Clementina Poto Langone
| Clementina Poto Langone | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Clementina Maria Anna Poto May 30, 1896 Boston, U.S. |
| Died | April 20, 1964 Boston, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery Malden, Massachusetts |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Joseph A. Langone, Jr. |
| Children | Louise, Joseph, Madeline, Frederick, William, Rita |
Clementina Poto Langone (1896-1964) was a civic leader from the North End of Boston who is remembered for her service to the Italian-American community. During the Great Depression she was known as a "Good Samaritan" who distributed food and clothing to the poor and advocated for them politically. As a member of the Massachusetts Board of Immigration and Americanization, she helped hundreds of Italian immigrants assimilate and obtain U.S. citizenship. She served as vice chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee and as an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention.
Clementina Maria Anna Poto was born in the North End of Boston on May 30, 1896. Her parents, Luigi Poto and Maddalena Debueris, were Italian immigrants from Castelcivita, Salerno. As a child, she attended Boston public schools and worked in the family grocery store on the first floor of her home. She studied business at Burdett College.
In 1920 she married another North End resident, Joseph A. Langone, Jr., son of Massachusetts state legislator Joseph A. (Giuseppe Antonio) Langone. In addition to raising six children and doing volunteer work in the community, she helped run the Langone family's funeral home on North Street. When Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in 1927, they were laid out at the Langone funeral home, where they were viewed by over ten thousand mourners, and the funeral procession drew many thousands more. The Boston Globe called it "one of the most tremendous funerals of modern times."
During the Great Depression, Clementina Langone collected food and clothing for the poor and distributed them from her living room. Langone, who was bilingual, was especially helpful to Italian immigrants, many of whom spoke little or no English. In addition to helping them materially, she listened to their problems and explained to them how to get WPA jobs and other help from the government. She encouraged them to apply for U.S. citizenship so that they would be eligible for social security. As her reputation grew, people flocked to her house to ask for help, sometimes upward of 75 per day. She often spoke at political meetings and actively supported government aid to the poor.
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