Italian America Magazine Winter 2015

Meet Mary Testa So Wickedly Talented!

Why Study Italian?

Italian Programs in the U.S.

Passport Please!

Tips to Trace Your Roots

Legendary Giants A Southern Italian Tradition WINTER 2015

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ITALIAN AMERICA

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WINTER 2015

VOL. XX No. 1

Italian America

T h e O ff i c i a l P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e O r d e r S o n s o f I t a l y i n A m e r i c a ®

Features

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WHY STUDY ITALIAN?

Italian Studies in American Schools

By Dona De Sanctis

12

18

PASSPORT, PLEASE!

Tips on Genealogy Research

By John Philip Colletta

WICKEDLY TALENTED

Meet Singer & Actress Mary Testa

By Adriana Trigiani

22

LEGENDARY GIANTS A Rich Folklore Tradition

By Karen Haid

ON THE COVER: Singer/actress Mary Testa in New York City. In the background is the new One World Trade Center, also called the Freedom Tower. The 104-story skyscraper is the tallest in the U.S. and the fourth-tallest in the world.

[Photo: Tim Stephenson] See interview on page 18.

2 High Profile 3 National News 4 Oggi in Italia 5 Pagina Italiana 9 Book Club 10 Our Story

D e pa r t m e n t s

15 It’s “Only” a Movie 16 On the Bulletin Board 17 Speakers Bureau 21 Giovinezza!

24 OSIA Nation 26 Foundation Focus

28 News from National 29 Letters to the Editor 30 The Last Word 31 The Sons of Italy

27 Fighting Stereotypes (CSJ)

®

Shopper’s Guide

Italian America is published by The Order Sons of Italy in America® 219 E Street, NE • Washington, DC 20002 • Tel: 202/547-2900 • Web: www.osia.org Editor-in-Chief Dona De Sanctis, Ph.D. ddesanctis@osia.org Writers: John Philip Colletta, Karen Haid, Donald Kerwin, Maria Lisella, Maryann Pisano, Adriana Trigiani Graphic Designers: Krystyne Hayes, Diane Vincent To advertise: Call Pat Rosso at 215/206-4678. Email: pieassociates2@att.net. See www.osia.org for advertising rates, specs, demographics, etc.

Italian America Magazine is a publication of the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA), the nation’s biggest and oldest organization for people of Italian heritage. To subscribe, see www.osia.org or call 1-800-552-6742.

WINTER 2015

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ITALIAN AMERICA

High Profile

Italian Americans in the NEWS

Boston Mourns Loss of Two Favorite Sons Boston lost two of its most beloved native sons just days apart last fall. Thomas Menino, the city’s first Italian American mayor, died from cancer October 30, 2014 at age 71. He was mayor for 20 years, winning five consecutive elections beginning in 1993, and was the city’s longestserving mayor.

Mr. Menino was born in the working class neighborhood of Hyde Park, where he lived all his life. He sold insurance while completing his college education at age 45 and became mayor five years later. He found time to attend school plays, wakes, and store openings while overseeing the expansion of high tech companies, local universities, hospitals, and Thomas Menino cultural institutions that brought his city an economic boom. After the 2013 Boston Marathon tragedy, he rose from a hospital bed to attend a memorial service for its victims.

During the ceremony, he vowed, “Nothing can defeat the heart of this city.”

A second favorite son, Tom Magliozzi, who co-starred with his brother, Ray, as the popular “Click and Clack” brothers of “Car Talk,” died November 3, 2014 of Alzheimer’s disease at age 77. Both brothers were graduates of MIT and later ran a car repair garage.

They began their popular radio call-in show in 1977, answering listeners’ questions about auto repairs with humor as well as expertise. By 2012, when the brothers stopped recording, their program had a national audience of 4.7 million on nearly 600 stations. Segments are still re-broadcast today, closing with each warning, “Don’t drive like my brother.”

Tom Magliozzi

High Profile YOGI BERRA, the legendary New York Yankees catcher and Hall of Famer, holds the record for the most World Series appearances (14); wins (10); and hits (71!). He is 89.

GENE DODARO is the U.S. comptroller general in charge of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent, non-partisan agency that investigates how the federal government spends tax dollars. It reports to the U.S. Congress.

MARY BONAUTO, a civil rights lawyer, has received $625,000 -- one of 21 new MacArthur “genius” grants awarded last September. She was chosen for her efforts to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

MARGE ROUKEMA, who served 22 years in the U.S. Congress as a moderate Republican from New Jersey, died November 12 at age 85 from Alzheimer’s disease.

Born Margaret Scafati in Newark, she taught high school English and history before beginning her political career in 1980.

JOSEPH G. CARBONE, M.D., an ophthalmologist in Utah, is the founder of Eye Care 4 Kids, a non-profit organization that has helped nearly 75,000 visually impaired, low-income children since 2001. Dr. Carbone mortgaged his home to launch the charity, which has a clinic that sees nearly 600 patients a month.

In Congress, she championed and co-sponsored the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, after losing her 17-year-old son to leukemia. Signed into federal law by President Bill Clinton, it requires employers to provide their workers up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons, which include illness, military leave, pregnancy, or adoption.

Congresswoman Roukema also was one of only 11 Republicans who voted to ban assault weapons in 1994. She left Congress in 2002.

Compiled by Dona De Sanctis

WINTER 2015

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ITALIAN AMERICA

National News

Italian American issues and events

Coalition Formed to Save Columbus Day

By Dona De Sanctis

A coalition of more than 50 national Italian American organizations, foundations, academic entities, and advocacy groups has been formed to rescue Columbus Day from the dustbin of history. The Save Columbus Day coalition includes the Sons of Italy®, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), Unico National, and the 43-member Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations. The Conference is led by Joseph Sciame, a past national president of the Sons of Italy®.

The coalition is developing an action plan to ensure that Columbus Day 2015 and subsequent Columbus holidays will be celebrated as a tribute to both the Italian navigator and this nation’s Italian Americans, the country’s fifth largest ethnic group.

A Threatened Holiday The Save Columbus Day coalition was formed early in October 2014 after the Seattle City Council voted unanimously to re-name the second Monday in October “Indigenous Peoples Day.” The city’s Italian American civic and business leaders had no objection to establishing an Indigenous Peoples Day as long as it didn’t conflict with celebrating Columbus Day on the second Monday of October. But their compromise fell on deaf ears, even after Tony Anderson, president of the Sons of Italy® Grand Lodge of the Northwest, met privately with Seattle’s mayor, Ed Murray.

The Seattle initiative came six months after a similar motion passed unanimously in the Minneapolis City Council, which voted last April for an “Indigenous Peoples Day,” to be celebrated the same day as the federal holiday honoring Columbus and the heritage of an estimated 18 to 26 million Italian Americans.

One of the signs held by Seattle anti-Columbus Day activists. About 52,000 people in the city are of Native American heritage compared to 200,000 Italian Americans in the state.

[Photo: Elaine Thompson, AP]

WINTER 2015 3 ITALIAN AMERICA

“Seattle and Minneapolis are the latest additions to a growing list of cities and states that either ignore or attack Columbus Day,” says Sons of Italy® National President Anthony Baratta. “Apart from federal employees, work-

ers in only 23 states are given a paid day off to observe the holiday,” he says.

“Save Columbus Day” Initiatives The Save Columbus Day The logo created by the coalition plans to petition Save Columbus Day coaliCongress and the White tion. It can be downloaded from the savecolumbusHouse for an annual Co- day.com website. The lumbus Day U.S. Capitol coalition urges supporters luncheon and a White House to post it on their social networks. evening reception. It will ask the president to hold an annual Columbus Day signing ceremony that also recognizes the importance of the immigrant experience in the making of America. “Columbus Day represents the accomplishments and contributions of Italian Americans, but also the indelible spirit of risk, sacrifice and self-reliance that define the United States of America,” says NIAF President John Viola.

The coalition has created a website, www.savecolumbusday.com which will be updated as the movement progresses. It will have a petition that can be signed online to support the coalition’s initiatives regarding official celebrations of the holiday.

The site will list 2015 Columbus Day events and invites organizations and individuals to submit information about their celebrations. In addition, the site will compile a list of cities and states that have abandoned the holiday as well as model letters in support of Columbus Day to send to local decisionmakers. Names and addresses (including e-mail) will be listed.

The coalition’s site features a free report, Columbus: Fact vs. Fiction, prepared by the Sons of Italy®, which challenges many of the attacks on Columbus by presenting historical evidence in his defense. [To download, go to www.savecolumbusday.com] “In light of various efforts around the country to dismiss, disparage or remove Columbus Day from the pantheon of public holidays, we issue this clarion call,” says Sons of Italy® President Baratta in his official Columbus Day statement, issued last October. “We ask our fellow Italian Americans and others who understand and appreciate the historical role played by Columbus to stand beside us.” [See page 30 for his complete statement.]

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 3

Oggi in Italia

Italy’s news, politics and culture

Un Caffè Mocha Soy Latte? No, Grazie!

Italians drink 600 shots of coffee every year.

Starbucks, the popular American coffee house chain, plans to open about 650 branches in Europe next year – but Starbucks shops will have little chance of succeeding in Italy, which already has 110,000 coffee bars and a 400-year-old coffee culture.

Italians drink an average of 600 shots of coffee annually, including espresso, cappuccino, caffè lungo, corretto and macchiato. “The various flavored coffees popular in the United States are considered children’s drinks and are not available on the Italian market,” noted a 2010 trade issues report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

Currently, Starbucks has nearly 20,000 outlets in 60 countries, including 84 in France; 82 in Spain; 53 in Switzerland and a whopping 754 in the United Kingdom,

according to the company’s 2013 third-quarter report. How many in Italy? Zero! A number unlikely to change.

Italy will bring its famed espresso to Samantha outer space sometime this year when a specially-designed espresso machine Cristoforetti, the first Italian womwill be installed in the International an astronaut, will have espresso Space Station. Designed by Italy’s esduring her 2015 teemed coffee manufacturer, Lavazza mission on the and a Turin engineering company, International Space Station. its launch is timed to coincide with the six-month mission of Italy’s first woman astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, who reached the space station last November.

Cristoforetti, 37, is a fighter pilot and Italian Air Force captain. “How cool is that?” she recently tweeted. “I’ll get to operate the first space espresso machine!”

Tragedy Struck But Justice Prevails

Italy Exports Wine, But Drinks Less

Six Italian scientists, including some of the country’s leading seismotologists, have been cleared of the charge of manslaughter for underestimating the strength of an earthquake that struck the mountain town of L’Aquila in Abruzzo in 2009.

Italy has been making wine for more than 2,000 years so it comes as no surprise that the country leads the world in wine exports. In 2013, Italy sold abroad about half a billion gallons of wine for nearly $7.5 trillion, according to the Federvini, Wine consumption a national wine association. Spain is down in Italy because it’s considered and France were in second and an old person’s drink. third places, respectively. The U.S. is Italy’s biggest wine customer. In 2013, we imported 78 million gallons or nearly a quarter of our total wine imports, according to the Beverage Information Group.

The morning after the 2009 quake, survivors in Abruzzo survey their lost town.

In April 2009, after a series of small tremors, the scientists visited the town, but decided there was little risk of danger.

