James Pietro (1873-1956) Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

No special access restriction applies.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], James Pietro (1873-1956) Papers, A&M 2768, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
5.75 Linear Feet 5 ft. 8 1/2 in. (4 records cartons, 15 in. each); (1 document case, 5 in.); (1 document case, 2 1/2 in.); (2 oversize folders, 1 in. total)
Creator:
Pietro, James, 1873-1956
Abstract:
Business papers of James Pietro, a Morgantown contractor and photographs and correspondence of the Pietro family. Also includes some material pertaining to Brian Pietro, his great-grandson. For additional Pietro family and business papers, see A&M 2836.
Language:
English and Italian
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], James Pietro (1873-1956) Papers, A&M 2768, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection holds personal and business papers of James Pietro (1873-1956), a Morgantown, West Virginia contractor, and photographs and correspondence of the Pietro family. Common items of interest include financial documents, business correspondence, personal mementos, and personal correspondence, including letters to his native country of Italy throughout the 20th century, and his son during World War II. Other items of interest, including receipts, invoices, and correspondence, consist of life in Morgantown West Virginia, including local businesses such as Morgantown Flour and Feed Company, Traction Electric Company, McClain Sand, Arkwright Coal, Stentz Service Station, and HC Baker Hardware Company, among others, as well as local clubs and social activities such as the Elks Club. Collection also includes many contracts and blueprints for Morgantown construction projects and the surrounding areas. Highlights include blueprints for sewers in the Etna borough, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (1904), blueprint for "plots situate in Morgan District, Monongalia County," and the Thoney Pietro Company certificate of incorporation (1919). Other inclusions, belonging to the family, include a scrapbook of the children of James Pietro from young adulthood, highlighting significant life events (box 3, folder 5), and a history paper (1949) by Lawrence Pietro Jr., about the history of Morgantown in which he recounts his father's telling of arriving in Morgantown for the first time.

Addendum of 2015-04-02: 1901-2000; 7 1/2 in. (1 document case, 5 in.; 1 document case, 2 1/2 in.) Box 5, containing the belongings of Brian Waugh Pietro, 1956-2003, great-grandson of James Pietro, was collected by his uncle, Douglas B. Broglie, grandson of James Pietro. It includes papers involving journalism and publishing businesses. Papers include correspondence and rejection letters from various publishing companies, and an unpublished manuscript called, "Criminal Conspiracy." Also included is a scrapbook of published newspaper articles written by Brian, as well as copies of his resume. Also collected by Broglie, Box 6 (1901-1911) contains several baptism certificates of Pietro's children from the Italian Catholic Church of Pittsburgh as well as Monongalia County Circuit Court documents petitioning for an official name change from Pitassi to Pietro. This document details how the Pietros were given their name and significant details pertaining to the Pietro family timeline.

For additional Pietro family and business papers, see A&M 2836.

Includes Certificate of Incorporation for Thoney Pietro Company; various blueprints including section view drawing of Thomas Galinssons Company, Allegheny, PA, the site plan of Murray Place, Uniontown, PA, the site plans and elevation drawings of Angle Alley Sewer, Etna, PA including spenial inlet between Locust and Highstreet; plan view drawing of The Miller automatic flush tank, Chicago; group photo outside the Morgantown Glass Company, undated.

Includes site plans for Morgantown Water Company, River Bridge, site plan of lots in Morgan District, storm sewer of Beechurst Avenue, section drawing of Morgantown Water Company, site plan for Etna Wilson Street, McLure and Maple, and more.

Biographical / historical:

James Pietro:

James Pietro (1873-1956), born Luigi Pitassi in Ateleta, Italy, immigrated to the United States in 1886. He first resided in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he married his wife Maria and had two children, Lawrence Pietro and Rose Pietro Salucci. In January of 1907, he moved his family to Morgantown, West Virginia, where he purchased land for a home, and established a contracting company with his siblings, headed by his brother, Thoney. Pietro fathered six more children with his wife in Morgantown, with three dying in infancy, including a daughter, Anna. His son, William died in 1915 at age 11. Two other children, Frank Pietro and Helen Pietro Broglie, are noted throughout the collection.

In 1912, Pietro became the foreman of Monongalia county. He left this position to work at the Pietro Construction Company established by his son, Lawrence. He was in the business of general contracting, basements, remodeling, underpiping, excavating and cement work, sewer construction and grading. He died at age 83 on October 5, 1956.

Brian Pietro:

Brian Pietro (1957-2003), the great-grandson of James Pietro, was an author and journalist. He is presumed to be the son of Lawrence James Pietro Jr. (grandson of James Pietro and son of Lawrence Pietro) and Patricia Jeanne Waugh. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, Brian completed two years of a Journalism degree at West Virginia University before transferring to West Georgia College, where he earned a history degree in 1981. Notable parts of his collection include a manuscript, "Criminal Conspiracy," along with a sizable collection of correspondence with publishers. According to business cards within his collection, Brian held jobs as a district manager for several different publishing companies, a sales representative for Housing Network Magazines, and an account executive for Sports Trend. He died in Winter Springs, Florida in 2003, unmarried, with no next of kin. His father was an only child.

Acquisition information:
Gift from Lawrence J. Pietro, Jr. and Gloria S. Cunningham, 1981
Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard