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Italian History

Italian Heroes In New York: What Purpose Did Statues Serve?

December 14, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Bust of Italian Patriot Giuseppe MazziniNationalism of the nineteenth century represents very different values to those of our era. With the present rise of frenzied flag-waving and militant xenophobia, it is hard to understand the cult status achieved by foreign revolutionary figures such as Lafayette, who was honored as the “French Hero of the American Revolution.”

In 1878 a bust of Giuseppe Mazzini was unveiled in New York City‘s Central Park. A decade later, on the sixth anniversary of his death, Giuseppe Garibaldi was memorialized with a bronze statue in Washington Square Park. Why were these relatively unknown Italian insurgents given such a prestigious presence in New York? [Read more…] about Italian Heroes In New York: What Purpose Did Statues Serve?

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Art History, Central Park, French History, Greenwich Village, Immigration, Italian History, Manhattan, Monuments, New York City, Revolutions of 1848, sculpture, Staten Island

One Immigrant Family’s Italian Roots

September 30, 2022 by Bob Cudmore 1 Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on The Historians Podcast, Giovanni Ruscitti of Colorado is author of the memoir Cobblestones, Conversations, and Corks: A Son’s Discovery of His Italian Heritage. Ruscitti chronicles the history of his Italian immigrant family and a visit to his ancestral homeland of Cansano in Abruzzo. [Read more…] about One Immigrant Family’s Italian Roots

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Books, Immigration, Italian History, Podcasts

A World War Two Bomber’s Final Flight

August 31, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Franklin L Darrell Jr photo provided by his familyResidents of an alpine valley in Northern Italy still hail as heroes two American pilots of a crippled U.S. plane who crashed into the side of a mountain rather than release their bombs onto the villages below during a World War II mission.

Both pilots died, but they bought enough time for the five other crew members aboard their crippled B-25 Mitchell bomber to bail out. One of them, 1st Lt. Franklin Lloyd Darrell Jr., the bombardier-navigator, lived for a time during and after the war in Saratoga County, as did his parents. [Read more…] about A World War Two Bomber’s Final Flight

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Air Force History, Aviation History, Corinth, International Paper, Italian History, Military History, Saratoga County, World War Two

The 1903 Hudson River Spier Falls Dam Disaster

August 16, 2022 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Construction workers installing a 12 foot diameter penstock at Spier Falls Hydroelectric Dam, 1901In the spring of 1903, more than a thousand men were at work on the final stages of the Spier Falls hydroelectric project on the Hudson River near Glens Falls.

A large number of skilled Italian masons and stoneworkers were housed in a shantytown on the Warren County (north) side of the river.

Most of the remaining work was on the Saratoga County (south) side, which they accessed by a temporary bridge. But the company feared that the high waters of springtime had made the bridge unsafe. To avert a potential catastrophe, they destroyed it with dynamite. [Read more…] about The 1903 Hudson River Spier Falls Dam Disaster

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Adirondacks, Hudson River, Italian History, Labor History, Saratoga County, Spier Falls, Warren County, Warrensburg

Islands of Punishment and Exclusion

August 9, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

View of a PoW Camp, Isle of ManThe exclusion of “undesirables” to remote lands has a long history. The shameful attempts by contemporary governments to “solve” the refugee problem in that manner has had precedents.

During the mid-1930s Mussolini dumped socialists and anti-fascists in the inaccessible and malaria-ridden southern areas of the country.

The use of islands as off-shore detention centers has a parallel history. The government of Charles I locked up its opponents at Jersey, Guernsey, or the Isles of Scilly. Having lost the English Civil War, Charles I himself was incarcerated in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. Faced with continuing sedition and agitation, Charles II sent several former leaders of the Interregnum into island isolation. [Read more…] about Islands of Punishment and Exclusion

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: Asian-American, Crime and Justice, Ellis Island, Immigration, Italian History, Legal History, Medical History, New York City, Political History, prisons, Public Health, Rikers Island

The Cult of Technology: Futurism in New York

July 5, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Lampada ad arcoIn 1906 Milan hosted the World Exhibition which, significantly, focused on the theme of transportation. The occasion for the exhibition was the inauguration of the spectacular Simplon Tunnel, connecting Milan to Europe’s major cities.

The opening up of commercial and cultural connections unleashed a burst of buoyancy. Milan became associated with the first aesthetic movement to praise the potential of the modern metropolis. [Read more…] about The Cult of Technology: Futurism in New York

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: Architecture, Art History, Italian History, Manhattan, modernism, New York City

Jazz, Mussolini and Italian Fascism

May 30, 2022 by Jaap Harskamp 1 Comment

Benito Mussolini posing with his violin, 1922On February 4th, 2006, La Repubblica reported the funeral in Rome of Romano Mussolini. His death had been made public by former actress and politician Alessandro Mussolini, Romano’s daughter out of his first marriage to Maria Scicolone (the younger sister of Sophia Loren) on the website of her neo-Fascist party Alternativa Sociale.

The church service began with Gershwin’s “Summertime” and ended with “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Outside the church hundreds of mourners paid their respect with Fascist salutes.

Fascism, jazz and black gospel mentioned in the same context and a service that had started with a classic tune by a composer of Ukrainian-Jewish ancestry. What brought this contradictory intertwining about? [Read more…] about Jazz, Mussolini and Italian Fascism

Filed Under: Arts, History Tagged With: Art History, Black History, Cultural History, Dance, Italian History, Jazz, Music, Musical History, Political History

Parish Lifeblood: Italian-Americans In Williamsburg (Podcast)

June 5, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Lifeblood of the ParishIn the latest episode of Empire State Engagements Dr. Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada talks about her ethnographic study of Italian-American men’s Catholic devotion, Lifeblood of the Parish; Men and Catholic Devotion in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (NYU Press, 2020). She discussed her experiences over six years of work engaging the parish community; reading tattoos as devotional texts; playfulness and devotion in masculine spaces; the rich history of Italian-American Catholicism in Williamsburg; and the endurance of this parish, tradition, and community – despite decades of challenges ranging from reactionary clergymen to Robert Moses to gentrifying hipsters. [Read more…] about Parish Lifeblood: Italian-Americans In Williamsburg (Podcast)

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: Books, Brooklyn, Cultural History, Gender History, Italian History, New York City, Podcasts, Religion, Religious History, Social History, Williamsburg

A Rascal in Venice, Hero in Vienna, Opera Buff in Manhattan

May 23, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

Piazza San MarcoDefrocked priest and poet Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote the words for Mozart’s three celebrated operas Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, and Così fan tutte. As the librettist’s ultimate challenge is creating character whilst thinking music, few could match Lorenzo’s achievement. [Read more…] about A Rascal in Venice, Hero in Vienna, Opera Buff in Manhattan

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: art, Art History, Cultural History, Italian History, Manhattan, Music, Musical History, Opera, Performing Arts

MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal

February 14, 2021 by Jaap Harskamp Leave a Comment

The summit of Monte Bisbino da MoltrasioSwitzerland may not a member of the European Union, but it is part of the Schengen border-free travel zone. Checkpoints between countries are put up only during emergencies. The recent influx of refugees led to a decision for the border to be sealed, making Lake Como a migrant frontline. Those with the means to do so have turned to locals to help them cross the Alps on their journey towards Germany or Britain. [Read more…] about MicroHistory and Migration: From Moltrasio to London, New York and Montreal

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: art, Art History, Immigration, Italian History, New York City, Performing Arts, Theatre

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