Shortly afterwards, a deadly quake struck, measuring more than 6.3 on the Richter scale. It killed 309 people; injured thousands and left thousands more homeless. The ancient 13th century town was completely destroyed.

The scientists were put on trial in 2012 and found guilty of making a “misleadingly reassuring statement.”

Each was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay the survivors damages. Last November, the verdict was overturned on appeal and the men were freed.

A year after the quake, the Sons of Italy Foundation raised and donated $235,000 to rebuild a center for autistic children in L’Aquila that had been destroyed during the quake.

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While Americans are drinking more wine, Italians are consuming less. In the 1970s, the average Italian drank 29 gallons a year. In 2013, it dwindled to 13.6 gallons.

“This is happening in all three of the world’s major wineproducing countries: France, Italy, and Spain,” Jancis Robinson, wine critic of the Financial Times, told Newsweek. “Wine - so much part of tradition and the past in these countries - is seen as an old person’s or peasant’s drink, whereas heavily advertised beers, spirits, and sodas are seen as more youthful and modern.”

ITALIAN AMERICA

Pagina Italiana

In questo numero di “Italian America” dedichiamo La Pagina Italiana alle donne del mondo ma specialmente a quelle italiane in occasione della Festa Internazionale della Donna 2015.

Per chi studia la nostra lingua

abbandonino le relative “dolce metà” per regalarsi una serata esclusiva, alla quale si uniscono le loro amiche.

Data l’importanza della ricorrenza, in Italia ci sono numerose iniziative nei giorni La Giornata internazionale della precedenti e successivi per celebrarla. Il Mindonna (comunemente definita Festa istero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali, con della donna) ricorre l’8 marzo di ogni La mimosa, simbolo ital- un’iniziativa simile a quella di San Valentino, anno per ricordare sia le conquiste sociali, iano della Giornata inter- per l’8 marzo ha istituito l’accesso gratuito nazionale della donna politiche ed economiche delle donne, sia le a tutte le donne in musei, siti archeologici, discriminazioni e le violenze cui sono ancora oggetto in biblioteche, monumenti e varie aree culturali. molte parti del mondo.

Anche Trenitalia fa un regalo all’universo femminile: Questa celebrazione si è tenuta per la prima volta negli ogni donna che viaggia in compagnia potrà per l’8 marzo Stati Uniti nel 1909; in alcuni paesi europei nel 1911; e far pagare un solo biglietto in due. L’offerta è valida sia in Italia nel 1922, dove si svolge ancora. Come festeggia sui treni ad alta velocità nelle varie classi, che nelle altre la donna Italia? La tradizione vuole che fidanzate e mogli tipologie di treno sulle tratte nazionali.

Donne Fiore E Donne Verdura Esistono due tipi di donne: le donne fiore e le donne verdura. Le donne fiore sono belle. Straordinariamente belle.

Sono eleganti e piene di stile. Vanno guardate e ammirate però toccate poco, sennò si guastano.

La donna fiore Se gli sciogli un’aspirina nell’acqua durano di più. Da lontano sembrano profumatissime, ma se le annusi spesso non sanno di niente. Però, qualunque sia l’occasione, fanno sempre una gran bella figura.

E poi ci sono le donne verdure che non sono tanto belle, ma danno sapore. Ci sono le donne sedano, pallide e allampanate; quelle finocchio, basse e tonde; le donne patata americana, che puoi tenere per anni in cucina e La donna verdure piantarci addosso anche gli stuzzicadenti e loro germogliano lo stesso.

Le donne verdura sanno di qualcosa. Sempre. Alcune sono addirittura afrodisiache. Se poi le metti nel barattolo, conservano il gusto e durano per anni. Quelle donne fiore, quando appassiscono, fanno solo tristezza. (tratto da La Principessa sul pisello, di Luciana Littizzetto) WINTER 2015 5 ITALIAN AMERICA

Una Favola: La Ricotta C’è una contadina che si chiama Marietta. La contadina aiuta sempre un suo vicino pastore e un giorno, il pastore le regala una ricotta.

Marietta è molto contenta, prende la ricotta, la chiude in un cestino e mette il cestino sulla sua testa.

Mentre cammina per tornare a casa, Marietta pensa: «Ora vendo la ricotta e con i soldi compro una gallina. Poi faccio fare molte uova alla gallina, le vendo e con i soldi compro un coniglio. Faccio fare molti cuccioli al coniglio, li vendo e con i soldi compro un maiale, lo faccio ingrassare e lo vendo, con i soldi compro una mucca.

E così guadagnerò tanti soldi per comprarmi una bella casa, abiti eleganti e tutti mi saluteranno con un inchino!

Così!

Marietta si dimentica di avere la ricotta sulla testa, si inchina e la ricotta le cade e si rompe. E con lei si rompono tutti i suoi sogni.

FINE ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 5

Why Study

ITALIAN?

By Dona De Sanctis

Italian is one of the fastest-growing foreign languages in the United States with about 159,000 students from kindergarten through college studying the language, according to the latest statistics from two leading language organizations. But the number of students studying Italian is still much smaller than those in Spanish and French classes. What can be done about this?

A recent survey by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which tallies foreign language enrollment in kindergarten through high school, compared foreign language enrollment figures from the

2004-05 school year to the 2007-08 year. The 27 states reporting enrollment data revealed that Italian studies increased by nearly 20%, from 65,000 students to 78,000 – an increase of 13,000 students in just three years. Italian had larger enrollments than Chinese, Russian and Japanese, but still predictably lagged behind Spanish.

Italian studies are growing at American colleges and universities, according to the Modern Language Association (MLA), which tracks university and college foreign language enrollments. The MLA reports that in 1960, only 11,000 college students were enrolled in Italian language courses. About fifty years later, in 2009, the MLA’s latest survey found that number had swelled to nearly 81,000. In the seven years between 2002 and 2009 alone, the number of American college students studying Italian rose 26% from 63,900 to 80,750.

The Growth Spurt

One of the major causes for the recent growth of Italian studies in the U.S. was the establishment of the Advanced Placement (AP) Italian Program in 2005. It was the first new foreign language added to the AP program since it started exactly 50 years earlier. The AP Italian Program broke new ground because, unlike the other AP languages, it offers courses in culture as well.

Italian is one of the fastest-growing foreign languages in the United States with about 159,000 students from kindergarten through college studying the language.

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It came about thanks to the efforts of several leading Italian American organizations, including the Sons of ItalyÂŽ, the National Italian American Foundation, and UNICO National.

ITALIAN AMERICA

They joined forces with the government of Italy and a former first lady of New York State, Matilda Cuomo to convince the College Board to establish an AP Italian Program, which would allow high school students coast-to-coast to take college-level courses in Italian. To guarantee the launching of the program, the three organizations and the government of Italy gave the College Board $500,000 in seed money to develop the AP Italian curriculum and examinations. Why was the AP program in Italian so important?

who have passed the AP Italian test, receive college credit for the courses and can take more advanced courses in Italian language and literature.

A new bonus for students who pass the AP Italian examination is automatic acceptance at any Italian university to study for a semester or longer, reports Italy’s ambassador to the U.S., Claudio Bisogniero. [See story on page 21.]

The challenging high school AP courses have become an academic status symbol that attract the most Italy has more world heritage sites promising students and teachers and than any other country in the world.

These outstanding cultural or natural are given great weight by college sites are of importance “to the comadmissions offices. Many language mon heritage of humanity.” experts believed that the lack of an AP Italian program created a “catch-22” situation that was stunting the growth of Italian studies in U.S. schools.

Because there was no AP program in Italian, students took French, Spanish and German instead. Since fewer students took Italian, fewer teachers were needed. That resulted in fewer teaching jobs in Italian so future language teachers did not major in Italian in college. As a result, the teaching of Italian in American schools and universities was left to instructors of Spanish or French, who were rarely fluent, having been required to take only a few basic Italian courses as a minor in college. As a result, Italian was generally poorly taught if taught at all.

AP classes, however, require highly prepared teachers, who must take special training courses to be eligible for the program. An AP Italian program, therefore, would have excellent teachers and attract more high school students. When they enter college, those WINTER 2015 7 ITALIAN AMERICA

With more students taking advanced Italian courses in college, Italian programs at universities have grown. High schools and colleges need more instructors of Italian, creating viable careers for young people who want to teach Italian in the United States. But now the Italian AP Program is in jeopardy because low enrollment has led the College Board to consider dropping it. Losing the AP program would seriously compromise Italian studies in the U.S.

WHY STUDY ITALIAN?

Italian offers two significant bonuses for American high school students. Studies show that students who have studied Italian tend to score higher on the SAT tests on vocabulary and grammar. The reason is simple: Italian developed from Latin and an estimated 60 percent of the English vocabulary also comes from Latin. Also, young Americans who want to become physicians, dentists, and veterinarians, but who cannot afford the tuition at American schools can study at Italian universities for a fraction of the cost. Their degrees are valid in the U.S.

Italian is a plus for future doctors and veterinarians who can study at Italian universities for a fraction of what similar programs in the U.S. cost.

There are several other equally compelling reasons to study Italian, especially for people in the arts, business, and technology. People planITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 7

ning academic careers in art history, music, and linguistics profit from knowing Italian. For art historians especially, the language is essential, given that over 60 percent of the world’s art treasures are found in Italy, according to UNESCO, the cultural and educational agency of the United Nations.

Italian is also a plus for people planning international careers abroad. An estimated 7,500 American companies do business with Italy and more than 1,000 U.S. firms have offices in Italy including IBM, General Electric, Motorola, City Bank and Price Waterhouse. Italy is a world leader in machine tool manufacturing, with advanced technologies in robotics, electro mechanical machinery, shipbuilding, space engineering, construction machinery, and transportation equipment. Many of these Italian firms have offices in the United States and want bilingual personnel.

Modern Italy is online and needs technicians. In 1996, only 170,000 Italian households were connected to the Internet compared to 25 million in the U.S. Today, that number is nearly, 36.6 million or 60 percent of Italy’s population, according to internetlivestats.com. American companies expanding in Italy need software designers, systems engineers, technical support, marketers and managers who speak Italian and English.

People planning careers in the culinary arts, interior design, fashion, graphic design, and furniture design need Italian since Italy is a world leader in those fields.

But even if Italian were not required for a profession or a career, the ability to speak the language comes in handy given that Italy is among the five most visited countries in the world. According to a survey ran by Fly.com, a popular airfare search engine, U.S tourists put Italy at the top of their wish list. In 2013, 47.7 million tourists from all over the world visited Italy – fully 10 percent of them Americans, drawn by Italy’s history, cuisine, culture, and natural beauty.

How to Promote Italian Studies What You and Your Lodge Can Do

• Support Existing Italian Programs. Adopt a school, a class, or a teacher, by giving financial aid to buy teaching materials, books, DVDs and other tools to make learning Italian more exciting.

• Teacher Study Grants. Give teachers of Italian grants to study for a summer in Italy so they can perfect their command of Italian.

• Assist Needy AP Students. Help local students pay for the AP Italian exam, which costs about $89.00.

• Reward AP Students. Give students who take the exam a financial reward just for taking it. Give larger amounts to those who pass it with high marks.

