The Chiesa Family Shares About Capturing the American Dream

History of Hughson, California: The People, the Places, the Traditions of a Small Town

The Hughson Historical Society Long-Standing Citizen Appreciation Dinner honors two families who have made an impact on Hughson. The August 17, 2024, dinner, held at St. Anthony’s, celebrated the Aroldo and Mary Chiesa and the Hamm and Lorraine Cunningham families. Representatives from the Cunninghams and Chiesa families presented at Historical Society meetings held in the Hughson Historical Museum in the weeks leading up to the dinner.

In his presentation, Vito Chiesa, who also serves as the Stanislaus County Supervisor, spoke of the “Italian colony in Hughson” and admitted his family does not have the roots so many other long-standing citizens can claim, like those who came on wagon trains over a century ago. Instead, the Chiesa family, led by Aroldo Chiesa, planted its roots in Hughson in the early 20^th century in California when 27-year-old Aroldo Chiesa, an immigrant sponsored by his aunts and uncles, driving his newly purchased Ford, met 15-year-old Mary Chiesa at the California Ballroom.

Before that, Vito described his family in Italy as “survivalists,” living in the hills, bartering for the essentials they needed, having little else, not even a bicycle. Caught up in the war, Aroldo was a boy sent up farther into the hills with the family cattle, crying himself to sleep as Mussolini’s army took the remaining cattle, attacked women, and stole whatever other resources they could along the way.

When Aroldo came to America at age 23, “America was like Disneyland,” he said.

After twelve months in his new country, he purchased his first automobile.

“My dad was a proud American,” Vito said. He did not teach them Italian but rather left his native language behind. He learned English and Spanish and, in his last days, reverted to speaking Spanish again rather than his first language.

American roots go farther back on Mary’s side, with ancestors fought for the Union and for the Confederacy. “But that’s history,” Vito said. Mary graduated early, married, and had three children in quick succession by the time she was twenty. The Chiesas farmed, connected to relatives and other Italians who came from nearby and raised the children with the virtues and values they brought with them.

Vito spoke humbly of his accomplishments and those of his siblings. “We’re just riding the coattails of our parents. They laid the groundwork for us and gave us the opportunity to succeed, and it's our job and our kid's jobs not to screw that up.”

After he finished his brief outline of the family history of Hughson, Historical Society member Betty Schweiker said, “That’s the story of every family here: born of poverty, knowing how to work, knowing how to do without and willing to make a change to make your life better whether you’re Portuguese, Italian, Oakie, whatever —we’re all the same. We all came from that same hard rock, hard, tough people.”

“When you think about these immigrants,” Vito said, “There are a lot of people being persecuted around the world, and some people say, ‘close the border,’ but look around this room.” Vito estimated that every person in that room had a parent or grandparent who came to America for the same dream. “Those people come here for a better life, to work, and they work hard.”

Vito said he and his family are trying to pass these values on to the next generation, the American dream of hope and possibility. “You have to keep that dream alive for people. There’s a place to start, and there’s a place to move onto.”

For a deeper glimpse into life before and during the Second World War, Vito recommended Mark Sullivan's book “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” (2017). It reflects the experience of a young man the same age as Chiesa’s father.

Vito’s presentation preceded the Hughson Historical Society Long-Standing Citizen Appreciation Dinner on August 17 at 6 p.m. at St. Anthony’s Hughes Hall, 7820 Fox Road in Hughson. Following the dinner, the Chiesa and Cunningham families presented their family histories to nearly 200 attendees.

Originally published in the Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch on August 20, 2024. The Hughson Chronicle & Denair Dispatch is part of MidValley Publications - committed to the power of the positive press. Reprinted with Permission.

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