OUR STORY
ITALIAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
A Roma! OSDIA Establishes First Lodge in Italy Last February, the Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America (OSDIA) proudly installed its first lodge in Italy: the Capitolo di Roma Lodge #3002. After 115 years of existence, the OSDIA presented the lodge’s founder, Carmelo Cutuli, and its 25 members with the very first charter for a lodge outside of the United States and Canada. The Capitolo di Roma Lodge is made up of members all across Italy—Sicily to Lombardy, Apulia to Lazio—and is located in Rome, close to Piazza Barberini along Via Veneto. “I went on OSDIA’s website,” Cutuli said, “and when I read the story, I found me. People like Vincenzo Sellaro from Palermo.” Like OSDIA Founder Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro, Cutuli was also born in Sicily, hailing from the city of Catania. He now lives in Rome and was searching for a club that would facilitate connections and projects between Italy and the United States. Having been an At-Large Member in the past, OSDIA came to the forefront of his mind. He contacted OSDIA’s National Office and worked closely with the Membership Committee and its Co-Chair Dr. Mark DeNunzio to form the first-ever lodge in Italy. “This is a landmark moment in the Order’s 115-year history,” said OSDIA National President Nancy DiFiore Quinn. “It’s with the utmost pride that we have installed the first lodge in the country where our ancestors came from.” In just a short time, the Capitolo di Roma Lodge has already made its mark. It initiated its first honorary
Clarissa Burt is presented with Capitolo di Roma’s Honorary Member Certificate by (L. to R.) Claudio Frasca, Secretary; Carmelo Cutuli, Founder and President; and Paolo Quattrocchi, Co-founder and Trustee. member, Clarissa Burt, an American model and actress well-known throughout Italy. In addition to this, the lodge has also received several commendations celebrating its establishment, including official letters from the Sicilian Regional Government and The Italian Association for the European Council of Municipalities and Regions (AICCRE). The lodge also created a podcast to commemorate the inaugural “Dante Day” on March 25, 2020. Though the coronavirus outbreak has made its first few months more difficult for the lodge, Cutuli embraces their good fortune for having been installed prior to the pandemic. He insists that with “the same spirit as Vincenzo Sellaro” the lodge will transcend. “We have the Italian DNA, the capacity to overcome,” he said. “I feel this spirit, and this is the reason I am in OSDIA. OSDIA is an organization with a soul. Italian soul.”
The members of Capitolo di Roma Lodge #3002. SUMMER 2020
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Capitolo di Roma’s charter is the first for a lodge outside of the U.S. and Canada. ITALIAN AMERICA
