A Year of Rebellious Words. A Socio-Educational Analysis of Il Martello (1918)
The periodical Il Martello, a political, literary, and artistic publication, began in New York in 1916 under the editorship of Luigi Preziosi. Bearing an evocative and provocative motto — “Fior di pisello...”— the journal quickly established itself as a point of reference for the community of Italian radicals who had emigrated to the eastern seaboard of the United States, often forced into exile for political reasons. The magazine became a crossroad for debate, denunciation, and cultural reflection, offering a platform for intellectuals, activists, and workers engaged in criticizing the capitalist system and the repression of individual freedoms. This paper aims to examine the structure and contents of the journal during the years 1918 and first months of 1919, a pivotal period in its editorial and ideological development. Through systematic indexing, my study addresses the central themes, the most frequently occurring names, and the pseudonyms adopted by contributors, thereby providing a socio-educational reading of the publication. This analysis sheds light on the role of journalism in shaping a shared political identity and in disseminating anarchist ideas among Italian immigrants. Furthermore, my talk highlights the journal’s shift from a primarily cultural focus to a tool of political struggle, culminating in the change of editorship under Carlo Tresca.
Carmen Petruzzi is a researcher in the History of Education at the University of Foggia.
Her research interests include the educational processes of early Italian American communities abroad between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, migrant stereotypes and self-representations, the history of intercultural design in both formal and non-formal contexts, and the reconstruction of Italian American educational thought and practice (1900–1950) through archival work in Rome, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. Her recent publications include Due maestri a colloquio. Giuseppe Lombardo Radice e Angelo Patri (Anicia, 2024; SIPED Award 2025), Frammenti di vita italoamericana. Riflessioni sull’autobiografia di Leonard Covello (1887–1982) (Franco Cesati, 2023; Di Giuseppe Award 2023), and La scuola degli italoamericani. Storia e pratiche inclusive negli articoli di Leonard Covello (1887-1982) (Tab, 2022; Cirse 2022).
She is the recipient of the James J. Periconi Fellowship at the Rosenthal Library, Queens College, CUNY.
