Italian Consul General visits New Mexico to strengthen cultural and scientific ties
In recent days, Italian Consul General in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini, made her first official visit to New Mexico, accompanied by Emanuele Amendola, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute. Consul General Valentini expressed her gratitude to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for hosting a “fantastic reception” at the Governor’s Ma...
From Italy to Arkansas, the buried archives unearthed in film
America is a melting pot of people — and today — more than one million Italian Americans can trace their history back to colonization in Arkansas. That’s according to historians with the Italians of Sunnyside. On this Independence Day, many are happy to call the natural state home — but they haven’t always felt so free. Anthony Borgognoni — raised...
Festa della Repubblica celebrated in Texas
On June 2, 2025, the Consulate General of Italy in Houston celebrated the 79th Anniversary of the Italian Republic with an official ceremony— a special occasion to honor Italian roots and culture. On this occasion, Houston Mayor John Whitmire issued a proclamation, presented by Council Member Mary Nan Huffman and Mayor's Office of Trade and Interna...
Cabrini High celebrates ties to Popes Leo XIII and XIV
When Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8, Cabrini High School excitedly began reflecting on possible ties the city and the high school might have to the new pontiff. The first thing that caught the attention of teachers was that Pope Leo gave his first official address in Spanish and Italian, and his main theme was about immigration. St. Frances Xavi...
Pope Leo’s New Orleans Italian Ancestry
Much is being written and on TV about Pope Leo's connection to New Orleans. Little is being noted that one of his maternal great-great-grandfathers, Giacomo Martino, was born in 1806 in San Remo Italy. Louisiana-Italians are celebrating this connection to the Vatican. Giacomo Martino’s name became Jacques Martinez in the 1820s after he arrived i...
City of McAlester hosts 53rd Annual Italian Festival
The City of McAlester hosted the 53rd annual Italian Festival at the Southeast Expo Center last weekend. The event, held since 1971, celebrates the heritage of Italian immigrants who settled in southeastern Oklahoma during its coal-mining era in the 1870s. The Festival featured everything from car shows to carnival rides and contests, as well as t...
Weaving History – Knights In Shining Armor: The Pavia Tapestries, At The Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston
Immersive experiences are nothing new. Commemorating a battle that took place half a millennium ago, the seven panels that comprise the Pavia Tapestries — each of which is 13 feet high; taken together, the tapestries are nearly 200 feet long — have a kind of endlessness about them. Thousands of figures populate the tapestries (I dare you to find an...
Oklahoma's 'Little Italy' Is A Historic City With Rich Cultural Heritage And Delectable Restaurants
Oklahoma probably isn't the first place that comes to mind when you think of Italian food. When people think of top-tier pasta and red sauce joints, heavyweights like New York City (Manhattan's Little Italy, anyone?), Boston, or even San Diego usually steal the spotlight. But little do most folks know, a tiny town in the Sooner State is serving up...
Poggioreale in America Reunion Celebrates Heritage in New Orleans
Hundreds of descendants of Poggioreale, Sicily, gathered in New Orleans for the Poggioreale in America, Inc. (PIA) reunion—an emotional, joyful celebration of ancestry, culture, community and food that drew participants from across the United States and beyond. The reunion took place at two of New Orleans' restaurants—Briquette and Creole Cookery—w...
Italian-American parade rolls in New Orleans
People filled the streets to see decorated floats covered in green, red, and white roll during the 53rd Annual Italian-American parade. The goal of the parade is to celebrate Italian heritage. In the 19th and 20th Centuries, many Italians settled in the French Quarter. "A lot of them were able to buy those properties and still owned today by Itali...
St. Joseph's Day celebrated in New Orleans
Each year on March 19th, Catholics in the New Orleans area celebrate St. Joseph’s Day by constructing altars honoring the relief St. Joseph provided during a famine in Sicily. The tradition began in the late 1800s when the city of New Orleans saw a large influx of Sicilian immigrants. Peter Gilberte, President of the Italian American St. Joseph Soc...
Eye-popping St. Joseph altars are a Sicilian tradition in New Orleans from the 1800s
The Sicilian tradition recalls a drought in the late 1800s that left people starving. They prayed for the intercession of St. Joseph. After the rains came, to show their gratitude to him, they prepared a table with a special assortment of foods they had harvested. The food then was distributed to the less fortunate. That tradition, which comprises...