Passport Service in Minneapolis April 19-20
A representative from the Italian Consulate in Chicago will be at the Italian Cultural Center in Minneapolis on April 19 & 20 to facilitate the issuance of biometric passports for Italian citizens residing in Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Northern Iowa and Western Wisconsin. Visits are by appointment only. This visit offers the convenience of...
Romanucci & Blandin Senior Partner Frank A. Sommario and Partner Bruno R. Marasso present $20,000 from the Justinian’s 20th annual Children's Endowment Fund
The Justinian Society of Lawyers held its 20th annual Children’s Endowment Fund (CEF) Grant Reception on March 17, 2022. Justinian 1st Vice President Bruno R. Marasso and Justinian Society’s Endowment Fund Chairman Frank A. Sommario presented a $10,000 grant to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago and a $10,000 grant to CASA Kan...
Columbus Historical Society receives Italian artwork for upcoming exhibition
At the Columbus Historical Society Friday morning, David Terry lifts the plaster maquette, or small rendition used for a larger piece, of what would be the Christopher Columbus statue that stood at Columbus City Hall. Around Terry are fellow volunteers, from center left, Mike Frush, Rich Gomez and Jody Maclean. Created by Italian sculptor Eduardo A...
A half a century later …
Fifty is a nice round number and since I possess a 1972 Greater Roseland Area Directory and a 1972 Calumet Index Ninth Edition Greater Roseland Area Annual Yearbook, I thought it would be great if we could review what was happening 50 years ago. Roseland’s service organizations were the main topic of the Annual Yearbook. As we’re all aware, Roselan...
Signora Angela Piazza at the Consulate of Italy in Detroit
During the month of March, the Italian Consulate in Detroit has been recognizing the accomplishments of Italian women. Among the great women being celebrated is Angela Piazza, an important figure in Detroit Consular history! March 15 was Angela’s work anniversary: for over four decades she has been an essential part of the Consulate of Italy in D...
Holy Week at Mt. Carmel, Pompeii
Holy Week is central to the spiritual lives of Italians on both sides of the Atlantic. The Parish of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii will play their parts from Palm Sunday (April 10) to Easter Sunday (April 17). THE PARISH OF OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL (Melrose Park) will celebrate Mass with the distribution of palms at 7:4...
Florence Scala took on City Hall and fought for Little Italy and a ‘gutsy’ Chicago
There was no lack of possible motives when Florence Scala’s home at 1030 W. Taylor St. was twice bombed in 1962. She thought that workaday folks should have a say in political decisions affecting them, and speaking truth to power can be dicey in Chicago. The crime was never solved, but physical evidence revealed a link to another bombing. The type...
Consul Allegra Baistrocchi at the Michigan Opportunity Podcast
Consul of Italy in Detroit Paola Allegra Baistrocchi recently participated in the podcast “The Michigan Opportunity” presented by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Host Ed Clemente, himself Italian-American of Abruzzese heritage, posed questions about the history of the Consulate in Detroit (did you know there has been a Consular Anten...
A taste of Cincinnati history with Art Fusaro on his 101st birthday
The invitation came through email. Would you like to have lunch with Art Fusaro, a lifelong Cincinnatian, on his 101st birthday, March 14? Why, certainly. What local history buff could pass that up? Art greeted me in the lobby at the Kenwood retirement community in Madisonville, where he lives in the Bluffs, the independent living apartments on the...
Mount Carmel School demolished after 58 years of educating students
City Council President John Roskovics was overcome with memories Friday of school days at Mount Carmel School. The school, built in 1954, and closed in 2012, is being demolished this week by Capp Steele. Roskovics is just one of many students who went on to live a heritage of Catholic faith and scholarship. “I learned to read and write there weari...
Army Technical Sergeant Alex Fosco
The oldest of five children and only son, Alex Fosco was born on Sept. 19, 1925, in Chicago to Alex and Mary Vespa Fosco. The family lived in the Italian neighborhood at Taylor and Halsted streets. Fosco’s father was born in France, but his family was originally from Pizzone, Italy. Fosco enjoyed spending time with his extended family, especially...
Leader of Italian American group demands apology from Lightfoot over crude remarks alleged in lawsuit
A civic leader is demanding that Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologize for the obscene and derogatory remarks a lawsuit alleges she made about Italian Americans during a phone call to discuss the statue of Christopher Columbus removed from Arrigo Park. That statue was taken away on Lightfoot’s orders in 2020 after it became the target of protests and vand...