• Establish an Italian Program in Your Local School. It’s easier than you think, thanks to the free kit, Start Italian in Your School. It has stepby-step action plan to guide you. The kit can be downloaded at the Sons of Italy® website: www. osia.org. For a hardcopy, email ddesanctis@osia. org or write to OSIA LANGUAGE KIT; 219 E Street NE; Washington, DC 20002.

It is a fact that Italy has more world heritage sites than any other country in the world. These outstanding cultural or natural sites are of importance “to the common heritage of humanity,” according to the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Clearly, Italy has given the world much of what we all value – including a rich, expressive, musical language that deserves to be studied much more extensively in the U.S. Dona De Sanctis, Ph.D. is editor-in-chief of Italian America, the nation’s most widely read magazine for people of Italian heritage. Contact her at ddesanctis@osia.org WINTER 2015

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ITALIAN AMERICA

The Sons of Italy®

Book Club

To America and Around the World

By Adolph Caso

What was Columbus’ first voyage like, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in tiny wooden ships? Find out from the man himself in this collection of essays, which includes excerpts from his own daily logs. Here he describes the dangerous expedition and finds the natives he meets “a better race there cannot be.” The essays also refute with hard facts those historians who have attacked his character and accomplishments. One essay gives the background on how and why the United States was named for Amerigo Vespucci instead of Columbus. It also includes excerpts from Ferdinand Magellan’s logs on the first expedition to circumnavigate the earth 15 years after Columbus’ death in 1504. [$18.95; paperback; 345 pages; Branden Books]

WINTER 2015 Selections

The Italian Americans

By Maria Laurino

This is not your typical coffee table book, rich in illustrations but thin on facts. Instead, journalist Laurino tells our dramatic and complex story through historical events; interviews with famous Italian Americans, including Adriana Trigiani, Gay Talese and Nancy Pelosi; and excerpts from Italian American literature – all supported by historic photographs.

Readers learn details about the prejudice and discrimination we faced; the successes we earned; and the modern-day problem of stereotyping.

Her book is designed to accompany a four-hour PBS series on Italian Americans that will air in February 2015.

Well researched and very well told, this is a must-read! [$35.00; hardcover; 320 pages; W.W.Norton & Co.]

The Real Rockys

By Rolando Vitale

This history of Italian Americans in boxing starts in 1900 with the arrival of millions of southern Italian men who had no experience with prizefighting. Yet, within a generation, their sons became stars in the ring and later generations went on to set records for the most world titles and champions. How did this happen?

Author Vitale traces the rise of the Italian American boxer by exploring the social and historical conditions that all Italian Americans confronted and overcame. He also includes mini-biographies of the greatest boxers beginning with the first, Sicilianborn Casper Leon, and ending with Tony De Marco, the 1955 world welterweight champion. [$29.99; paperback; 430 pages; RV Publishing]

Also Worth Reading Italian Louisana

By Alan G. Gauthreaux Subtitled as “history, heritage & tradition,” this slim volume by historian Gauthreaux succinctly tells the story of Italian immigrants, largely from Sicily, who were “imported” to Louisiana at the end of the Civil War to replace the newly freed slaves in the rural sugarcane fields or to work as day laborers on the docks of New Orleans. In time, they overcame poverty, disease, and even violence, including the largest mass lynching in U.S. history – to become successful and accepted. [$21.99; paperback; 160 pages; The History Press]

From Pompeii

By Ingrid D. Rowland Pompeii was already 900 years old when it was destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The catastrophe, which killed an estimated 16,000 people and injured thousands more, preserved the city’s homes, gardens and temples for posterity. Professor Rowland chronicles the afterlife of this Roman town by revealing how visitors over the centuries have reacted to Pompeii. They include Freud, Dickens, Mozart, and Mark Twain. [$28.95; hardcover; 340 pages; Belknap Press of Harvard University] Reviewed by Dona De Sanctis WINTER 2015 9 ITALIAN AMERICA

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Our Story

Italian American history and culture

Joseph Petrosino Remembered Two plaques were unveiled in New York City’s Little Italy last November to honor the memory of Police Lt. Joseph Petrosino, the city’s first Italian American detective and the only NYPD officer to die in the line of duty abroad.

The plaques are in Petrosino Square, also named for the heroic officer, who was murdered by the Mafia in 1909 while doing undercover work in Palermo. The plaques were sponsored by the Columbia Association of the N.Y.P.D. and the Lt. Det. Joseph Petrosino Association of America, in collaboration with the Italian American Museum, and the city’s Parks Department.

Present at the ceremony were Petrosino’s grandnephew and namesake, Joseph Petrosino, who had been a Brooklyn prosecutor for 36 years and his son, also named Joseph Petrosino, who is now a New York City police detective.

Dr. Joseph Scelsa of the Italian American Museum holds one of the two plaques honoring Lt. Joseph Petrosino, that were unveiled last November in New York City. The second gives facts about the famed crime-fighter who sent 500 criminals to prison.

They were joined by Dr. Joseph Scelsa, president of the nearby Italian American Museum; Joseph Fratta, of the Sons of Italy Lt. Joseph Petrosino Lodge No. 285; and dignitaries from local civic, judicial, and law enforcement organizations.

Defender of Human Rights

By Maria Lisella

Vito Marcantonio was a U.S. congressman who represented New York City’s East Harlem, once the largest Italian American community in the United States. Although his constituents were largely Italian Americans, he also championed poor and exploited Puerto Ricans and African Americans. On the national stage during the 1930s and 1940s, Marcantonio took courageous positions on affordable housing, civil liberties, civil rights, foreign aid, immigration, political persecution, and Puerto Rican independence.

have sponsored a proclamation naming August 9th, “Vito Marcantonio Day” in the Bronx.

Resurrecting the multi-cultural legacy of Vito Marcantonio is the mission of the Vito Marcantonio Forum (VMF), an educational organization that is experiencing a resurrection of its own.

Since its founding in 1991, the VMF has created greater awareness of Marcantonio as the forerunner of progressive politicians everywhere. The VMF also addresses the sad fact that his name U.S. Congressman Vito has been omitted from today’s history Marcantonio (1902-1954) Last year, on August 9 th, the 65th championed the disenfranchised. text books. To right this wrong, the anniversary of his death, 70 people VMF organizes conferences featuring gathered at his grave at the historic Woodlawn Cemetery historians who have written about Marcantonio’s life and in the Bronx to celebrate the life of the most progressive achievements. It also has revived the Vito Marcantonio congressman in the 20th century. His tombstone reads Award conferred on community leaders such as the late simply: Vito Marcantonio - Congressman - Defender of East Harlem civic leader, Pete Pascale and artist Ralph Human Rights. To further honor his memory, Bronx Fasanella; and is working to have a street named for him in Borough President Ruben Diaz and New York City East Harlem. For more information, see the VFM blog at Councilmember and Speaker, Melissa Mark Viverito http://vitomarcantonioforum.org or its website at http:// vitomarcantonio.com.

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Our Story

Italian American history and culture

A “Monumental” Legacy Needs Your Help!

The master stone cutter and chief carver of South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore was Luigi Del Bianco, who worked on the iconic monument from 1933 to 1940, using dynamite and drills. He also directed the work of 350 to 400 men, mostly unemployed miners, but was solely responsible for carving the expressions of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt on the world’s second largest sculpture.

The U. S. Park Service, however, refuses to acknowledge Del Bianco’s important contributions on its website, and has also refused to sell a biography of him, Carving A Niche for Himself by Douglas Gladstone in its Mt. Rushmore bookstore. Gladstone is petitioning key players in the Park Service and at the Mt. Rushmore bookstore to lift this ban. [See below for how you can help.]

Del Bianco’s grandson, Lou Del Bianco is also trying to have the Park Service recognize his grandfather’s achievements. He has set up a petition that can be signed online at his website, www.luigimountrushmore.com

that would put pressure on the Park Service to change its mind. So far about 800 people have signed on. “But we need at least 10,000 to make a difference,” Del Bianco says.

He also is working with Lou Del Bianco and his gifted grandfather a production company that wants to film a documentary about Luigi Del Bianco, but needs funding. Del Bianco is reaching out to the Italian American groups and individuals nationwide, asking them to contribute to this effort.

“If every Sons of Italy lodge contributed even $100.00, it would help make this film a reality,” he says. For more information, contact Lou Del Bianco at 914/937-0897 or lou@findlou.com. To contribute, contact the film’s producer, Taryn Grimes-Herbert at 551/-206-3632 or tgrimesherbert@gmail.com

How You Can Help Why is Carving A Niche for Himself banned by the National Park Service’s Mt. Rushmore concessionaire?

Here are some of the decision-makers you can contact to find out.

• Tim Schoonover, VP of Retail Operations, Xanterra Parks & Resorts at 303-600-3439 • Patty Trapp, Acting Midwestern Regional Director, 402-661-1736 • Maureen McGee Ballinger, Director of Interpretive Services and History, Mount Rushmore, 605-574-3115. Email: Maureen_mcgee-ballinger@nps.gov Left: The Mt. Rushmore bookstore has banned this new biography of Luigi Del Bianco

Immigration Think Tank Celebrates 50th Anniversary

By Donald Kerwin

Since 1964, the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) has worked with policy-makers, researchers, and non-governmental organizations to develop good relations between immigrants and their new communities, and promote policies that safeguard their rights and dignity. CMS also maintains archives; publishes journals and books, and organizes conferences to increase understanding of the contributions and challenges of immigrants.

The CMS maintains extensive archives on the history of Italian immigration in the U.S. that cover the care of immigrants on Ellis Island; the rise of Italian American women; and the acceptance of Italian culture as part of American university life. It has the personal papers of ItalWINTER 2015 11 ITALIAN AMERICA

ian Americans in many walks of life and has partnered with universities to teach Italian American history.

It is part of the Congregation of Scalabrinis, founded in 1887 by Bishop Giovanni Battista Scalabrini to help Italian immigrants. The Scalabrinis now serve immigrants worldwide. Last September, the CMS celebrated its 50th anniversary in New York City. For many years, Father Lydio Tomasi (ret.) and Archbishop Silvano Tomasi were CMS’s executive directors. Its offices are in New York City. For its free publications & more information, see www.cmsny.org Donald Kerwin is the executive director of the Center for Migration Studies of New York. Contact him at dkerwin@ cmsny.org ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 11

Passport, `Please!

A Genealogy Goldmine

By John Philip Colletta

Maria Abbatiello wants to apply for dual citizenship with Italy, but first she must prove that her grandfather was still an Italian citizen at the time of her birth. How can she find out if her ancestor was naturalized or not?

Where would that record be today?

Naturalized Citizens

Naturalizations prior to the 1940s were effected in federal, territorial, state and local courts. After WWII, the jurisdiction to naturalize was restricted to federal courts. So the earlier naturalization records are scattered in many repositories around the country.

Records of naturalizations made in federal and territorial courts are among Record Group 21; Records of the Federal Courts, in the regional archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (see www.archives.gov).

Records of naturalizations made in state courts are either in the state archives or the county courthouse where the immigrant petitioned (see the website of the state archives of the state where your ancestor resided).

Records of naturalizations made in municipal courts are in the city hall or city archives.

