Background on Politella family
Dario, Antonio, Lillian, and Joseph Politella in Amherst, ca.1930
As a young man 1910, Antonio Politella (1887-1937) left his new wife and infant son in Roccamonfina, Italy (Caserta Province), to settle in Lawrence, Mass., where his older half-brother Walter Pollano was enjoying the fruits of an immigrant's success. An ambitious man who had arrived in 1901, Pollano learned English while working in the mills and studied pharmacy on the side, and by 1909, he struck out on his own, establishing the Lawrence Street Drug and Chemical Company. For a brief period after his arrival, Politella worked in the mills, but joined his slightly older relative as a clerk and (later) assistant pharmacist. Both men were associated with the underground newspaper Il Purgante and were supporters of the Bread and Roses strike of 1912, supplying striking workers with food, and for his efforts, Pollano earned the nickname "the priest of Lawrence Street."
Politella's fortunes rose enough by August 1919, that he was able to bring over his wife, Caterina Ionta, and their son, Giuseppa (Joseph). The couple immediately continued building their family with the arrival of daughter a Violet Lillian (1920-2015) and second son, Dario (1921-2003). Each of the Politella children graduated from Massachusetts State College and each made their career in education. Joseph (1910-1975) began college at Northeastern before joining the class of 1933 at Massachusetts State College. Under the influence of the charismatic botanist Ray Ethan Torrey, he discovered what would become a lifelong interest in Theosophy, mysticism, and "Eastern" religion, and he was encouraged on to graduate study at Amherst (MA, 1935) and the University of Pennsylvania (PhD, 1938). Like so many of his generation, Politella's infant academic career at Northland College was interrupted by the Second World War. Enlisting in the Army Air Corps in November 1942, he received a lieutenant's commission and was assigned to duty as a classification officer at stateside bases, with a short stay in Panama, earning promotion to Captain. He resumed his academic career in 1946, joining the faculty in Philosophy at Kent State (1946-1973). He was author of four books on mysticism, Buddhism, and Asian religion.
Violet Lillian (1920-2015) followed her brother to Mass State, studying French and graduating in 1942. Lillian taught at American Dependent schools in Japan during the mid-1950s and in schools in Ohio until her retirement in 1985. The youngest of the Politella children, Dario (1921-2003), began undergraduate studies at Calvin College College and the Virginia Military Institute, but he too suspended civilian life for the demands of the military. Barely twenty years old, he was commissioned a lieutenant in March 1942 and served as a liaison pilot with the 808th Field Artillery Battalion, earning the Air Medal with oak leaf cluster. During a second stint in the military, he earned the Bronze Star as an aviator in the Korean War. Dario completed his undergraduate career at the University of Massachusetts in 1947, receiving a degree in languages and literature, and went on to earn a doctorate from Syracuse. The author of ten books and dozens of articles, landed on faculty at UMass Amherst, teaching journalism for over twenty-five years until his retirement in 1990.
