Dear Readers,
October, official or not, will always be Italian Heritage Month in the hearts of Italian-Americans throughout the United States of America.
Back in the days when Readers sent their “Italian Connections” to me via “snail mail,” Signora Madeline C. of Utah wrote it was Fortunato Anselmo, a gentleman with “roots” in Calabria (province of Cosenza) that was responsible for establishing Columbus Day as a National Holiday after WWII.
I remember Fortunato as a warm, congenial friend who was very debonair and intelligent, and the warm friendship he, his wife Anna and their daughters Emma, Gilda, and Annetta, extended to me and my family.
I remember the dolci they had for me….the almond cookies, wrapped in colored paper, the confetti… I still remember the smelly dried cod fish Mamma would purchase every Christmas from Fortunato’s import store. I also remember the saporito dish that stinky fish provided every Christmas eve.
Fortunato Anselmo, the Italian consul to Utah and Wyoming, was responsible for the national holiday! It was Mr. Anselmo who lobbied the Legislature to establish the Utah holiday in 1919.
He faithfully spent years pursuing his dream of encouraging Congress to create the national holiday we celebrate now. His efforts came to fruition over three decades later, in 1971. He was honored for his contribution by Utah’s then-Senator Frank Moss’ entry in the Congressional Record, on October 11, 1971:
“Fortunato Anselmo, over 60 years ago, fully understood the great contribution that Columbus has made to the world. Through Mr. Anselmo’s efforts, Utah became one of the first states to declare a state holiday in honor of Columbus. Mr. Anselmo’s efforts did not stop there. He turned his attention to getting a national holiday…and for the next 30 years, this was diligently pursued.”
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If you are ever in Salt Lake City, check out the large Victorian mansion on 164 So. 900 East St. The Italian Olympic Team of 1933 slept there. So did Italian heavyweight champion Primo Carnera and Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, the man who later became Pope Pius XII. Fortunato Anselmo used the home as his base for a 30-year quest to persuade Congress to create a national holiday honoring Columbus. Mr. Anselmo was a unique figure in Salt Lake City and Utah in the early part of the century. He came there in 1913 to engage in the wholesale food importing business after emigrating from his native Italy to Colorado in 1901.
In 1914 he was the founder, publisher and editor of La Gazzetta Italiana, an Italian language newspaper. He sold the paper in 1915 when appointed Italian vice-consul for Utah and Wyoming. Mr. Anselmo’s friendship with several Utah governors, senators and other state and national figures was a key to his long campaign to enshrine Columbus Day for all Americans.
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In the early 1900s, the chief industry in Utah was mining. And while the Mormons may have come to Utah for religious freedom, the Italians (many from Calabria) came to work in the mines of Utah. Mr. Anselmo spent much of his time in the shanties of Salt Lake City’s west side, helping supply food, medicine and companionship to Italian immigrants and others.
After World War II, Mr. Anselmo sent 647 bundles of clothing, shoes and food to his devastated birthplace, Grimaldi, in the Italian province of Cosenza.
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The United States Postal Service first honored Columbus with a stamp as early as 1869. They have issued 30 stamps in his honor since and pulled out all the stops in 1992, the 500th Anniversary of Columbus’ voyage of discovery. The US Postal Service issued 4 commemorative stamps and arranged to have the Italian Postal Service issue the same 4 stamps in Italian for the Quincentennial Columbus New World of Discovery Celebration. The four commemorative stamps were also issued in Spain and Portugal. Unfortunately, the big 1992 Quincentennial celebration became sort of the “last hurrah” for Columbus.
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Dear Readers,
here is some Trivia for you:
1. In what country was Columbus born?
2. Which country did Columbus ask first to finance his trip?
3. At what time was the “New World” discovered?
4. Name the three ships Columbus took on his first voyage.
5. What date did Columbus leave Spain for the “West Indies”?
6, What was the total number of voyages Columbus made from Spain to the “New World”?
8. What new product did Columbus find in the “New World”?
9. Who gave Columbus the money for his first voyage?
Answers
- Italy
- Portugal
- 2:00a.m.
- Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria
- Aug. 3, 1492
- 4
- Tobacco
- King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
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