Finding a record of naturalization effected since February 27, 1906, is eminently simpler. The Office of Immigration was created that year. Federal law required that every naturalization effected in any court in any state or territory be recorded with that new office in Washington, D.C. Later the office was renamed the Immigration and Naturalization Service and today is called the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS). Naturalizations since 1906, therefore, are available from USCIS (see www.

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Prior to 1941, except for brief periods, Americans and foreign immigrants did not need a passport to go abroad or to return to the U.S. [illustration by Robert Cimbalo] ITALIAN ITALIANAMERICA AMERICA

Vincenzo Abbatiello’s petition for naturalization and passport application.

These documents provide a wealth of biographical information.

uscis.gov), which provides superb research and reproduction services for a modest fee.

In addition, fortunately, there’s a “back door” to learning citizenship status that is often neglected: U.S. passport applications. To obtain a U.S. passport, of course, required U.S. citizenship. Therefore, passport applications of foreign born applicants contain the date and court of their naturalization. These records are readily accessible since records from 1795 through 1925 are available on microfilm and online. They provide a wealth of information about an Italian ancestor regardless of whether or not dual citizenship important to the amateur genealogist.

Prior to 1941, except for brief periods during the WINTER 2015 13 ITALIAN AMERICA

Civil War and a couple of years following World War I, passports were not required to travel overseas or re-enter the United States. Italian immigrants who became U.S. citizens and then returned to Italy to visit relatives or bring back a wife and children usually did not bother to obtain a U.S. passport. They simply carried their certificate of U.S. citizenship with them, and sometimes not even that.

However, some naturalized Americans applied for and received a passport to be able to prove their U.S. citizenship should the need arise during their sojourn overseas or upon re-entry into the United States.

A GENEALOGY GOLDMINE

But a passport application may do much more than lead to your ancestor’s naturalization record. It may state ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 13

From Vincenzo’s declaration of intention in 1898, and his petition for naturalization in 1903, even more personal details about him may be learned. He is in the junk business. That means Vincenzo recycles used metal, cloth, paper, etc.—an occupation not uncommon among Italian immigrants of the nineteenth century (our nation’s earliest environmentalists!).

In 1898, Vincenzo was residing in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. In 1903, he was living in Mount Vernon, Westchester County, New York. By the time he applied for his passport in 1904, he had moved to Brooklyn.

The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has put many of its passport records on microfilm, making them readily available through its 12 regional archives.

the exact date and place of birth of the applicant, and of his wife and minor children, too, which are the facts you need to pursue ancestral research in the records of Italy. In addition, applications since 1914 contain the applicant’s photograph, and usually state his or her immediate travel plans, including the “reason for return” to Italy.

For example, the passport application of Vincenzo Abbattiello (see below), dated November 2, 1904, shows how wonderfully informative this historical source can be.

It shows that Vincenzo was born in Maddaloni, Italy—a comune in the province of Caserta, region of Campania— on or about February 21, 1852. He immigrated to the United States on board the SS. California, having sailed from Naples, and arrived in New York on or about March 30, 1890. Since then, Vincenzo resided in New York State with his current address being in Brooklyn.

Vincenzo Abbattiello is five feet three inches tall, with black hair, brown eyes, and a light complexion. His face is oval, with a high forehead, regular features, and a pointed chin. He is a merchant who intends to spend two years overseas (most likely in Italy). And here is the bonus: Vincenzo was naturalized in the County Court of Westchester, New York, on October 30, 1903. So a copy of that record may now be found online or obtained by mail.

A LIFE REVEALED

Since Vincenzo Abbatiello’s passport application indicates that he was naturalized in a county court, a copy of the record may be obtained from the courthouse, or perhaps the state archives, or it may have been digitized and uploaded to an Internet website.

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Although Vincenzo always signed his name with one “t” the passport office clerk and the court clerk who recorded his petition both spelled it with two t’s. Genealogists know that discrepancies in the spelling of surnames are very common in old records.

RESEARCH SOURCES

Passport applications from 1795 through 1925, as well as registers and indexes to a large portion of them (though not all), are available on microfilm through the National Archives, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, and other libraries with large genealogical collections.

The NARA film designations are: M1372, “Passport Applications, 1795-1905;” M1490, “Passport Applications, 1906-1923;” M1371, “Registers and Indexes to Passport Applications, 1810-1906;” and M1848, “Indexes to Passport Applications, 1850-52, 1860-80, 1881, 190623.” Passport applications since 1926 are still held by the Passport Office of the U.S. Department of State.

And here’s the good news! Much of this microfilm has been digitized and uploaded to two commercial Internet sites: www.ancestry.com and www.fold3.com. Though these sites require membership for a fee, they are available for free at many public libraries.

If Maria has been unable to find a naturalization record for her ancestor from Italy, a passport application may be just the ticket because it may serve as the stepping stone to the naturalization record. Bear in mind, however, that relatively few Italian immigrants applied for passports. Many never even filed for naturalization, or simply declared their intention but never petitioned. Nevertheless, passport applications are a source worth exploring. If Maria’s ancestor did apply for one, her effort will be richly rewarded!

John Philip Colletta, Ph.D., is a genealogist, author, and lecturer based in Washington, D.C. See his site, www.genealogyjohn.com ITALIAN ITALIAN AMERICA AMERICA

How stereotyping shapes the public image of Italian Americans today.

Send your contributions to ddesanctis@osia.org or mail to: Italian America Magazine, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Include name and daytime telephone number. No telephone calls please.

Mailed submissions cannot be acknowledged. Contributors’ names, when known, are in parenthesis.

By Dona De Sanctis

• GODFATHER OF “THE PITTS” BURGH Outrage over the latest “reality” show that insulted Italian Americans turned to jubilation late last year when the cable network, A&E cancelled “The Godfather of Pittsburgh,” follow“Don” Vince Isoldi ing the withdrawal of a major sponsor and protests by Italian American advocates. Dropped after only three episodes, the series followed Vince Isoldi, who operates several businesses including a strip club, but despite the show’s title, says, “I’m just a businessman. I’m not mafia.”

Even before its cancellation, the program was in trouble when one of its major sponsors, Dunkin’ Donuts withdrew its commercials thanks to the intervention of NBC news anchor and radio personality Gene Valicenti, who contacted the company to protest the series’ stereotyping of Italian Americans. Valicenti learned of the problem when he invited UNICO National’s director Andrè DiMino on his radio program, “The Morning Show with Gene Valicenti” on WPRO 630 News Talk Radio to discuss Italian Americans’ fight against stereotyping. [Manny Alfano, president, the Italian American One Voice Coalition, NJ] • A GRACIOUS APOLOGY During a guest appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” news program October 21, 2014, Chuck Todd, who hosts NBC’s “Meet the Press,” was discussing a coming election run-off between two Italian American candidates, Michael Grimm and Domenic Recchia. Todd described the race as “...a fight between mob families.”

The Italian American One Voice Coalition’s president, Manny Alfano contacted Mr. Todd, requesting an onair apology, which Mr. Todd willingly offered. “It was a foolish attempt at humor on my part. I am sorry for

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it. As a Jew, I know that there are some stereotypes that become too easy to say publicly and end up hurting.”

Apology accepted, Mr. Todd. And thank you.

• GOOD-BYE, GOOMBA? Are we still immigrants, who speak broken English?

Yes, according to a photograph circulating the Internet. It does double duty in bad taste by both disrespecting Italian Americans and making a joke out of a world health crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people and infected thousands more.

• THAT’S FUNNY? As part of his popular NPR radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” Garrison Keillor offered a comedy sketch on November 22 that took aim at Italian Americans. The skit presented a private detective in New York City who meets a hit man named “Guido.” The mobster wants to know if the detective wants anyone “wacked.” Speaking like Marlon Brando in The Godfather,” the actor specifies, however, that he “only whacks guys whose name ends in a vowel.” To complain, contact phc@mpr.org.

• A NEW CHRISTMAS MOVIE Forget the Christmas Elf or Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Now children can learn about multi-culturalism, political correctness and, oh yes, Italian American stereotypes when they watch “Spike,” a new children’s movie, available through Netflix. In it all ethnic groups are presented with respect until we meet two polar bears named Vito and Tony, who are not very bright thieves. Buon Natale to you, Netflix.

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Bulletin Board

What’s new: discounts, services and events

Public Television Features Italian Americans “The Italian Americans,” a new two-part, four-hour documentary series about the nation’s fifth largest ethnic group, will premiere on PBS on Tuesdays, February 17 and 24 from 9 to 11 p.m. ET (check local listings).

The series has a potential audience of 120 million viewers.

The series, written and produced by John Maggio and New York City’s Mulberry Street, circa 1904 narrated by actor Stanley Tucci, explores the evolution of Italian Americans from late nineteenth century “outsiders,” once viewed with suspicion and mistrust, to prominent leaders of business, government, sports, science, and the arts today.

A companion book of the same title by journalist Maria Laurino, published by W.W. Norton, was released in December 2014, tied to the documentary series. [See book’s review, page 9]

“Note-able” Elegance Italian graphic design genius is legendary and can be sampled in a boxed set of 12 vintage note cards featuring four familiar Italian words: ciao, auguri, grazie, and prego that can be used for a number of occasions. Also available is a set of 12 two-color pencils in black and red that come in a case. Both are creations of the award-winning graphic designer, Louise Fili. The note cards are $14.95; the pencils and case are $13.95. Available through Princeton Architectural Press online and in shops. [For details, see ad on page 35.]

Parliamo L’Italiano!

What does it take to become fluent in Italian? Simply memorizing irregular verbs and grammar rules is frustrating and ultimately unproductive, but so is trying to follow an Italian speaking at normal speed. Coming to the rescue are two new approaches to learning Italian.

The first is Italian Fluency, a handy text by Susan Nus, a language instructor. It promises to be “your shortcut to Italian fluency” by targeting the most frequently used words in Italian conversation that have English cognates: “offrire” (offer), momento (moment), difficile (difficult), etc. They are presented through grammar, and then categories such as “wine,” “travel,” and “people.” Finally, in the section labeled “Essential Vocabulary,” the author gives the 1,000 most important words for everyday speech, presented through enjoyable quotes, jokes and useful sentences. [356 pages; paperback; $25.00. Also on Kindle.]

People who have already reached a degree of comfort with spoken Italian might enjoy Tutto italiano, a bimonthly audio magazine, published in England but available stateside. The full-color magazine offers articles on contemporary Italy’s important issues and popular culture, including sports, cuisine, films, politics, personalities, etc.

Each article in Italian has key words and phrases explained in English; is graded in difficulty; and ends with exercises to test understanding and grammar. Every magazine comes with a 60-minute CD recording of native speakers reading the key articles and also has comprehension exercises. [For details, see inside front cover in this issue.]

Football Stats From 1920 to 1949, 473 Italian Americans, including 10 immigrants, played in college, semi-pro, and pro football teams.

Among them were Hall of Famers; NFL All-Pros, College All-Stars, and more.

Now Fausto Batella has collected their stats and achievements in Gridiron Gladiators, the first volume in a projected series. For the fanatic football buffs everywhere. [233 pages; paperback; $18.95; iUniverse.

