Manuscripts Collection
Michael Sanchelli was born in the Swede Hollow area of St. Paul, Minnesota around 1915. His father, Antonio Sauchelli, was a railroad laborer who had emigrated from Benevento, Italy several years previously, as had his wife Maria Tarlizzo. The family lived in St. Paul until early 1925 when they joined Michael's uncle and grandfather in Montana. They returned to the Swede Hollow neighborhood in 1926, where Sanchelli grew to adulthood.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1941 and served with the 116th Engineer Combat Battalion, mostly performing construction work in the New Hebrides. Following his discharge, Sanchelli returned to St. Paul in September 1945, marrying Sue Barilla in November. They continued to live in the old Swede Hollow neighborhood, which had a sizable Italian American population.
Sanchelli took a job with the U.S. Postal Service in 1945, working as a clerk in the St. Paul central post office until his retirement in 1974. Sue died in 1981, and Sanchelli married Josephine Falbo in 1986. Sanchelli remained active in Italian American and St. Paul historical organizations during his retirement, eventually authoring a great deal of reminiscent material about his family and about the history of Swede Hollow and its Italian community.
The reminiscences (1917-1993) discuss Sanchelli's youth in the Italian immigrant community located in Swede Hollow, his family's struggles during the depression (1929-1937), his military service in the New Hebrides during World War II (1942-1945), his marriage and two sons, his retirement, the death of his first wife (1979) and his second marriage (1986), and his heart attack (1992).
Other topics include the history of Carver's Cave in St. Paul, the Italian American Society, the Riverside Park addition on Pigs Eye Island (St. Paul), and a Bartone family history.
An inventory that provides additional information about this collection is also available in the repository; filed as P1937.
Accession number: 14,731; 15,840
Processed by: Frank Hennessy, February 1993; Dennis Meissner, May 2003
Catalog ID number: 09-00030923
The reminiscence begins with Sanchelli's memories of his family and childhood in the Italian immigrant community living at Swede Hollow in St. Paul (1917-1924). He recalls the houses his family rented; their neighbors, including the new Italian immigrants; citizenship classes; smallpox vaccination and quarantine; and his mother's poor health.
Sanchelli's family moved to Silver Bow, Montana to live with his uncle (Jan. 1925) and he describes the four-day train trip, his mother's hospitalization for tuberculosis, the placement of four of his siblings in foster care, and the death of his youngest brother Perry (Nov. 1925).
The family was reunited and returned to St. Paul in March 1926. Sanchelli describes the family's struggles during the depression including his father's unemployment and bouts with epilepsy, the government relief programs, his work with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) (1934); and his job with the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in St. Paul as a member of a pile driver crew (1935-1937).
The next section describes Sanchelli's enlistment in the army and his service with the 116th Engineer Combat Battalion during World War II (1941-1945). He recalls his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri (Sept.-Dec., 1941); the unit's service at Fort Lewis, Washington (Dec. 1941-March 1942); and his voyage onboard the U.S.S. President Tyler to the New Hebrides (April 10-May 4, 1942).
Sanchelli was stationed in the New Hebrides until October or November 1944 and served briefly in Fiji and New Caledonia before returning home (Jan. 1945). The reminiscence describes the construction projects he worked on, social activities, the islands' natives, and illnesses he and others suffered.
Sanchelli returned to St. Paul after his discharge from the service (Sept. 28, 1945) and married Sue Barilla (Nov. 24, 1945). The reminiscence goes on to relate Sanchelli's search for employment, being hired by the post office (Oct. 1945), and the birth of his two sons, Michael Joseph (Aug. 27, 1946) and Steven Anthony (Sept 7, 1947). Other recollections include the purchase of his first house; the purchase of a second home in Heyden Heights (April 1961); the deaths of his father (May 4, 1960) and mother (1961); his sons' military service during the Vietnam War; Michael's wedding; the birth of his grandchildren; and Sue's tour of Europe in the early 1970s.
Sanchelli retired (Sept. 28, 1974) and he describes a trip Sue and he took to California (Oct.-Dec. 1974); Steve's wedding (1975); recreational activities he engaged in after retirement including walking, horseshoes, golf, and bowling; and Sue's health problems and death (1979-Jan. 12, 1981).
The remainder of the reminiscence relates Sanchelli's drinking problem after his wife's death; his brother Noah's heart attack; his experiences playing in a band with his brothers called the Sanchelli Brothers and Friend; his second marriage (June 6, 1986); the story of an affair his grandfather had in Italy; and his heart attack and two subsequent surgeries (July-Oct. 1992).
Brief (2-6 pp.) typed reminiscences relating to family and to Italian Americans. The dated items are 1991-1992, but all probably come from the 1990s. Topics include the Sanchelli (Sauchelli) and Bartone families, the Italian American Society, Italian "tempers," and the Sanchelli Brothers and Friend musical group (including photographs).
Brief (2-6 pp.) typed and handwritten reminiscences relating primarily to St. Paul, especially the Swede Hollow area, in the first half of the twentieth century. Topics include the many changes that the Swede Hollow area underwent over time, Carver's Cave, Lincoln School, and Pigs Eye Island.
Three brief reminiscences concern the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor (including a poem), the WPA in St. Paul during 1935-1936, and a 1935 automobile trip on U.S. Highway 12 from St. Paul to Indiana.
A small set of photocopied newspaper articles are all about Sanchelli or other members of his family.
Six personal letters include one on birch bark (1934) to his mother while he was working at a CCC camp in Ely, Minnesota; two letters to his mother (1942) and a V-Mail letter to Sue Barilla (1943) during World War II; and two letters (1987, 1988) from residents of Port-Vila, Vanuatu, where Sanchelli served during the war.