Born: 1870, Italy
Died: 1915
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Maria Boggio
The following is republished from New Jersey Women’s History, in line with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. It was written by Annabelle Sebastian.
Marietta “Maria” Boggio Botto (1870-1915) was a homemaker and an “outwork” silk worker, who hosted the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 at her home in Haledon, New Jersey.
Botto and her husband, Pietro Botto, immigrated to the United States from Biella, Italy, in 1892. In West Hoboken, they found work as silk weavers, and they began saving for a home in Haledon, which they constructed in 1908. Botto made her living here completing “outwork” for the local silk factories, cleaning and fixing imperfections on bolts of fabric brought to her by her daughters, who also worked in the factories.
The Botto house was frequently used as a meeting place for the local Italian-American community. Botto would provide bed and board to tenants, and large dinner parties were hosted for their friends and family, who would take advantage of their bocce court and gardens.
In 1913, silk workers in Paterson, New Jersey, decided to go on strike to demand better wages and working conditions. The silk workers needed a meeting place for their strike, and the Botto house was chosen due to its balcony, which could be used as a podium for speakers, and ample space for the crowds. Botto played an integral role in hosting the strike; she provided food and places to sleep for the strike leaders, and managed her kitchen with help from her daughters.
Just two years after the strike ended, Botto passed away due to an autoimmune disease.
References
Burstyn Joan N. 1990. “Maria Botto.” Past and Promise Lives of New Jersey Women. https://www.worldcat.org/title/54486201?oclcNum=54486201
Lurie, Maxine N., and Marc Mappen. Encyclopedia of New Jersey. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004.