Also an E-book for $6.00]

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Bulletin Board

What’s new: discounts, services and events

Sons of Italy Speakers Bureau Need a speaker for your club meeting or a special event? Contact these experts directly. Some may require travel expenses and/or honorariums. For more speakers see: www.osia.org at “Culture & History.”To apply as a speaker, contact Dona De Sanctis at ddesanctis@osia.org.

ANYWHERE, USA Professor and author Joseph Luzzi speaks on Italian language, dialects and culture; and his book, “My Two Italies” [a Sons of Italy® National Book Club selection]. Book signings. Contact: jluzzi@bard. edu. Website: JosephLuzzi.com And...Professional tour director Miriam Prigioni Millard shares stories and tips for the traveler to Italy.

Requires honorarium & travel expenses. Contact: 410/949-6682 (MD). Email: mariannmillard@ yahoo.com FLORIDA & BEYOND Historian & author Carlo Ferroni speaks on Italian POWs in WWII and his book on this topic. Book signings. Contact: 831 688 2961 (FL). Email: bncferroni@aol.com.

MID-ATLANTIC Author Vince Iezzi speaks on his series about his grandmother’s wisdom, “Coffee with Nonna” et al. Book signings. Contact: 215/755 0196 (PA).

Email: dismasdamiano@aol.com And...Business management expert Alfred Maganiello speaks on his book, “Ravioli Rules: A Manager’s Guide to Get the Workplace Cooking.” Book signings. Contact: 301/545 5727 (DE). Email: bigal@raviolirules. com. Website: raviolirules.com

MID-WEST Author Dominic Candeloro, professor of Italian American studies (ret.) on Italian Americans of Chicago; Italian American literature; and more. Book signing of Italians of Chicago. Contact: 708/354 0952 (IL) Email: Dominic.Candeloro@gmail.com. Also will Skype.

NEW YORK CITY Author/playwright David Mercaldo speaks on the impact of Italian immigration on the U.S. and on his novels. Book signings. Contact: 917/597 6055 (NYC). Email: skyline347@verizon.net. Website: davidmarcaldo.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA Author Frank Pennisi on his novel, “Sciatu Mio” that follows three generations of Sicilians from Italy to America. Book signings. Contact: 843/272-9997 (SC). Email: fpennisi@sc.rr.com WASHINGTON, DC AREA Writer/researcher Linda Barrett Osborne, who edited “Explorers, Emigrants, Citizens,” a massive “visual history” of Italian Americans for the Library of Congress, will speak on this impressive book and do book signings. [The book was a Sons of Italy® Book Club selection]. Contact: 202/269 0779 (DC) Email: lindabosborne@gmail.com

Masters of a Vanishing Art Men of the Cloth introduces three Italian master tailors who confront the decline of the apprentice system in the twilight of their careers. Two are Italian Americans: Nino Corvato and Joe Centofanti, both custom tailors.

The third, Checchino Fonticoli, has spent his entire career at Brioni, the luxury clothing firm based in Italy.

These artisans possess skills honed over the course of their lives to create clothing that is as beautiful inside as it is outside. Eleven years in the making, Men of the Cloth reveals how their passionate devotion to their vanishing Old World craft is akin to a religion. Produced and directed by Vicki Vasilopoulos. [95 minutes; color; $25 plus S&H] To order, call 973-743-1045 in NJ or email info@menoftheclothfilm.com.

Master tailor Joe Centofanti at work WINTER 2015 17 ITALIAN AMERICA

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Mary Testa

In her role as Madame Morrible in Wicked.

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By Adriana Trigiani

Mary Testa has lit up both stage and screen during a career that began 30 years ago and is still going strong, thanks to her powerhouse singing voice and considerable acting range.

The New York Times describes her as “a performer of radioactive presence and lungs of steel.”

Currently, she is enjoying a run in Broadway’s acclaimed musical, Wicked, the untold story of the witches of Oz, but she has also experience off-Broadway; in Hollywood; and on television. Her many films include Eat, Pray, Love with Julia Roberts; The Bounty Hunters with Jennifer Aniston; and The Business of Strangers with Stockard Channing. On television, she has appeared on “Law & Order,” “As the World Turns,” and “2 Broke Girls,” among others.

Ms. Testa comes from a working class Italian American family in Rhode Island where her mother and aunts worked in a Monet jewelry factory

and also were amateur singers. During her career, she has performed in such Broadway classics as On the Town, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; and been cast in shows written by Stephen Sondheim, Michael LaChiusa and William Finn.

At the same time, to encourage new talent, she has developed a number of dramas and musicals by unknown writers.

A two-time Tony Award nominee, Mary Testa received the 2012 Drama Desk Lifetime Achievement Award for her career on the stage with a special nod to her performance in Queen of the Mist. The off-Broadway musical

by LaChiusa, tells the true story of Annie Edson Taylor, the first woman to shoot Niagara Falls.

In this exclusive interview with the award-winning novelist, Adriana Trigiani, her lifelong friend, Ms. Testa talks about her Italian heritage, performing career, and her new album, “Have Faith.”

The multi-talented Mary Testa, a powerhouse singer and actress.

Can you tell us about your heritage?

I am Italian on both sides of my family. We come mostly from the Naples area, but my father’s father came here from Isernia in 1902.

Providence, Rhode Island is one of the most Italian of all American cities. What is your favorite memory of growing up in such an Italian American enclave?

Well, I guess I would have to say the food and the community of family. Also, Rhode Island has amazing beaches. I had a wonderful aunt named Toni, who used to take me to the beach. She’d pack a cooler with delicious eggplant sandwiches; we’d get there at 8 and stay until 5. No one did the beach like my Aunt Toni!

Tell us about your family.

There were four of us: my parents, William and Helen; my sister, Sharon; and me. My mom was an incredible cook, but she was also a singer. So when I was very young, she would start singing and tell me to harmonize with her. It came naturally. I must have gotten my ear from her. I have a big voice that can be heard even

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without a mike. I once went to a doctor to get my ears checked. While we were talking, he said, “You know, you have a very loud voice.” So I said, “Listen buddy, in my job, I gotta hit the back row!”

What’s your favorite place in Italy?

I am very “under-traveled,” so I haven’t been back to Italy since I went in the 80’s. Because I love the ocean, my favorite place so far is Sestri Levante. It’s a gorgeous seaside enclave near Genoa in the north. I loved it.

it, it stays warm and ready. And I constantly use it!

Do you have a favorite Italian American novel? And why is it your favorite?

The Shoemaker’s Wife, written by…you! Gorgeous, sweeping story, grounded in family and emotion. Made me cry at least five times.

arranger. I called it “Have Faith” because it explores issues of faith and doubt through a wide range of musical numbers that include classics, like “Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries,” and “If I Loved You,” to hits by the Beach Boys, Prince, and Alanis Morissette.

Do you bring your Italian heritage to the stage? If so, how?

I think I am ver y Which Italian actors and ac- Neapolitan in the way tresses inspired you?

I tell a story. I am very Two words: Sophia Loren. She’s expressive, and my face a wonderful actress and absolutely is in constant motion. gorgeous woman – even at 80. My I like to call myself mother and I watched Two Women an “eyebrow actor”. together when I was young. Sophia Luckily, I inherited my won an Oscar as Best Actress in mother’s complexion 1962 for her powerful performance and have hardly any Getting ready for the part. in that film. But I think my favorite wrinkles, except for one film of hers is Yesterday, Today, and between my eyebrows.

How did you choose which songs Tomorrow which she made in 1963 I got that because my eyebrows are to record? with Marcello Mastroianni. I admire in constant motion when I sing or act.

I was guided by my own eclectic other actresses, too. Who could What drives you? What fuels your tastes: classical, pop, and folk as well deny the power of Anna Magnani? ambition? as Broadway musicals. We recorded And Giulietta Messina in Federico I think it is my desire to be con- 16 songs that span the decades. They Fellini’s La Strada? stantly creative. Work has always are all connected by the fact that they You are known for your power- energized me, and I am never happier express the intricacies of life and faith; ful, passionate voice. How do than when I am onstage. In my busi- how important faith is, even though you keep your instrument in fine ness, they love to typecast you because life is exceptionally contradictory. form? they think they know what you can do.

“Have Faith” sounds like the perYou know, it’s funny. I never That’s why I constantly take different fect gift for music lovers! What practice, and I never warm up unless types of roles and different forms of are your plans for the future?

I have something really difficult to entertainment. That could mean I do I want to keep working as long as sing. I think I just sing so much that a musical then a play then a concert.

I can, create great work, and never my voice is always in form. When I I always keep moving. worry about money. And I would love moved to New York City in 1976, I You’ve done stage, screen, and to go back to Italy, and spend more studied operatic technique for 6 years. television and now you have rethan a week there!

I was the only non-opera performer corded an album, “Have Faith.” that my voice teacher had. That was Tell us about it.

Adriana Trigiani is a novelist, television very helpful in that it taught me how Where do I start? To make it, I writer, producer, and director who lives to sing correctly so I never hurt my collaborated with Michael Starobin, in New York City. voice. I guess if you constantly use the award-winning orchestrator and WINTER 2015

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Giovinezza!

News for Young Italian Americans

February Deadline for SIF Scholarships

Italian Universities Open Doors to U.S. Students

The deadline for the Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF) National Leadership Grants is February 28, 2015. Applications bearing a later postmark will not be considered.

American students who want to study at Italian universities for a semester or more are now automatically accepted in Italy, thanks to new enrollment requirements the Italian government enacted last year.

Every year, the SIF awards about 10 to 12 scholarships that assist outstanding Italian American students with their college and graduate studies. The grants include Study in Italy awards. Scholarship information and application can be downloaded on http://www.osia.org/students/scholarships.php.

Questions? Contact Laura Kelly at the Sons of Italy’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Tel: 202-5472900. Email: scholarships@osia.org.

Enrolling in Italian universities easier for American “AP” students

Under the new provisions, American high school graduates will be automatically accepted into the first year of any Italian university program if they have passed at least three Advanced Placement (AP) examinations. One AP exam must be Italian and the other two related to the course of study being pursued at the Italian university.

American high school graduates who have not studied Italian can still enroll in Italian institutions and take courses entirely in English as long as they have passed at least three AP exams in subjects related to their Italian university courses.

SIF grants help send promising Italian American students to college and grad school.

Italian American Fraternity Current and past members of Alpha Phi Delta, the nation’s only Italian heritage fraternity, attended its annual convention in Harrisburg, PA last August. The fraternity, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, was founded in 1914 at Syracuse University in New York State, by seven students of Italian descent. Further information about Alpha Phi Delta Italian Heritage Fraternity, starting a chapter, or endowing its leadership programs can be found at www.APD.org.

College students who have completed two or more years at an American college or university can also enroll in Italian institutions if they have passed at least four AP exams in subjects related to their Italian studies, including the AP Italian exam. For details, see www.studiare-in-italia. it/studentistranieri/moduli/allegato1.pdf

Scholarships for Italian Americans A free directory of college scholarships for Italian American students is now available through the Calandra Italian American Institute. The 48-page handbook provides information about eligibility, scholarship amounts, deadlines, and other important information. It also includes contact information for each scholarship.

