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Luigi Del Bianco's name should be as familiar to you as that of Gutzon Borglum, Douglas Gladstone says, and the reason it's not is clear to him. Bigotry.   Del Bianco, master carver during the Mount Rushmore National Monument's construction, was an Italian immigrant when that nationality was belittled in the United States, particularly...

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Family members and supporters of an Italian immigrant seeking more recognition for his role in the carving of Mount Rushmore National Memorial have been unable to persuade the National Park Service to honor him as chief carver.   "They want to lump him in with the rest of the workers," said Gloria Del Bianco, 68, of Los Angeles, the only sur...

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There are many ways to analyze the contribution of the Italian Americans to the society, the economy, the culture, the greatness of the United States. One of these ways is celebrating those who have given their talent and their hard work to build monuments known and loved by every American, and not only by the Americans. There's an Italian who con...

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A new book, Carving a Niche for Himself; The Untold Story of Luigi Del Bianco and Mount Rushmore, chronicles the life of former Port Chester resident Luigi Del Bianco, who was the chief carver of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. His story had largely been forgotten until author Douglas J. Gladstone unearthed it in his book.   And now, N...

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Set in stone is supposed to mean immutable, but Luigi Del Bianco's determined descendants just now appear to be winning the official affirmation that the Italian-American from Westchester County deserved long ago for shaping one of the nation's most famous monuments.   "If being the chief carver at Mount Rushmore is not the American dream fo...

2005

by Douglas Gladstone   Mount Rushmore finally acknowledges Luigi Del Bianco. It's a start. Since this year marks the 75th anniversary of the completion of Mount Rushmore, the staff has been posting short bios of the workers on their Facebook page. After 25 years, the National Park Service has finally acknowledged that Luigi Del Bianco w...

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by Douglas J. Gladstone   For more than seven decades, the name of Luigi Del Bianco had gone unnoticed by historians chronicling the creation of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Not anymore. The United States Department of the Interior's National Park Service (NPS), which is the federal agency charged with supervising and admi...

1960

by Douglas J. Gladstone Dear Mr. President,I am writing you not as an author whose book the National Park Service (NPS) refuses to sell in its gift shops, but as a proponent of multiculturalism and pluralism. My book, Carving A Niche For Himself: The Untold Story of Luigi Del Bianco and Mount Rushmore (Bordighera Press, 2014) tells the true s...

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A harpsichord that entertained the elites of Italy in the mid-1500s has been restored by a South Dakota museum and will soon bring its sound to 21st-century ears. The National Music Museum in Vermilion, which acquired the instrument in 2009, worked with Chilean-born musician Catalina Vicens, who specializes in historical keyboards and percussi...

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By Jim Holland Running a successful restaurant, Michelle Peregrine believes, is like planning a party at your house every day. "It's a lot of details," said Peregrine, who knows quite well about pulling off such festive events as owner and manager of Botticelli's Ristorante Italiano in downtown Rapid City for the past 16 years.   "If you c...

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