The Italian Vault

Duane's take

The way the marker in Calvary Catholic Cemetery tells it, here's the story as I understand it. Now settle in, because this one's about a people who crossed an ocean, built a community, and then built something to last a good deal longer than any of them. In the 19th century, a large number of Italian immigrants came to Galveston.

What drew them was simple enough: economic opportunities. And when you arrive somewhere new, speaking a different language, navigating an unfamiliar world, you do what people have always done. You find your own.

In 1876, those immigrants came together and formed the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society, the Societa Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso, organized for the purpose of providing assistance to fellow immigrants. That is a community taking care of its own, plain and simple. Now, a society like that needs more than good intentions.

It needs permanence. So in 1888, the society purchased a plot of land right here in Calvary Catholic Cemetery. And on that plot, they built something.

Something with Gothic style influences. Buttresses. Gargoyles.

Corinthian columns flanking the entrance. In the middle of a Texas cemetery, they raised a structure that would not have looked out of place in the old country. They called it the Italian Vault.

Inside, the vault holds space for twelve crypts. But it served as a permanent or temporary resting place for more than seventy deceased members, holding them until proper burial could take place in the surrounding cemetery. More than seventy souls passed through that door.

The land around the mausoleum holds a number of Italian immigrants in the plots surrounding it, and among those buried in this cemetery are two men worth naming. Captain Clemente Nicolini, a member of the original vault building committee, and a former Italian consulate who aided many immigrants. And Gioacchino Cassara, the first president of the Italian Benevolent Society.

First president. The man who helped set the whole thing in motion. The vault didn't close its purpose when the original society wound down, either.

It was used by the later organized Italian society, Stella d'Italia, and then finally by the Sons of Italy. Three generations of organized community life, all running through that same set of Corinthian columns, past those same gargoyles keeping watch. An ocean away from where they started, a community of immigrants built something in stone to say: we were here, we looked after one another, and we are not forgotten.

What the marker says

Attracted by economic opportunities to be found here, a large number of Italian immigrants came to Galveston in the 19th century. In 1876, they formed the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society (Societa'Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso) to provide assistance to fellow immigrants. The society purchased a plot of land in Calvary Catholic Cemetery in 1888 and built this mausoleum, known as the Italian Vault. The structure exhibits Gothic style influences in its buttresses, gargoyles, and Corinthian columns flanking the entrance. The vault provides space for twelve crypts. It served as a permanent or temporary resting place for more than 70 deceased members until burial could take place in the cemetery. A number of Italian immigrants are interred in plots surrounding the mausoleum. Buried in this cemetery are Captain Clemente Nicolini, a member of the original vault building committee and a former Italian consulate who aided many immigrants; and Gioacchino Cassara, the first president of the Italian Benevolent Society. The vault also was used by members of the later organized Italian society, Stella d'Italia, and finally the the Sons of Italy. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1992