It is organized in three sections: scholarships for students of Italian descent; state-based scholarships, awarded to students based on residency or college location as well as Italian descent; and scholarships for any student of Italian studies, regardless of heritage. To download, go to: http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/calandra/resources/ scholarships/scholarships

WINTER 2015 21 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 21

Legendary

By Karen Haid

Giants

While at rest, the towering, exotic figures attract the curiosity of children.

On the move, however, the huge otherworldly puppets send the wee ones fleeing for safety and once drove a king and his troops to sound the retreat.

invasions, a very tall Muslim prince named Hassass Ibn-Hammar came ashore with his men to attack Messina. Upon seeing the lovely Mata, the warrior asked for her hand in marriage. She refused, causing him to plunder the city.

A glimpse of i giganti at a Sicilian or Calabrian festival is a treat for all ages. They are usually part of religious processions honoring the Madonna or local saints and so appear at such festivals held throughout the year.

The cities with the strongest giganti traditions are Messina in Sicily and Palmi in Calabria.

The devout Mata resorted to prayer. Some stories tell of her being kidnapped, but whether voluntarily or by force, she eventually capitulated and fell in love with the Muslim prince when he converted to Christianity.

He subsequently changed his name to Grifo and came to be known as Grifone or “Big Grifo” because of his noteworthy physical stature.

The giant figures float and whirl through the streets, their history a blend of actual events and colorful myth. But who are these folkloric giants – the golden-haired damsel and her dark-skinned suitor – and where did they come from?

Another explanation as to the origin of Mata and Grifone can be found in classical mythology. The pair is thought to represent the ancient Greek gods, Kronos and Rhea, Messina’s mythological founders.

Lost in Legend

Rooted in History

The ancient legend of the giganti is believed to have originated as early as the 10th century A.D. in Messina, the northeastern Sicilian city that the Strait of Messina separates from Calabria in the toe of the mainland.

Some local legends say it began with a beautiful peasant girl while others describe her as a princess, but whatever her social position, the maiden came from a virtuous Christian family. Her name was Marta, or “Mata” in dialect.

One day in around 970 A.D. during the period of the Saracen

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The historical version of the couple’s roots dates back to 1190 A.D. when the British King Richard the Lionhearted disembarked at Messina on his way to the Holy Land during the Third Crusade. By this time, the Normans had kicked the Arabs out of Sicily, and Tancred had become king by way of a coup that resulted in the imprisonment of Richard’s sister.

A Princess Mata puppet in Tropea, Calabria [Photo: Karen Haid]

Messina landed in the middle of the argument when the English king lay siege to the city. King Richard is ITALIAN AMERICA

A Giganti display at the Ethnographic Museum in Palmi, Calabria. The giant puppets rest on the shoulders of their bearers, who carry them through the streets of the town. (See page 22.) [Photo: Karen Haid]

said to have built a castle called Mategrifon, which stood for “ammazzagriffoni,” or “Kill the thieves,” a local phrase that generally referred to Arab and Greek invaders. The derivation of the word “grifon” is unclear. It could mean “foreigners” or perhaps “Greeks” who had come to Sicily before the Arabs. The king eventually came to an agreement with his enemies, and over time other defensive fortifications superseded Richard’s Mategrifon on the strategic position overlooking the city.

The Personal Touch

The tradition of the giganti is just one example of the richness of Italy’s history and folklore with each locality adding a personal touch. If sheer size were the measure of passion, Messina would certainly win a prize with its colossal giganti reaching a height of over 26 feet! Incredibly, the motivation for the enormous statues arose in the sixteenth century when gigantic bones of a prehistoric animal were found in the rival city of Palermo.

WINTER 2015 23 ITALIAN AMERICA

The wooden figures commissioned by Messina’s governing body of the time have naturally undergone a number of restorations and modifications over the years, including the completion of the legs in the 1950s that allowed them to be pulled along on wheels. Often featured at town festivals associated with patron saints, the giganti parade through the streets accompanied by folk musicians – and frequently a camel. The beating of the drums in a quick tarantella rhythm inspires the crowd and the dance – the Ballo dei Giganti. Even Messina’s monumental U Giganti e a Gialantissa (the giant and the giantess) simulated the trotting of horses before the modernization of the last century.

Across the strait in Calabria, the giganti aren’t as tall, but they more than compensate with enthusiasm. The figures are constructed of papier-mâché and rest on the shoulders of their handlers. Hidden under the giants’ skirts with a face hole to help guide their way, the puppeteers engage in a dance of courtship – the swarthy, mustached Saracen pursues the fair, rosy-cheeked girl next door. Fast footwork to the step of the tarantella conducts the couple through turns, inclinations and other gestures that draw them ever nearer and lead to an embrace or kiss to the delight of the crowd.

In Sicily, the giant puppets can be 26 feet tall. [Photo: Wikipedia]

To the Beat of a Drum

The ballo is accompanied by the incessant beating of drums that not only requires great stamina from the puppeteers, but has even inspired legends. One popular story dates back to October 1815 and tells of Joachim Murat, Napoleon’s brother-in-law and former king of Naples, who was attempting to retake power by way of Calabria. As Murat and his military retinue approached the small coastal town of Briatico on Capo Vaticano, the piece of land that juts out into the Tyrrhenian Sea, they were accosted by an extraordinary noise coming from the village. What sounded like a garrison of soldiers in battle was actually an assortment of drums and the shouts of the crowd escorting the giganti at a festival. Murat and his men changed direction and disembarked a few miles up the coast at Pizzo, where he was arrested and swiftly executed, foiling the coup attempt and perhaps changing the course of history.

Calabria and Sicily share histories plagued with foreign invasions and domination. The ballo of Mata and Grifone is commonly viewed as a representation of the struggle between Islam and Christianity. In festive atmospheres throughout the regions, the conflict is peacefully resolved; the people emerge victorious; liberty is preserved; and everyone has a good time. Long histories and engaging folkloric traditions come together to form part of a rich cultural fabric in which i giganti play an important part, both enlightening and entertaining the generations of today and tomorrow.

Karen Haid has recently published Calabria: The Other Italy, a contemporary picture of Calabria and southern Italy. Visit her website and blog at www.calabriatheotheritaly.com

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 23

OSIA Nation

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

MASSACHUSETTS The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts celebrated its 100th anniversary last October with a gala. Among the guests: the consul general of Italy in Boston, Nicola DeSantis; speaker of the state House of Representatives, Robert DeLeo; and the Sons of Italy® national president, Anthony Baratta. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts also incorporates lodges in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.

NEW YORK Holiday craft-making, Santa, pizza, and a magic show entertained about 75 children at a party hosted by the Blauvelt Lodge #2176 at its renovated headquarters in Rockland last December. The event was free and open to the public.

OHIO Past and present officers and guests of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Centenary gala last October.

WASHINGTON STATE Members of the Auburn Lodge #1955 marched last November in the Veterans’ Day Parade, believed to be the second largest in the nation. The lodge has participated for the past 49 years, according to Tony Bisceglia Anderson, president of the Grand Lodge of the Northwest.

Once again, the Cincinnati Lodge #1191 successfully held what is believed to be the biggest homemade dinner in the nation and probably the oldest as well. Held since 1911, the 2014 “Original Italian Dinner” last October featured more than 220,000 handmade ravioli; 23,000+ hand-rolled meatballs and 600 gallons of tomato sauce. The meal, including dessert, was $12 with proceeds benefitting a local Catholic church.

GOT A GOOD STORY? Have you or your lodge done something remarkable that makes a difference to your community or promotes our heritage?

Send details with your lodge’s name and number (photo optional) to: ITALIAN AMERICA Magazine, 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 or E-mail ddesanctis@ osia.org. Include daytime phone number.

Entries not acknowledged and photos not returned unless requested.

WINTER 2015

24

ITALIAN AMERICA

OSIA Nation MARYLAND OSIA’s Grand Lodge of Maryland President Frances Cipriotti (in purple shirt and white pants), along with members of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, present the Italian flag at Cal Ripkin Stadium in Bel Air, MD as part of the celebration of Italian Heritage Day on August 10, 2014.

OSIA LODGES AT WORK

Special recognition ROCCO F. ANDRIOLA, Esq. of the John Michael Marino Lodge #1389 in Port Washington, NY, was honored by the American Liver Foundation of Greater New York with its 2014 Spirit of New York Award last September. He is a managing director of Millennium Partners, a $23 billion hedge fund in New York City.

ED BIELUCKE, III of the West Covina Lodge #2056 in California, displayed 32 of his military license plates last November during a Veterans’ Day celebration in Covina.

JUDGE ANN MARIE CALABRIA was honored last fall by the Triangle Sons of Italy Lodge #2817 in North Carolina. She serves on the state’s Court of Appeals. The lodge also successfully petitioned Governor Pat McCrory to proclaim October Italian Heritage Month in North Carolina, which does not celebrate Columbus Day despite its 200,000 Italian American residents.

Attention All Lodge Officers!

Are your members complaining that they are not receiving their magazines? Here’s some information that might help them.

As lodge officers, you must send the names and addresses of all new members to your state’s Grand Lodge. You also must inform your Grand Lodge of all address corrections and changes, too! It is best to do this every month. Grand Lodge contact information is listed at www. osia.org under “About OSIA” or call OSIA National at 202/547 2900.

Grand and Subordinate Lodges must observe the following deadlines in sending their updated mailing lists to ABR, which prepares the labels for our magazine mailings. They are: December 1 – winter issue March 1 – spring issue June 1 – summer issue Sept 1 – fall issue

WINTER 2015 25 ITALIAN AMERICA

JUSTICE DOMINIC MASSARO, who has held many offices in OSIA, including its first and longest-serving Historian, has archived his vast collection of OSIA documents, including records, reports, letters and minutes that range from 1923 to 2012 at the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis where OSIA also houses its archives.

MARIA FASSIO PIGNATI, former state president of the Sons of Italy® Grand Lodge of California, represented the Order last September at the dedication of La Scuola- the Italian International School in San Francisco.

Also present Italy’s prime minister, Matteo Renzi and Italy’s ambassador the U.S., Claudio Bisogniero.

IDA ROMANAZZI, a past first lady and wife of past California state president, Lawrence Romanazzi, died September 9, 2014. A scholarship has been established in her memory.

CAV. JOHN SCARPATI of the Piazza Nuova Lodge #2665 in Yardley, PA, recently inaugurated the first statue of Christopher Columbus in Hamilton Township, NJ as president of the Mercer County Italian American Festival Association. The statue is at its Heritage Building.

LODGE ALERT Lodges and grand lodges holding events that attract large numbers of the public should take out “special event” insurance policies to protect them from liability issues. Recently, a grand lodge planned a huge Italian festival which was cancelled because of a hurricane and its subsequent damage.

The grand lodge had no such insurance and had to pay thousands of dollars to vendors that had signed contracts with the grand lodge.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 25

®

The Sons of Italy Foundation

®

HELPING THOSE IN NEED

Foundation Focus

By Joseph DiTrapani, President, The Sons of Italy Foundation® In 2004, the Sons of Italy® produced a film entitled “Triumphant Journey”. Created under the direction of our CEO/National Executive Director Philip Piccigallo and brought to film life by our producer, Lynn Kessler, the educational/promotional video related an inspiring tale of the Italian immigrants’ experience as they came to America as part of the Great Immigration Wave of the early decades of the twentieth century. Theirs was a perilous and arduous trek, traveling across the Atlantic Ocean in much less than accommodating conditions. The film was re-done in 2011, narrated by award-winning actor Dan Luria.

the now-firmly middle class, successful Italian American community to “give back” to the country that had so generously accepted the sons and daughters of Italy.

