The San Felese Society of New Jersey had its beginnings in the small rural Appenine village of San Fele, Italy in the 1850s. Economic collapse of the agricultural community of the region was the primary stimulus for the mass immigration of millions of rural Italians especially to the United States between 1880 and 1915. No region of Italy has experienced greater per capita immigration than the highlands of Basilicata.
The Society was originally founded as the Unione E Fratellanza San Felese in 1902. At that time it was structured as a mutual benefit society in order to provide health and death benefits to its members. We are proud of a history of support of community and of the families that make up our membership.
The San Felese Society of New Jersey continues to be dedicated to the fraternal support of the San Felese community of New Jersey, to appreciation of Italian-American heritage and its contribution to American culture and to the preservation of the community's American immigration story.