St. Francis statue arrives to replace Christopher Columbus at Piazza Italia Park
Workers from Greco Construction ensured mounting bolts and holes on the statue’s base and pedestal matched up. A worker used a pallet jack to move the 6-foot-tall figure from the Francesco di Paola Catholic Church Garden to the park. The crane operator shifted gears to hoist the sculpture upon the 5-foot-tall base. With two hands, a site manager g...
Podcast: Galveston, Texas and Italian immigration
Italians have a long history in Texas. The earliest Italians arrived during the years of Spanish exploration. 300 years before ports opened up along the Texas coast. Although they did not settle, these explorers arrived in Texas with Spaniard Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541. Italian settlers first arrived in the late 1700s as merchants. Settl...
Fort Bend library program will focus on Rome and the Roman Empire
Fort Bend County Libraries’ “Ancient Civilizations Art & Architectures” series continues this summer with an educational program on Rome and the Roman Empire on Saturday, July 1, from 2-4 p.m., in the Meeting Room of the Sugar Land Branch Library, located at 550 Eldridge. In this segment of the series, architecture professor Sheba Akhtar will talk...
Monuments Men and Women Foundation returns rare document to Italy with support from Odessans
The Monuments Men and Women Foundation recently restituted a papal bull issued by Pope Pius IX and turned over custody of the rare document to Italian officials. Odessans Sondra and Toby Eoff generously helped underwrite the restitution costs. The papal bull, an official decree issued by the Vatican, was signed by Pope Pius IX in 1862. It establish...
Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans, Louisiana
CONSTRUCTED IN 1978, THE PIAZZA d’Italia in New Orleans’ Warehouse district has seen both boom and bust. Originally designed as part of an urban revitalization project under New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, the entire block was reimagined, though only a portion of the plans were realized. The Piazza was completed in 1978 as a surprise space in the...
Louis Prima and the Sicilian Sound
The atmosphere was electric at Union Station. Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians (a.k.a. Lombardo’s brothers: Carmen, Victor, and Lambert—the band was a family affair) were touring to New Orleans for the first time, for a two-week engagement, and on May 3, 1934, a throng of welcomers assembled in anticipation of their train’s arrival. Despite bei...
Interested in Italian history? Learn more at lecture series in Metairie
A series of lectures on the early history of Italy, by Cyril M. Lagvanec, Ph.D., the curator of the American-Italian Research Library , will take place during June, July and August. Each lecture occurs at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. Each begins at 7 p.m. June 5 — In the first lecture, Lagvanec will focus on the...
Photographer Valerio Geraci in Arkansas
The museum was happy to host researcher and photographer Valerio Geraci originally from Palermo, Italy, now residing in Paris, France. Valerio arrived in America and began his travels through the south documenting Italian communities for his book, starting in Little Italy, AR and then from Tontitown he journeyed to Lake Village, AR and onwards out...
Volunteers getting ready for Italian Festival
Live music, vender booths and lots of Italian food are being readied as volunteers worked to finalize preparations for the 51st McAlester Italian Festival. It's set for Friday, May 12, and Saturday, May 13, at the Southeast Expo Center, with free admission to the festival and vender booth sites. Once again this year, there will be no festival on Su...
First Annual Festa Italiana in Historic Downtown Bryan, Texas!
As Mayor Bobby Gutierrez likes to say, “Leave Bryan better than you found it,” and the local Italian community in Bryan, Texas, is doing just that! Owner of Zeitman’s Grocery, Blake Zeitman, is helping plan the first annual Festa Italiana, a food and heritage festival celebrating Bryan’s rich Italian culture. In the late 1880s, Italian-owned busi...
April 1862, when the Italian Brigade saved New Orleans
During April 25th to May 1st of 1862, the Italian Brigade of New Orleans which consisted of former Italian Soldiers was chosen to police the city of New Orleans during the transition to the Union occupation. During that week, Algiers was looted and burned. The Italian Brigade kept order in the French Quarter. The Italian Brigade of New Orleans in 1...
IAP 276: confederates in the famiglia? An Italian Aamerican family mystery
An Italian American with Confederates in the famiglia? The branches of our family trees often contain mysteries and secrets that are lost until future generations decide to investigate them. This is precisely the case with this week’s episode as we talk with Joe Elia, one of the delegates to the inaugural Italian American Future Leaders Conference....