After arriving at Ellis Island and working their way to such gateway cities as New York, Boston, Hartford, Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco, the early Italian immigrants confronted less than pleasant situations. Their “welcome” was far from warm; indeed, it was inhospitable; mostly discriminatory; sometimes violent; and always extremely difficult. They came from the poorest southern regions of Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Basilicata, and Puglia, desperate for work, a place to live, and the chance to learn English. They turned for help to a local organization, the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA), which was founded in New York City in 1905 for that very purpose.

Now, the SIF will produce a new film, which will debut at the 27th annual National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala this year on May 21. That film will illustrate that our “Triumphant Journey” has now morphed into an exciting and more assertive campaign of charitable giving and cultural preservation which we will call, “Seize the Future”. The new film will be made available to all OSIA Grand and Filial lodges and our online supporters and friends.

That first generation of Italian Americans worked hard, struggled, sacrificed and eventually surmounted all challenges. With the indispensable help of OSIA, the Sons of Italy Foundation® (SIF) was created in 1959, to assist

Since that time, the SIF has given more than $133 million to medical research, domestic and international disaster relief, cultural and Italian language preservation, and special projects principally patriotic in nature or supportive of US veterans and wounded service personnel.

A new study estimates that OSIA state and local lodges have contributed some $30 million to local charities and scholarships, thus bringing the cumulative total SIF/OSIA giving to an incredible $163 million. “Triumphant Journey” chronicled this passage, and the reality that Italian Americans had “made it”.

As a New Yorker and past State President, I am very proud to report that the funding for this new film is being provided by a generous grant from the Grand Lodge of New York Foundation. I am honored to be part of this grand initiative and hope you will be as well. Be sure to look for the film’s debut.

Sons of Italy Foundation® Aids Wounded Warrior SIF Treasurer Frank Panessa presents the keys to a handicap-designed van to Army Corporal Joshua Himan (Ret.) December 8, 2014 at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland.

During its 2014 NELA Gala in Washington, D.C. last May, the SIF donated $20,000 to equip this vehicle for the young soldier who was severely injured in combat.

CHECK IT OUT! Visit your OSIA web site WWW.OSIA.ORG for updates on the latest OSIA news, reports & issues.

WINTER 2015

26

ITALIAN AMERICA

®

The Commission for Social Justice

The CSJ Perspective

By JOSEPH BONCORE, CSJ National President

Columbus Day 2014 was marked by some disturbing attacks on this patriotic holiday so dear to Italian Americans. In 2014, Seattle and Minneapolis joined a growing list of cities that seem to think the best way to honor Native Americans and their heritage is to eliminate a federal holiday that celebrates the contributions of Italian Americans. Italian Americans are rallying, however, and planning to make 2015’s holiday a true celebration of Columbus and his legacy. [For details, see page 3.]

But I don’t want to leave you with the impression that Columbus Day is over. In 2014, communities all over the country turned out to celebrate with parades and special

fighting defamation

events. A number of Italian American organizations, including some of our own lodges, successfully petitioned their mayors and governors to declare October “National Italian American Heritage Month.” Making that official and permanent throughout the country should be one of our goals for Columbus Day. Despite the controversy, Italian Americans joyously celebrated Columbus Day last year. A good example is the parade in Chicago which is vividly described below.

Chicago’s parade organizers wisely included people of all cultures in their parade and that is how it should be.

Columbus was the first of millions of immigrants to the New World, who left all that was familiar to make a better life for themselves and their children. So, viva Cristoforo Colombo! Evviva l’America!

Chicago Celebrates Columbus

By Maryann Pisano

Not even the rain could stop the explosion of red, white, and green flags and Italian pride when Chicago held its Columbus Day Parade October 13, 2014. About 250,000 Italian Americans call Cook County home and thousands more live in the suburbs, making Chicago among the 10 major cities with the most Italian Americans.

But marching alongside the city’s Italian Americans were people of many different ethnicities and cultures from all over the Chicagoland area: Irish bagpipers, Mexican folklore ballet dancers, and performers from Bolivia.

“The event was the best attended in the last 10 years,” says Louis Rago, the parade’s coordinator.

The parade, which is sponsored by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, has been in Chicago for the past 62 years. Rago has been in charge of the parade since 1980. The parade route has changed over the years, but this year returned to State Street where it had previously been for 25 years until the city changed it to Columbus Drive. “Walking down State Street made a huge difference,” says Anthony Baratta, national president of the Order Sons of Italy in America®. “The crowd of spectators was four deep.”

The day kicked off at 9:00 a.m. with a Mass at The Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Chicago, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the Columbus statue in Arrigo WINTER 2015 27 ITALIAN AMERICA

Park. This year’s parade boasted 35 floats, and 168 units of participants, between bands, vehicles, and clubs, according to Rago.

OSIA’s National President Anthony Baratta and First Lady Michele Longo led Chicago’s 2014 Columbus Day Parade.

Bystanders at the parade were extremely friendly. In years past, some Native American activists held up signs critical of Columbus, but this year, there was not one protester. “The theme of the 2014 parade was Italian Heroes of the Holocaust,” Rago says. During the Holocaust, 85% of the Jews in Italy, many of them refugees from other parts of Europe, were saved by the Vatican, the Italian government, and even ordinary citizens who hid them and provided them with false identity papers. In the rest of Europe, 85% of the Jews perished.

“We chose this theme because America is composed of so many different cultures, races, ethnic groups, it’s a mosaic,” Rago says. “So Columbus Day is not exclusively an Italian American holiday.” Rago welcomed all ethnic groups to the parade, and next year hopes to include even more.

Maryann Pisano is a write and reporter in Chicago. Contact her at maryannpisano1@gmail.com ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 27

News from National

WHAT NATIONAL DOES FOR YOU

OSIA Gold Membership Program The OSIA Gold Membership Program (GMP) is approaching its first anniversary. It was established at our Plenary Session in February 2014. The program was introduced by Past National President Paul S. Polo of Connecticut and supported

by OSIA First Vice President Joseph Russo of Massachusetts and Past National President Robert Messa of Pennsylvania.

OSIA Gold members receive all the traditional OSIA benefits in addition to a gold membership card inscribed with their date of membership and a gold lapel pin engraved with the OSIA name and logo. They also receive preferred invitations and seating at special events, including the Sons of Italy Foundation® annual National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala in Washington, D.C. The OSIA Gold Membership pin

Annual dues are $100.00. At the program’s launch, Polo signed up 45 members, who are now “Charter Members.” Recently, at a Grand Lodge of New York Plenary Session, New York State President Joe Rondinelli; NaPast OSIA National tional Fifth Vice President Nancy President Paul S. Polo Quinn; and National Financial of Connecticut Secretary Thom Lupo recruited twenty more members, bringing our total GMP number to 75. “We applaud their initiative and assistance, and we urge that enthusiasm to be replicated across OSIA, across the nation,” says Polo.

“We are respectfully requesting all OSIA state presidents to appoint a person in their states to help coordinate our Gold Member Program initiative,” says Polo. Information and promotional materials on the GMP are available through the national office in Washington, D.C. Contact Krystyne Hayes for assistance at 202/547 2900 or khayes@osia.org.

Heritage Contest Winner Anne Incalicchio was the lucky winner of a genealogy package, offered by the Sons of Italy® National Office last October. The package was the prize in a contest OSIA National held last fall as part of its drive to increase national At-Large Memberships (ALM). Memberships had to be bought online and could be either a renewal or a gift membership.

Incalicchio is not of Italian heritage but her husband, Mario is. So she bought him a gift at-large membership.

Her name was selected at random, winning her a “Five

Generations” package.

Now Mario’s Italian roots will be researched back five generations. He also will receive copies of records Anne and Mario Incalicchio and pictures from his ancestors’ villages when available. The genealogical firm, My Italian Family has donated the package. My Italian Family offers OSIA members a discount on all its services.

(See ad page 32.)

OSIA Family Album Updated

By Diane Crespy

In 2015, the Sons of Italy® will publish an update of its OSIA Album, first published in 2010. The album is a collection of personal stories, photographs, and biographical listings from OSIA members and supporters who want to share their Italian heritage and OSIA involvement.

It will be printed and sold as a limited edition in partnership with Harris Connect, LLC. The company invites OSIA members to submit material at no charge WINTER 2015

28

and will take the purchasing orders.

All copies must be pre-ordered.

Harris Connect is mailing information with details about submitting material and/or purchasing the album to all OSIA members.

The OSIA 2010 Album, pictured here, will be updated and released as the 2015 edition next year.

ITALIAN AMERICA

The Perfect Gift

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Looking for a unique present for family or friends? Give the gift of your rich Italian American heritage with a one-year subscription to Italian America magazine, the most widely read publication in the U.S. for people of Italian descent. We will contact your gift recipient telling him or her (or them) of your present. Fill out the form below and return to us ASAP.

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Letters to the Editor Thought your readers would like to know that the extensive records belonging to the Sons of Italy® that are archived at the Immigrant History Research Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis are being used. Laura Ciglioni, who is researching the image of Italy in the USA during the early 1960s, tapped these archives that the Order sent to the university a number of years ago. “These sources... proved crucial to understanding how Italian Americans and their organizations shaped perceptions of Italy at that time,” she is quoted as saying in the Immigration History Research Center’s winter 2015 newsletter.

Michelle Ames, Maryland A British website that has gone viral features an Italian chef struggling to pronounce “Worcestershire sauce” as people laugh in the background. It’s much easier to understand his difficulties with “Worcestershire” than it is to understand why so many English-speaking people cannot pronounce “bruschetta” correctly or why they insist that the plural of “panino” is “paninis” and spelled “prosciutto” as “proscuitto.”

Richard N. Juliani, Pennsylvania

WINTER 2015 29 ITALIAN AMERICA

Special Gift Ideas at Special OSIA Discounts!

Every issue of Italian America has a Shoppers Guide section at the back with products, trips, books and services aimed at Italiangift American consumers.

These Looking for special ideas with an Italian items andVisit services wonderful gifts asinwell accent? our make SHOPPER’S GUIDE thisas useful products for home and personal use.

issue on page 31.

We urge our readers to make the Shoppers Guide Also, see www.osia.org at the “Market their “go-to” directory when needing something for Place” section for discounts on Italian themselves, family and friends.

products and specialty items, including

Our advertisers support us. We hope our readers will Murano glass, fine stationery, kitchenware, support them. Also, when you order something, be art posters, books and more! sure to mention that you saw their ad in our magazine.

Some offer our readers a discount.

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 29

Italian America Italian America Magazine is produced by the national headquarters of the Order Sons of Italy in America®, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.

Tel: 202/547-2900.

