Portrait of Fioravante Tenisci, Italy, 1928

Black and white studio portrait of Fioravante (Fred) Tenisci in Ortona, Italy. The photograph was taken in 1928, likely just prior to Tenisci's migration to Canada. He arrived in Halifax and took a cross-country train and settled in Fernie, BC, where his father was already established. He worked in the coalmines for two years, at which point Tenisci’s father decided to return to Italy. A few months after his father’s departure, Tenisci moved to Trail, BC. He joined the Trail Maple Leaf Band and became an accomplished musician. Tenisci also owned and operated a small store specializing in the sale of religious items and worked at the natural gas plant for Cominco. He was also an active member of the Italian Canadian community in Trail as well as in Vancouver. Tenisci was arrested and interned on June 10, 1940 as a threat to the Canadian state.