“An Italian discovered America; another Italian gave her his name; still another Italian first planted the English flag on American soil and gave England her claim to North America and the American people their first claim to independence; other Italians explored, or helped to explore, her coasts, from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific, as well as her interior …” (Giovanni Schiavo, Four Centuries of Italian-American History, 1952).
Giovanni Schiavo was proud to be Italian American. Born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily – on the northern coast between Trapani and Palermo – Schiavo immigrated to Baltimore with his family in January 1916, shortly before he turned eighteen. Several years later, he joined the army, becoming a naturalized American citizen.
