Marie Frugone
{{Short description|American journalist and community leader}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Marie Frugone
| image = MarieFrugone1918.png
| alt = A white woman wearing a large hat and a suit with a complicated white collar or scarf.
| caption = Marie Frugone, from a 1918 publication.
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1889
| birth_place = New York City, US
| death_date = June 16, 1953
| death_place = New York City, US
| occupation = Journalist, community leader
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Marie Frugone (1889 – June 16, 1953), later Marie Frugone Scileppi, was an American journalist and community leader, who wrote for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and the Brooklyn Times-Union in the 1930s. She worked with the Red Cross in France and Italy during World War I.
Early life
Marie Frugone was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of Frank L. Frugone and Rosa Varni Frugone. Her father, who was born in Italy, was publisher of the Bolletino Della Sera, an Italian-language newspaper in New York.{{Cite journal|date=March 23, 1918|title=Craftsmen with the Colors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jmFeNL3eNi4C&q=Marie+Frugone&pg=RA12-PA15|journal=Fourth Estate|pages=15}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49825837/requiem-tomorrow-for-frank-frugone/|title=Requiem Tomorrow for Frank Frugone|date=1936-11-13|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=28|via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Frugone was secretary to the Sheriff of Kings County.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49827214/sixty-women-join-commerce-chamber/|title=Sixty Women Join Commerce Chamber|date=1922-11-26|work=The Standard Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=10|via=Newspapers.com}} She advocated for Italian-American culture and residents of Brooklyn.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/03/07/archives/tea-for-dance-sponsors-miss-marie-frugone-to-be-hostess-next.html|title=TEA FOR DANCE SPONSORS; Miss Marie Frugone to Be Hostess Next Wednesday|date=1937-03-07|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-29|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/1638|title=Italian Folk Arts and Crafts exhibitions|date=March 1939|website=Brooklyn Museum|access-date=2020-04-29}} She worked with the Red Cross in France and Italy during World War I, using her Italian language skills as "interpreter, entertainer, and nurse"{{Cite journal|date=January 3, 1920|title=Newspaper Man's Daughter Gets Job with Register|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=byE9AQAAIAAJ&q=Frugone|journal=Fourth Estate|pages=30}} in tuberculosis hospitals. She was decorated by the Italian Red Cross and the American Red Cross for her wartime service. After the war, she was active in the Italian World War Veterans' Committee.
In 1920, Frugone campaigned for Warren G. Harding,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49831323/miss-marie-frugone-eulogizes-mr-harding/|title=Miss Marie Frugone Eulogizes Mr. Harding|date=1920-10-10|work=The Standard Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=24|via=Newspapers.com}} and was a member of the Naturalization Committee of the Overseas Girls, women volunteering to do clerical work to help clear paperwork overloads and speed the legal processes for immigrants.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49824317/with-the-women-voters/|title=With the Women Voters|date=1920-03-16|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=9|via=Newspapers.com}} One report said that she helped over a thousand people a year become United States citizens.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49830735/miss-marie-frugone-busy-making-citizens/|title=Miss Marie Frugone Busy Making Citizens of Italians|date=1922-04-20|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=16|via=Newspapers.com}}
Frugone started her journalism career at her father's newspaper before World War I. She wrote about women and politics for the Times Union{{Cite news|last=King|first=Viola K.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49826161/column-gets-praiseviola-k-king/|title=Column Gets Praise|date=1935-05-27|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=6|via=Newspapers.com}} and Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspapers in the 1920s{{Cite news|last=Frugone|first=Marie|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49828066/with-the-women-votersmarie-frugone/|title=With the Women Voters|date=1927-04-28|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=58|via=Newspapers.com}} and 1930s,{{Cite news|last=Frugone|first=Marie|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/10549668/marie-frugones-list-of-bklyn-wom/|title=Women Candidates Double Total Entrees in Council Race|date=August 1, 1937|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=April 28, 2020|page=6|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite book|last=Perry|first=Elisabeth Israels|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMOKDwAAQBAJ&q=Marie%20Frugone&pg=PA214|title=After the Vote: Feminist Politics in La Guardia's New York|date=2019-03-06|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-934185-6|pages=214–215|language=en}} in a column titled "With the Women Voters".{{Cite news|last=Frugone|first=Marie|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49825020/with-women-votersmarie-frugone/|title=With Women Voters|date=1929-05-21|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|last=Frugone|first=Marie|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49824795/with-the-women-votersmarie-frugone/|title=With the Women Voters|date=1937-05-24|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}} In 1937, her column was renamed "With the Women's Clubs".{{Cite news|last=Frugone|first=Marie|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49826711/with-the-womens-clubsmarie-frugone/|title=With the Women's Clubs|date=1937-08-14|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=12|via=Newspapers.com}}
Frugone was director of the Little Italy Neighborhood House and the Richmond Hill Settlement House in Queens. She chaired the Brooklyn branch of the Italian Welfare League,{{Cite news|last=Nairne|first=Elizabeth D.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49825670/constructive-chat-of-flatbush/|title=Constructive Chat of Flatbush Women|date=1921-10-15|work=The Chat|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=72|via=Newspapers.com}} the Women's Auxiliary of the United Italian Social Service Foundation,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49825331/italian-benefit/|title=Italian Benefit|date=1931-06-20|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}} and the Women's Auxiliary of the Boys Club of the Navy Yard district.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49823937/navy-yard-boys-fete-notables/|title=Navy Yard Boys Fete Notables|date=1934-02-19|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=5|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49824002/navy-yard-district-boys-club-auxiliary/|title=Navy Yard District Boys Club Auxiliary Meets|date=1936-01-09|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=19|via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Marie Frugone married Francis Paul Scileppi in 1924.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49827819/welfare-worker-to-marry-oct-1/|title=Welfare Worker to Marry Oct. 1|date=1924-09-09|work=Times Union|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=3|via=Newspapers.com}} They had a daughter, Francine Scileppi Petruzzi,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/08/20/archives/francine-scileppi-bride-in-brooklyn-brides-of-yesterday.html|title=Francine Scileppi Bride in Brooklyn; Brides of Yesterday|date=1950-08-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-29|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15321221/francine-petruzzi/|title=Annie Nathan Meyer|date=1951-11-05|work=Barnard Bulletin|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=1}} born a few months after Francis died in 1926.{{Cite journal|date=May 1926|title=Deaths|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crXvAAAAMAAJ&q=Marie+Scileppi&pg=RA11-PA40|journal=Carry on|volume=5|pages=40}} Marie Frugone Scileppi died in 1953, aged 64 years,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49843281/mrs-marie-f-scileppi/|title=Mrs. Marie F. Scileppi|date=1953-06-18|work=Daily News|access-date=2020-04-29|pages=287|via=Newspapers.com}} in Brooklyn.{{Cite web|url=http://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/37194351/obituary-for-marie-scileppi/|title=Obituary for MARIE SCILEPPI|date=June 19, 1953|website=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|page=9|language=en|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=2020-04-29}}
References
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Category:American women journalists
Category:American women in World War I
Category:Journalists from Brooklyn
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:Brooklyn Eagle people