1961
John Ciardi, the most celebrated of Italian American poets, translates Dante’s Divine Comedy
1960
Hollywood Discovers Italian American Women Although some Italian American females such as the Taliaferro sisters, Edith and Mabel, of the silent film era and others like Esther Minciotti, who played in the 1955 Academy Award winning movie “Marty,” have performed in movies from the beginning, but they did not come into their own until the 1960’s. This development seemed to coincide with growing recognition in this country of the talents of post-World War II Italian actresses such as Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, and Gina Lollabrigida.
1963
Jack Valenti From Texas Italian Enclave to Influence in Washington Sicily was the Italian background of Jack Joseph Valenti who was born in Houston. Working in the daytime while attending night school at University of Houston. He received an MBA degree from Harvard University. A lieutenant, Valenti saw extensive service during Second World War as fighter pilot stationed in Italy where he flew fifty-one combat missions for which he won many awards including the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1952 he cofounded an advertising and political consulting agency that in 1955 led to a meeting with fellow Texan and then United States Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, Valenti was in the motorcade on that fateful day and he accompanied Lyndon B. Johnson on Air Force One as Johnson was sworn in as president. From 1963 to 1966 Valenti served as First Special Assistant to the President, only the second presidential advisor to actually live in the White House and the first Italian American to have such a close advisory role.
In the post World War II period Ciardi taught in various universities until 1961 when he left teaching to concentrate on literary pursuits. He had already achieved fame. In 1940, when he published “Homeward to America”, an awardwining work that speaks to the division between the Old and New Worlds. His book “What Does a Poem Mean”, published in 1960 was widely used as a poetry textbook in high schools and colleges. In 1961 Ciardi attained another career milestone with his translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. One of several translations of this classic, Ciardi’s effort that innovates by utilization of a tense, economical and modern verse idiom, is considered one of the best of the genre.
1965
Tomie DePaola, introduces America’s Children to Italian heritage For the last two generations Tomie De Paola has been regarded as among the most favorite authors of children’s books in this country. Born in 1934 in Meriden, Connecticut of an Irish American mother and an Italian American father and encouraged by his mother, an avid reader, he was inclined toward reading and drawing as a youngster, creating his own book for his sisters at age ten. From the outset the content of his books reflected both his Irish heritage and his Italian ancestry. It also bespoke of a strong devotion to the Catholic faith that is evidenced by the many murals he drew that adorn church walls and monasteries in New England. De Paola first received acknowledgement for his artistic talents when he won a $2,000 scholarship to study at highly regarded Institute in Brooklyn where he graduated in 1956. In 1965 he combined his extraordinary ability as an illustrator with a desire to write for children in two physical science books. That was the beginning of a prolific career during which he has written and/or illustrated two to four books annually -a feat that has produced over two hundred books.
1969 Mario Puzo writes The Godfather, which later is made into an Award-winning yet often criticized movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Mario Puzo (1920-1999), who was born in New York City, became one of the most famous and perhaps controversial Italian American novelists and screenwriters. He was raised in Hells Kitchen --in its day a boisterous and wild section of New York --where he became a school drop out in order to help the family economically after his father’ desertion of the family. Following his Army hitch in the Second World War when he served in Germany, he returned to civilian life in Long Island and worked as a civil servant to support his wife and five children. He also enrolled in courses in the New School for Social Research and Columbia University. After a stint writing “Pulp Fiction”, in 1955 Mario wrote his first novel, “The Dark Arena”. In 1964 he wrote The Fortunate Pilgrim essentially an account of his immigrant family’s survival of hardships in the interim between the Great Depression and the immediate post World War II period. This latter has earned acclaim from discerning critics for its credibility in reflecting the Italian American experience. He realized that while these works elicited literary praise, they did not attract the attention of Hollywood that would bring him wealth. He decided to go into the Godfather business. Sex, violence and crime were the ingredients that Hollywood desired and these were what he was determined to provide in his 1964 work The Godfather. A best selling book, it naturally drew Hollywood’s interest, especially that of director Francis Ford Coppola, who was also of Italian heritage. Puzo and Coppola teamed up to become screenwriters that prepared the work for the screen with the movie “The Godfather” the result.
1962
Anthony Celebrezze, the first Italian-born to become Cabinet Member as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
Anthony Celebrezze’s (1910-1998) In selection for a cabinet post in 1962 that coupled ethnicity with political considerations. Anthony, one of thirteen children, who was born in southern Italy in 1910, was brought as an infant to live in a humble Italian enclave in Cleveland, Ohio, where as a young man he sold newspapers and worked on a railroad track gang. Demonstrating a penchant for education, Anthony attended John Carroll University and Ohio Northern University where he received his law degree in 1936 and became a lawyer. He interrupted his profession during the Second World War to serve in the Navy. Shortly after the war he entered local politics, gained election to the Ohio State Senate, and followed that up with election as mayor of Cleveland in 1953. As municipal chief he established a coveted political record that earned him re-election in 1955, 1957, 1959, and 1961.
1966
Vince Lombardi, who set the precedent for tough football coach
Vincent Thomas Lombardi (19131970), one of the most successful professional football coaches, was born in Brooklyn, the son of an immigrant father. He attended Fordham University when the college played a big time schedule and where he played football becoming a part of its fabled “Seven Blocks of Granite” line. After graduation he worked in the insurance field, studied law at night school and also played minor league football for the Brooklyn Eagles. From 1939 to 1947 Lombardi taught several subjects and coached football at St.. Cecilia’s High School in Englewood, New Jersey. In 1954 Vincent Lombardi entered professional football becoming offensive coach for the New York Giants and helped them attain the National Football League Championship in 1956. This background led the moribund Green Bay Packers to hire him as head coach in 1959. Utilizing an unusually rigid training regimen, he was prepared to turn around the fortunes of a team inured to defeat, accomplishing it almost immediately with a winning season in 1958. For this achievement he was voted Coach of the Year. Lombardi’s career flourished as he proceeded to lead the Packers to five National Football League Championships including winning the first two Super Bowls in 1966 and 1967. In 1969 he became head coach and general manager of the Washington Redskins, and once again helped reverse the sinking fortunes a seemingly inept professional football team as he led them to their first winning season in 14 years.
Source: http://www.niaf.org/milestones/index.asp