Historical Portrait
Francisco Sanfilippo and his wife, group portrait, photograph
Archive record
Photograph caption: "Mr. Sanfilippo is a Sicilian fisherman from near Palermo." Forms part of a group of field materials documenting Francisco Sanfilippo performing unaccompanied Sicilian songs from Italy on February 11, 1939, collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell in Martinez, California.
About this photograph
The record states that Francisco Sanfilippo was a Sicilian fisherman from near Palermo. On February 11, 1939, he performed unaccompanied Sicilian songs in Martinez, California, for Sidney Robertson Cowell, who recorded and photographed the session.
This photograph forms part of the field materials from that session. The group portrait shows Sanfilippo and his wife, though the record does not give her name or any further details about either subject.
Cowell directed the W.P.A. California Folk Music Project, working across Northern California's immigrant communities between 1938 and 1940 to record traditional musicians. The project documented performers from Armenian, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Mexican, Irish, and Serbian backgrounds, among others. The recordings and photographs are held by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
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