. Private Collection of Rita Serravalle.
How to cite this research
Serravalle, Julia. “Personal Interview of Rita Serravalle on Factory Work in the 1960s.” On Archival Research of Italian-Canadian Immigration and Culture, super. T. Russo, Issue 3: Oral Histories: Traditional and Poetic Forms, University of Guelph, December 2021, Guelph. Italian-Canadian Narratives Showcase (ICNS), Sandra Parmegiani and Nivashinee Ponambalum.