Francesco Coppola, age 23, a tailor, and Antonetta Sodano, age 20, were married May 31, 1900 in Pomigliano d'Arco, Napoli, Italy. Their first child, son Nicola, was born June 8, 1901. Ten months later, on April 3, 1902, Francesco made the journey to America. Then on August 10, 1903, Antonetta and Nicola left Pomigliano d'Arco to join Francesco in East Douglas, Massachusetts. ​

This website was developed to honor the memory of Francesco (Frank) and Antonetta, their fourteen children, and our ancestors in Pomigliano d'Arco. By doing so, future generations will know where their ancestors came from, and the courage and love they gave to make our lives better.

GENEALOGY RESEARCH and REVISED WEBSITE
My focus has been to use online resources to find our Italian ancestors in Pomigliano d'Arco, determine when they came to America, and look at their early years in East Douglas. As a result, I have accumulated many documents and files that need to be shared with Coppolas and others, and this website provides the framework to do so. 

The initial "Coppola Sodano" website was launched May 2015. It has long needed to be refreshed and reorganized. You will see this revised website has been divided into the following four sections:

1. Coppola Family - relevant facts, documents, and photos. Focus is on the years in East Douglas. 
2. Ancestors in Italy - birth, marriage, and death records for our ancestors in Pomigliano d'Arco. Five generations are presented. 
3. Immigration - passenger lists for our ancestors who came to America, and naturalization documents.
4. East Douglas 2019 - overview of my November 2019 trip to: visit our parents' cousin, 102-year old Nancy Vecchione; see the Anthony H. Coppola Collection at the Simon Fairfield Public Library; find where the Coppolas lived; visit St. Denis Cemetery; and do research.

MANY THANKS
Many thanks to Trish Coppola for sending lots of photos, to Beckett and Lafe Coppola for sharing documents, and to all my Coppola cousins and their families for their kind words and memories.

​In addition, I would like to thank Beth Vecchione (Nancy Vecchione's niece) and her husband, Rich Lamoureux; Jim Geary (Vecchione family); and Rebecca Lavallee, Archivist at the Simon Fairfield Public Library, for making my three-day visit to Douglas so memorable.

I hope this genealogy research and website will help preserve the memory of the Coppolas for those who follow. Please let me know if you have any insights, additions, corrections, or suggestions.

Coppola Family with Individual Profiles

Coppola & Sodano Research Report

Nancy Vecchione and Frances Coppola [early 1940s]

​Prepared by:
Wayne Shumate (son of Frances Coppola, the 11th child of Frank and Antonetta)
Charlotte, NC
[email protected]
​704-607-3084 (m)

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Last Revised: June 18, 2020