Calabretta-Sajder Publishes a New Book on Italian American Media
Ryan Calabretta-Sajder, assistant professor of Italian, recently co-edited Italian Americans on Screen: Challenging the Past, Re-Theorizing the Future, with Alan Gravano (Lexington Books, 2021). The edited collection reconsiders Robert Casillo's definition of Italian-American cinema as "appl[ying] to works by Italian-American directors who treat It...
Festival celebrates a little bit of Italy in Galveston County
The Dickinson Little Italy Festival of Galveston County aims to celebrate and honor contributions, culture and history of Italian immigrants and settlers in Galveston county for the past 100 years. A procession kicked off the festivities starting near Dickinson Bayou and ending at the St. Joseph Altar just south of the Water Grove Event Venue. The...
Out of the Dark Wood: Dante's Relevance for Our Time
Thu, March 25, 2021. 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM CDT. The Italian Cultural & Community Center, 1101 Milford St, Houston, TX 77006. Tickets here. March 25th - also known as Dantedí - is the national day to commemorate Dante and the beginning of his journey to the afterlife in the Divine Comedy. 2021 also marks the 700th anniversary of the poet's death. This l...
These 21 beautiful St. Joseph's altars in the New Orleans area will keep the tradition safe
They've been a tradition since the late 1800s, when Sicilian immigrants settled in New Orleans, and they're still going on, pandemic aside. Elaborate St. Joseph's Altars are unveiled every March 19, as Catholics mark the feast day of the saint who provided relief during a famine in Sicily. There are some changes: Fewer meals will be served, and mas...
This Week in History: 1891: Vigilantes shoot and lynch 11 Italians in New Orleans
On Oct. 15, 1890, New Orleans police chief David Hennessey was shot as he was walking home late at night. Hennessey returned fire, but was mortally wounded. When police captain William O’Connor asked him, “Who gave it to you, Dave?” Hennessey whispered “dagoes,” a racist term for Italians. “ASSASSINATED,” read the front-page headline on the New Orl...
St. Joseph's Day parade and gala are called off again as club waits out year 2 of coronavirus
The Italian American St. Joseph Society parade and gala are canceled this year, as mass gatherings are prohibited under coronavirus regulations, the society announced this week. It's the second year the events have been called off due to the pandemic. The 51-year-old organization plans the parade through the French Quarter every year, and follows i...
Organizers cancel Italian Festival; making plans for 2022
Organizers of the annual Italian Festival in McAlester say they have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 event — but they plan to come back stronger than ever in 2022 to celebrate a major milestone. This marks the second year in a row the Italian Festival has been canceled due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. "We've had sever...
Another victim of the coronavirus; St. Joseph's altar at Immaculate Conception church canceled
Volunteers who have been building a St. Joseph’s Altar at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church for more than two decades recently announced that this year’s celebration honoring St. Joseph has been canceled due to continuing concerns about the possible spread of the coronavirus. Rosie Moak, who has chaired the erection of the altar and the ext...
The Italian of Sunnyside Plantation Lake Village in Arkansas
For 125 years, the Italian of Sunnyside Plantation Lake Village in Arkansas aka Delta Italians~Italians of Sunnyside have been having an annual spaghetti dinner. ... With Covid that meant a drive-through for 2,000 this year with 4 tables of 8 being allowed inside the gym. Guiness World Record 's should have been there. Salad and dessert included. S...
Louis Prima: Profiles in Jazz
Throughout his long career, Louis Prima was a New Orleans-based trumpeter, a good-humored singer, and a lovable personality. While his wide-ranging career can easily be divided into three periods, Prima’s image was always consistent. He both celebrated and made fun of his Italian heritage, displayed the influence of Louis Armstrong in both his sing...
Vincenzo Arcobelli, interviewed by Catania's newspaper "La Sicilia"
Vincenzo Arcobelli was born in Sicily, in Catania and lived in Paternò up to 1993 when he moved to Texas, following his desire to know a different culture and a world definitely more advanced.Arcobelli, today instructor pilot commander of commercial civil aviation, has met Italian Americans of great cultural, entrepreneurial and political depth as...
Music teacher trapped in Italy during WWII
Adelina Maria Puccini Timofeyew didn't pay much attention to politics. In 1936, a year after graduating from the University of New Mexico with an undergraduate degree in music, she took off for Italy to study at the Conservatory of St. Cecilia in Rome, Italy, the first woman accepted into the conservatory's composition program. That same year, Beni...