Culture

So far, I have spent much time describing what I have called the first ‘key’ in finding our immigrant ancestry: how to determine an ancestor’s name as it may have been given in a variety of records.  Having identified the …

Questo 70° anniversario della Liberazione dell’Aquila cade in un momento particolare della nostra storia civile, con una città che dopo cinque anni è pienamente impegnata nella propria ricostruzione.   Una ricostruzione – mi si perdoni il paragone irriverente – che …

Per la ricorrenza dei 70 anni delle stragi di Filetto ed Onna e della liberazione della città dell’Aquila dall’invasione nazista, c’è un ricco programma di eventi preparato dal Comune dell’Aquila.    “Non c’è nessuna strada facile per la libertà”, una …

Every two years, on even years, the Venice Biennale of Architecture takes place in Venice in two beautiful locations, the “Giardini” and the “Corderie dell’Arsenale”.  The same organization produces the well-known Venice Film Festival and the Venice Biennale, a contemporary …

Dear Readers, In June many saintly celestial superstars are venerated and celebrated. In Italy and in Italian American homes the “onomastico” or Name Day, is often cause for a party and celebration. Many of the favorite people in my life …

Wedged between the Regola and Parione districts, Campo de’ Fiori features Rome’s most spectacular flower market. Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian painter whose name adorns an apartment house on nearby Via di San Salvatore, called it “a symphony of color.” Each …

Imagine a game that can be played with one hand while holding an espresso or glass of wine in the other.  Imported by Italian immigrants to the U.S. in the 19th century, bocce ball is the ideal leisure sport for …

Dear Readers, Festa della Repubblica, simply stated, commemorates June 2, 1946, the date the Italian people were asked to VOTE in a referendum and choose between a Republican form of government or a return to the Monarchy.  Here is a …

Dear Readers, California, we didn’t discover it we just enriched it, this is what I wrote during the Columbian Quintcentennial when descendants of “Indigenous Peoples” and kindred spirits began hurling slings and arrows at our Italian Heritage and with the …

From third century B.C. Syracuse, Sicily, the long and winding journey of the oldest surviving copy of Archimedes’ treatises ended up in twenty-first century California.   There are only a few days left to visit the exhibition “Lost and Found: The …