MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Italian Workmen’s Club in Madison on the State Register of Historic Places. The clubhouse at 914 Regent Street was added to the State Register on May 24, 2024. State Historic Preservation Officer Daina Penkiunas presented a certificate to David Rizzo and Joseph Tripalin.

The Italian Workmen’s Club building was listed in the State Register for its rich associations with the social history of the Italian American community in Madison. In 1912, a small group of Italian immigrants settled in the Greenbush neighborhood and later formed a mutual benefit society to help them if illness or injuries kept them from working. The Italian Workmen’s Club was founded with 42 paying members.

By 1922, the needs of the club had grown to the point where its members decided to build a dedicated clubhouse. With two large meeting rooms, the clubhouse soon became one of the most important social centers for the city’s Italian American community, and it was expanded in 1936. Much of the surrounding neighborhood was demolished for urban renewal in the 1960s, making the home of the Italian Workmen’s Club one of the few remaining buildings in Madison associated with this historically important ethnic group. 

Additional information for the Italian Workmen’s Club is available at

https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI111710

To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.

About the Wisconsin Historical Society

The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.