Giuseppe "Joe" Desimone was a bear of a man, 6 foot 2 inches tall, 300 pounds. He arrived in America in 1897 from Naples at the age of 18 with 50 cents in his pocket. He worked first as a swine farmer in Rhode Island, then made the journey west to Seattle.

At this point, his life might have taken the usual path for an Italian immigrant, finding work as a manual laborer, miner or tenant farmer, except that Desimone was a most unusual man. It's true he started out as a produce farmer in south Seattle, but he eventually bought the market—Pike Place Market, that is, one of Seattle's most beloved icons. And, even more unexpected, this immigrant from the south of Italy played a pivotal role in keeping the Boeing Company in Seattle during World War II.

Read more

Fonte: L'italo-Americano