Italian child workers from Schio (i petacai), in New York city, 1902. Source: FRANZINA, Emilio (a cura di) La classe, gli uomini e i partiti, vol. I

small group of textile-workers came to Brazil within a larger contingent known as "Massive Immigration". In 1891, most Italian immigrants entered this country. Among them, 81 families (258 peoples) came from Schio - a small town in Italy, located in the province of Vicenza. They settled down in the State of São Paulo. These people were part of a larger group of scledenses, about 288 families that immigrated to other Brazilian states (Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo) during this period. The main reason for such exodus from Schio was a crisis that had shaken the work relationship between textile-workers and the representatives of the Lanificio Rossi S.p.A. Until then, labor relations had remained quite stable. On the 17^th of February, 1891, hundreds of workers stopped the production of this industry. In April of that same year, workers would strike again. Within a span of 18 years, they were the first strikes that had been motivated, amongst other reasons, by decrease in price of labor. During the subsequent months, 1.040 workers: men, women (whether single or married), and at different ages (whether young or aged) left the town.

etween 1891 and 1895, as newcomers in the new land, a small group of workers settled in the city of São Paulo, in the Brás district. They would maintain their social condition as urban proletarians. These immigrants from Schio arrived within a period of urban and industrial boom in São Paulo and in that district. These newcomers settled as a new work force in the textile industries that had established a few previous decades. The standards of living, though, were extremely difficult and even worse than the ones that had been left behind in the old continent. These workers remained articulated however and, together, they struggled to form a network of solidarity that spread to many cities throughout the world. They were motivated by anarchist and social movements that stood against social forces.

y Ph.D thesis accounts for causes that led such workers to settle within the industrial Brazilian context. Currently, I am engaged in the task of finding the whereabouts of these families, whether in Brazil or in Italy, since many of them have returned to their home country. For your information, I supply a list of these family names on the next page, along with the Brazilian state in which these families are now settled. Please, write to me at: