The Politically Talented D’Alesandro Family
Nancy Pelosi (nee D’Alesandro). Credit: U.S. House of Representatives official photo
Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26,
1940. Her paternal grandparents, Tommaso Giovanni D’Alesandro and Maria Foppiano Petronilla, had emigrated from the community of Montenerodomo (population 673 in the 2017 Census) in the province of Chieti in the region of Abruzzo. Her father was Thomas John D’Alesandro Jr. who was a U.S. Congressman at the time of her birth. Her mother was Annunciata Lombardi who had emigrated from the city of Campobasso (population 49,230 in the 2017 Census) in the province of Campobasso in the region of Molise. Nancy was the youngest of six children and the only girl. In June 1958, she graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, an all-girls Catholic high school, in Baltimore. In June 1962, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Trinity College in Washington, D.C.
Nancy became the first woman, the first Italian American and the first Californian to hold the position of Speaker of the House.
After graduation, while interning for Senator Daniel Brewster of Maryland, she met Paul Frank Pelosi whom she married in the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore on September 7, 1963. They have five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul Frank Jr., and Alexandra. After their wedding, the couple moved to New York City where Paul Pelosi worked. After six years there, the couple relocated in 1969 to San Francisco where Paul found work with his older brother, Ronald, who was a member of the City Board of Supervisors. In 1976, Nancy was elected as a Democratic National Committee Member from California. In January 1977, she was elected as the party chair for northern California. In 1981, she was elected to head the California Democratic Party. In 1984, she served as the Chair of the San Francisco Democratic National Convention Host Committee.
On February 1, 1987, her Congresswoman, Sala Burton, died in office. Nancy decided to run for the position. On April 7, 1987, she won the Democratic primary and, on June 2, 1987, she won the special election to fill the vacancy. She was sworn in on June 9, 1987, in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. She has won every biennial election for her home district since 1988. In January 2001, Nancy was elected as the House Minority Whip and, in January 2002, she was elected as the House Minority Leader.The Democrats took control of the House after the midterm elections in November, 2006 so, when the House convened on January 3, 2007, she was elected as the 52nd Speaker. Nancy became the first woman, the first Italian American, and the first Californian to hold that position. She served until January 3, 2011, when the House flipped back to Republican control. She then stepped down to become House Minority Leader again. However, Democrats regained control of the House after the 2018 midterm elections, so she resumed the Speakership on January 3, 2019, and currently holds that position. ❚
Sources, all accessed August 1, 2020:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi
www.geni.com/people/Tommaso-G-DAlesandro/6000000 (link expired) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montenerodomo (link expired)
