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# 70 •OCTOBER 19 , 2015
marriage became known
in a well publicized divorce. Savoldi then turned to
professional football and
professional wrestling to
make a living; but he interrupted his wrestling career to serve as a spy for the
United States’ OSS espionage services during the
Allies’ invasion of Italy.
Born in Italy, Savoldi had
maintained his facility in
numerous Italian dialects,
which became of immense value to the American
military.
Why is there such a big
difference between the
number of Italian American sportsmen and sportswomen?
During your research,
have you found trace
about one or more talented Italian Americans who
didn’t have the fame and
success they deserved?
Yes, there were many.
Some were stated above, if not by name. One in
particular comes to mind.
Joe Savoldi was a star football player for Notre
Dame University, the best
known Catholic college in
the USA, in 1930. Along
with fellow Italian Frank
Carideo, Savoldi led the
Catholic team to the national championship in
1929 and 1930. Savoldi
was, however, kicked out
of school when his secret
While there continues to
be a large gap in the media coverage of male and
female athletes, women’s
participation rates in sport
have greatly increased
since the enactment of
Title IX, a federal law, that
insured equal opportunity
for all in 1972.
The female children of
the Italian immigrants
enjoyed such liberation
even earlier. Whereas in
Italy girls were sheltered
WE THE ITALIANS | 51
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