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Guy Cardarelli and his twin sister, Judy Ann, were born in Chicago in 1935 to Guido and Marie Mele Cardarelli. They lived behind the family grocery store/meat market on 5th Street and Kedzie Avenue. Cardarelli’s father immigrated from Morrovalle, Italy, and his mother’s family from Castelvetere in Campania. His father passed away shortly before Car...

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A Christopher Columbus statue on Chicago's South Side that was left standing after two other Columbus statues were removed last week may yet be taken down, a City Council member says. Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski Garza told the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday that she has been talking to city officials about removing the statue that stands in an intersec...

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Pedestals in two Chicago parks that once held up statues of Christopher Columbus have stood empty since last week. Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered their temporary removal following protests that turned violent. Now, activists are hoping to make their removal permanent.  The mayor’s action has been condemned by some as capitulation to mob rule, but the...

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Portillo's will soon start delivering Chicago-style favorites using its own service, the company announced this week. The Chicago-based hot dog and Italian beef chain said it plans to launch its own "self-delivery program" and hire hundreds of drivers across the company to deliver orders made through Portillo's website and app. Several delivery dri...

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Italian Americans came out in force in Little Italy Sunday in a show of solidarity following the removal of two Christopher Columbus statues in the city. Demonstrators said what they want moving forward is a seat at the table when it comes to figuring out what the future holds for those statues. “This is our history so much history so many memories...

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Did Chicago sleep better Thursday night after the Christopher Columbus statues were taken down? One group of Chicagoans did not. In fact, one very close-knit community has been hurt — badly. The Italian American community, which, along with Chicago, had a symbol of its resilience removed. More correctly, dismantled and hauled away. Upon comin...

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We are outraged by Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s dead of night abduction of two prominent statues of Columbus, the great explorer. In her attempt to cancel history, she has snuffed out a deeply-rooted public expression of Italian American identity, culture, and pride. Italian Americans conceived these two statues, funded them, built, and gifted them to...

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A sense of deep “hurt” and confusion swept through the city’s Italian American community Friday, hours after the removal of two Christopher Columbus statues in the dark of night. “Are we happy about it? Absolutely not. As a community, we are extremely hurt,” said Sergio Giangrande, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, which...

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The city’s controversial Christopher Columbus statues will likely be removed soon, officials said. The statues in Grant Park and Little Italy have been the subject of high-profile protests in recent weeks — including one Friday in Grant Park where police and protesters violently clashed, leaving dozens of people injured. At that protest, people sca...

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It’s surely not fashionable or politically correct to say so, but I’ve long admired the Grant Park statue of Christopher Columbus that protesters unsuccessfully tried to topple last week. The statue is just one example of how the controversial Italian explorer is as deeply embedded in American culture as such Founding Fathers as Benjamin Franklin....

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