Placido's parents were from Mesina, Italy and had 6 children. He took a job with Western Union as a messenger at a young age, quitting school to do so in order to help support the family. He began working in the combing room at Metcalf in 1941 and received a 3 month draft deferment for defense work. He was ultimately drafted in 1942 into the Marine Corp. He served for 3 years and 36 days on Iwo Jima. He married in 1946 and had six children, three boys and three girls.
Annette's mother was from France. She was one of eleven children. She attended a boarding school in Pawtucket. She and her husband, Romuald Lareau, owner of the Barnai Worsted Mill, had 5 children.
Antonia married at 20 and had one daughter.
Claire's parents were from Canada. She began working at Murdoch Webbing at 16, where she did quilting and cut belts for the military. She was a floor lady for 6 months. She married at 20 and worked part time at Hasbro doing piece work. She was with Hasbro only a few months. She stopped working after the birth of her first child.She had 6 children.
Aline was one of three children. She had one brother and one sister. She was 16 when she got her first job and stopped working after she married in 1941. She had one son who was born in 1951. She is a talented crocheter who is self taught.
Rita was one of three children. She began working at 15 in the Bonin Spinning Mill as a winder and stayed there until it closed. She married when she was 19 and now has 16 grandchildren.
Elizabeth is the seventh of thirteen children. She was born in 1933 in South Carolina. She has four brothers and eight sisters. She was 48 years old when she moved to RI. Before that she had worked in mills most of her life including a mill in Washington, D.C.
Linda was born in Woonsocket, RI and had one brother. Her brother was an electrician and carpenter.
Her parent's moved 25 times when she was growing up. Linda had her first job at 16 and was married at 18. She had 2 children, 10 years apart.
She enjoyed her position at a glass company in Providence. She worked there for 3 years making lenses for microscopes. It was while working there that she met her best friend Clara with whom she is still in touch.
MayMay was born in Lewiston, ME and was an only child. Her family were "circus people" working for the Barnum & Bailey circus. Her grandfather was a clown, her mother a bareback rider and her father ran the ferris wheel. She spent her childhood traveling with the country with the circus. At 15 she left for Bridgeport, CT. By her early twenties she owned a restaurant in Derbt, CT called Mum's Carhop where the waitresses delivered food on rollerskates. She had 2 sons and at age 42 came to Woonsocket and began working in the mills as a sewing machine operator.
