Foster Furcolo, State's First Italian American Governor, Born
On this day in 1911, Foster Furcolo was born in New Haven. Raised in Connecticut and educated at Yale, Furcolo moved to Springfield after World War II. In 1948 he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served one term in Congress before being elected the first Italian-American governor of Massachusetts. Other Italian-Americans followed him into state government, including two more governors, John Volpe and Paul Cellucci. At a political gathering in 2005, with the newly elected Senate President Robert Travaglini and Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi in attendance, a legislator was heard to remark, "The Italians are taking over . . . It's never been better . . . But I'm not talking about politics, I'm talking about the food."
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