Presenting Pasqualina Albano, Springfield’s Bootleg Queen

Pasqualina Albano Siniscalchi Miranda was called the “Bootleg Queen” of Springfield, Massachusetts’ Little Italy during Prohibition. She was destined and damned to wear the crown, a fate that was sealed on 12 November 1932.

This month I’m presenting at the New England Regional Genealogical Conference in Springfield on “The Bootleg Queen of Springfield’s Little Italy.” In case you can’t make it, I’ve dropped a couple sneak peeks from my slideshow.

If you haven’t heard of Pasqualina, I recorded this ten-minute video about her life a couple years ago.

And I’ve told her story here on Mafia Genealogy, in Springfield, Massachusetts, and the Genovese connection.

The presentation at NERGC is almost an hour long and contains many details that don’t appear in the video or the linked story: about Carlo Siniscalchi’s criminal history, the roles played by several of Pasqualina’s in-laws and cousins, details that arose in the short documentary about her life produced by her grand-niece, or the nature of her competition with Joseph Parisi.

To get the whole story, join Mafia Genealogy on Patreon at the Member level ($3/month).

The Patreon Members exclusive video presentation of “The Bootleg Queen” is just one of dozens of rewards I’ve pledged to subscribers. Biographies, family trees, advanced genealogy procedural videos, photos, and stories that you won’t hear anywhere else, fill the archive of original content made just for Patreon Members.

This month’s video (dropping on the 15th) is an hour-long presentation called “Know the Signs of Organized Crime.” Available only to Patreon Members, this video is fully packed with what you need to know about the Mafia and how it operates, and how to spot them in vital records and other sources.

If you’ve ever wanted to find your family’s connections to organized crime, you need to watch this presentation.

I’ll be back here next month with a new post for the blog. Until then, do you wish you could get more Mafia Genealogy now? You can! At Patreon.

For other places you can hear me talk about the Mafia for free, check out my page on Podchaser.

Update 24 November 2025: After even more years of research, I’ve released a book on the life and legacy of this remarkable woman. Pasqualina: The Bootleg Queen of Springfield, Massachusetts, is now available on Amazon (Kindle, paperback, and hardcover) and in both print formats from Broadside Books (Northampton, MA).