Email: nationaloffice@osia.org OSIA National Executive Director Philip R. Piccigallo, Ph.D. Office Manager Andrea Beach Director of Development Diane Crespy Publications Editor Dona De Sanctis, Ph.D. Executive Assistant Krystyne Hayes Administrative Assistant Laura Kelly Italian America is the official publication of the Order Sons of Italy in America® (OSIA), the largest and longest-established organization of American men and women of Italian heritage.

Italian America provides timely information about OSIA, while reporting on individuals, institutions, issues, and events of current or historical significance in the Italian-American community nationwide.

Italian America (ISSN: 1089-5043, USPS: 015-735) is published quarterly in the winter, spring, summer and fall by OSIA, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. ©2015 Order Sons of Italy in America. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any method without permission of the editor is prohibited. Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily imply an opinion on the part of the officers, employees, or members of OSIA. Mention of a product or service in advertisements or text does not mean that it has been tested, approved or endorsed by OSIA, the Commission for Social Justice, or the Sons of Italy Foundation. Italian America accepts query letters and letters to the editor. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts.

Italian America assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Annual subscriptions are $20, which are included in dues for OSIA members. Single copies are $4.95 each.

OSIA MEMBERS: Please send address changes to your local lodge. Do not contact the OSIA National Office.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Italian America, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Subscriptions are available through the OSIA National Office, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. OSIA membership information is available at (800) 552-OSIA or at www.osia.org. Archives are maintained at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.

Printing by Printing Solutions Inc., Sterling, Va. To advertise: Call Pat Rosso at 215/206-4678 or email her at pieassociates2@att.net. Also see www.osia.org for advertising rates, specs, demographics, etc.

WINTER WINTER 2015 2014 30 30

By Anthony J. Baratta, National President Order Sons of Italy in America® Last October, we celebrated the rich cultural history of our Italian forebears. They came to this magnificent nation dreaming that they would and could build a better life for their children and families and they succeeded grandly. The estimated 18 to 26 million Americans of Italian heritage hold a respected and indispensable place in America. We have excelled in every field of endeavor, including law and justice, business, entertainment and the arts, education, engineering, science and sports. We could easily go on. The list is considerable.

But before our ancestors made that challenging journey, they were preceded by an intrepid and gifted sea captain: Christopher Columbus. So it was particularly disturbing to note that on Columbus Day 2014 the White House celebrated Leif Erickson Day. Why? Perhaps because in 1950, a map surfaced in Europe that shows the “Island of Vinland” in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.

The map’s text in Medieval Latin explains that Leif Erickson and his Vikings found Vinland in the year 1000 A.D. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., dated the map’s parchment to around 1434 A.D.–nearly 60 years before Columbus’ first voyage.

But when researchers at London’s University College used a laser technique to test the map’s ink, they found it contained a chemical substance called anatase, which was not synthesized until 1923, proving that the map is a forgery.

Did Columbus “discover” America? In every significant way, he did. Even if others might have visited the continent sporadically before he did, their voyages had no historical significance. Columbus’ voyages, however, marked the end of thousands of years of isolation between the Western Hemisphere and the rest of the world. The recorded history of the Americas and the Caribbean starts with Columbus.

In other words, when Columbus discovered America, it stayed discovered. It is for that reason that more than 500 years after his voyages, we continue to honor that visionary and fearless 15th century Italian navigator, Christopher Columbus.

In light of various efforts around the country to dismiss, disparage or remove Columbus Day from the pantheon of public holidays, we issue this clarion call: We respectfully disagree and we ask our fellow Italian Americans and others who understand and appreciate the historical role played by Columbus to stand beside us.

Visit the website www.SaveColumbusDay.com , which is being co-sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation, the Order Sons of Italy in America®, and other Italian American organizations. Soon we will post a petition there that we urge you to sign. It will call for the preservation of Columbus Day and insist that our elected officials respect our cultural heritage and the historical significance of Columbus’s great discovery.

Together we can do this! Let’s Save Columbus Day!

ITALIAN ITALIANAMERICA AMERICA

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Tony Fusco, MSFS, ChFC, AIF®

Every effort is made to meet or exceed the expectations of the individuals, families and businesses we serve. Our associates represent more than 110 collective years of experience.

505 Baltimore Avenue Towson, MD 21204 410.296.5400 • 800.810.6650 fuscofinancial.com

Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC ©2014 14-BRADE-0018 CM 2/14

WINTER 2015 31 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 31

Travel and Tours to Italy

WINTER 2015

32

ITALIAN AMERICA

Five unique tours from the industry expert

APRIL 2 OR OCTOBER 23

ROME • FLORENCE • MONTECATINI TERME • LUCCA PISA • SIENA • TIVOLI • FRASCATI

MAY 1, JULY 6 OR OCTOBER 2

BARI • SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO • POLIGNANO A MARE MATERA • NAPLES • CAPRI • ANACAPRI

SEPTEMBER 25

NAPLES • SORRENTO • CAPRI • ANACAPRI • POMPEI • ROME • ASSISI • FLORENCE • PISA RAPALLO • SANTA MARGHARITA • PORTOFINO • MONTE CARLO • GENOA

SEPTEMBER 26

ROME • FLORENCE • MONTECATINI TERME • LUCCA • PISA • SIENA BOLOGNA • MONTEPULCIANO • PIENZA • CINQUE TERRE • FLORENCE

JUNE 12 OR OCTOBER 9

PALERMO • MONREALE • CEFALU • AGRIGENTO CATANIA • RAGUSA • MT. ETNA • TAORMINA

For additional information contact:

Marianna Pisano

Mpisano@unitours.com 1-800-777-7432 or visit: www.Unitours.com

WINTER 2015 33 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 33

25% Off Your Entire Purchase Coupon Code: PAG3 Exclusively for orders placed at www.lakevalleyseed.com

Family owned for 100 years GARDEN SEEDS FROM ITALY Non-GMO and Untreated

Problems With Your Magazine?

Italian America magazine is produced by the Sons of Italy’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Every month, the national office receives letters, phone calls and emails from readers who are not receiving their magazine. “The reasons are varied, but the solutions are simple,” says Editor-in-Chief Dona De Sanctis. “Simply follow the instructions below and the problem will be solved,” she says.

So….if you are: A LODGE MEMBER: You can only verify, correct or change your address through your local lodge.

Please do not contact the national office. It cannot accept address changes.

A LODGE PRESIDENT: To ensure that all new and renewing members of your lodge get their magazines and that former or non-paying members do not get it for free, you must send updated member rosters to your Grand Lodge on a regular basis. Check with your Grand Lodge to find out its deadlines.

A GRAND OR SUBORDINATE LODGE REPRESENTATIVE: Please update your rosters with ABR Services every three months according to these deadlines: Mar. 1, June 1, Sept. 1, and Dec. 1. Refer to the instructions previously emailed to you.

If you have any questions, please contact Diane Crespy at dcrespy@osia.org or 202/547-2900.

OSIA Member A SUBSCRIBER OR NATIONAL AT-LARGE MEMBER ONLY: Please send address changes to the OSIA National Benefits Office; Attn:&Address change; 219 E Street NE; Washington, DC 20002.

Discounts

OSIA Member Benefits & Discounts - see more on www.osia.org!

Vendor ANICO Avis Budget

Description/Product term life rental car discount rental car discount

Chubb

accidental death & dismemberment insurance crusies…only insurance products for students / recent graduates health screenings long term care insurance long term care insurance group auto and home insurance ID theft / data protection prescription savings card guaranteed whole life insurance

Cruises Only GradGuard LifeLine LTC-Resources LTC-Global Met Life Met Life Defender Met Life Rx Met Life Whole Life Motel 6 Office Depot (card) Red Roof Inn Sears Commercial

www.cruisesonly.com/# www.gradguard.com?refCode=ital0001 www.lifelinescreening.com/osia www.ltcr.com/osia/ www.completelongtermcare.com/quote-osia.aspx www.metlife.com/group-auto/osia/index.html#auto www.metlifedefender.com/campaign/C0711 www.medvana.com/osia www.metlifegiwl.com/C0525

hotel discounts office product discounts

See www.osia.org Members Only Community for direct link. osia.ctcshares.com/

hotel discounts online shopping discounts

www.redroof.com/partners/osia/ to register, email full name and address to benefitsmanager@osiabenefits.org See www.osia.org Members Only Community for direct link. www.selman.cc/sitelet/index.cfm/osia www.osiavacations.org www.petinsurance.com/afi/o/order_sons_of_italy_in_america. aspx See www.osia.org Members Only Community for direct link.

TNT Vacations Transamerica Vacation Center VPI

vacation/travel discounts Medicare supplement insurance travel discounts pet insurance

Wyndham

hotel discounts

WINTER 2015

Website www.anicodirect.com//osigbl www.avis.com/car-rental/profile/go.ac?B291025 www.budgetcarrental.com/budget/assoc/index.html?

R198125 www.selman.cc/sitelet/index.cfm/osia

34

See more on www.osia.org!

Promo Code n/a B291025 R198125 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a C0711 n/a C0525 CP565776 n/a 614746 varies OSIA n/a n/a n/a 1000008135

ITALIAN AMERICA

On The Bookshelf Books by and about Italian Americans

Grafica della Strada: THE SIGNS OF ITALY —

Quattro Parole Italiane Notecards

Holy Fool, Holy Father A novel by Fr. Nick Marziani

% GEXEGP]WQMG IZIRX XLVIEXIRW 'LVMWXMERMX] ;LS [MPP LIPT XLI 4STI WEZI XLI [SVPH# -R ,EVH GST] ERH /MRHPI XLVSYKL %QE^SR GSQ SV GSR XEGX

9LVLW XV DW ZZZ KRO\IRROKRO\IDWK HUWKHQRYHO FRP

REMINDER Order your books through OSIA and Amazon.com. Just go to www.osia. org, click on “Sons of Italy Book Club” and choose either a Book Club selection or another book. Orders are shipped within 24 hours. As a special bonus, Amazon.com will donate a percentage of book sales ordered on our site to OSIA.

WINTER 2015 35 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA WINTER 2015 35

Love. Faith . Family.

AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK AND e BOOK From New York Times Bestselling Author

ADRIANA TRIGIANI

www.adrianatrigiani.com Facebook.com/AdrianaTrigiani

For36a signed WINTER 2015

bookplate, email adrianaasst@aol.com.

ITALIAN AMERICA

THINK OUTSIDE T HE BOT TL E FIND THIS AND OTHER INNOVATIVE RECIPES USING OUR EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL ON COLAVITA.COM

a truste ami ran WINTER 2015

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facebook.com/ColavitaOliveOil

pinterest.com/ColavitaEvoo

youtube.com/ColavitaOliveOil ITALIAN AMERICA

FROM WRITER/DIRECTOR ADRIANA TRIGIANI AND BASED UPON HER BESTSELLING NOVEL

STARRING Ashley Judd Patrick Wilson Whoopi Goldberg John Benjamin Hickey Anthony LaPaglia Jenna Elfman Jane Krakowski Judith Ivey Mary Pat Gleason Dagmara Dominczyk Mary Testa Paul Wilson Chris Sarandon and Jasmine Guy

COMING SOON www.adrianatrigiani.com Facebook.com/AdrianaTrigiani @AdrianaTrigiani WINTER 2015 38

ITALIAN AMERICA