May, 2009 Vol. XXVII, No. 9 ppoocchhee ppaarroollee The Italian Cultural Society of Washington, DC Preserving and Promoting Italian Culture for All www.italianculturalsociety.org ICS EVENTS Social meetings start at 3:00 PM on the third Sunday of the month, September thru May, at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4422 South Park Ave., Chevy Chase, MD (map on last page) Sunday, May 17: Back by Popular Demand, Prof. Elaine Walters will speak on “Italian Opera and Mozart” Details on page 2 Movie of the Month: at 1:00 “Non ti Muovere” (Don’t Move) Details on page 7 FREE ITALIAN LESSONS FOR ALL LEVELS FROM 2:00 to 3:00 Saturday, May 9: Metropolitan Opera in the DC Area and ICS gathering Details on page 11 Sunday, June 7: ICS Annual Awards Gala Dinner Details & reservations on page 9 Sunday, June 28: FESTA ITALIANA See page 10 to volunteer, and go to www.festaitalianadc.org PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE In the April social, Dr. Eric Denker delighted our large audience with his talk on “The Churches of Florence”, in which he touched on different artistic aspects of the buildings, including architecture, sculpture and painting. Great names of Italian figurative art, from Brunelleschi to Ghiberti, Masaccio, Giotto, Cimabue, Mantegna, Donatello, Luca Della Robbia, Michelangelo and many others were mentioned in connection with the pictures of some of their masterpieces. I am always intrigued by the beauty but also by the new technology that had to be invented, for instance to build the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, still an unparalleled achievement, at least from the point of view of its size. If one considers that a gaping hole was in its stead for many years because no one appeared able to come up with a design and devices that would allow the bridging of the gap from side to side. And even though books have been written on it, we still do not know exactly how Brunelleschi solved the problem, though we are aware of the structural elements he has employed to produce a strong supportive structure. The next and final social for this 2008/2009 season will feature Dr. Elaine Walters on the subject of “Italian Opera and Mozart”. As many of you remember, she has already lectured for us and with enormous success. Therefore, we have heeded your advice and invited her again. It should be another masterful performance. The social year is coming to its climax with our Gala dinner on June 7 at Tragara restaurant in Bethesda. Many activities precede it, including the selection of worthy candidates for the various awards. Keep in mind that the deadline for award application is May 15, i.e. two weeks prior to our usual deadline. We have had to do this to accommodate other requirements on our time, including the NEH Institute in Rome. It would be very nice to see as many of you as possible at the gala, because in this way you would show your appreciation to our very dedicated members of the Board and to me for having served as President for some 9 years (if one counts the previous two year-term prior to the last consecutive seven years). I cannot hide my enthusiasm in sharing with you that a very worthy successor has been elected in Dr. Ronald Cappelletti. Ron has served with passion on the Board for several years and has the full support of every one of its members. It will be a wonderful occasion to welcome him and to thank the other members of the Board for a job well done. All best wishes to you and your families, Luigi De Luca Contents: 2. Camuni in Monongahela City 9. Gala Dinner 5. Un Giorno Meraviglioso 10. Festa Italiana 8. L’ Arte del Cusinar 10. Annual Awards Application 11. Earthquake Relief Appeal ITALIAN LANGUAGE CONSULAR SECTION ITALIAN EMBASSY PROGRAM 4848 Battery Lane, Suite 100 3000 Whitehaven Avenue, N.W. Bethesda, MD 20814 Washington, DC 20008 Day, Evening and Weekend Classes for Information: 202-612-4400 Adults and Children Serves residents of Washington, DC, Serving Maryland, Virginia, and Montgomery & Prince George’s Washington, DC Counties, MD; Arlington & Fairfax website: www.italianculturalsociety.org Counties, VA Elaine R. Walter, (PhD, the Catholic University of America, B>M>, Anna Maria College) is Professor of Music, teaching graduate/undergraduate courses in music literature, history, arts administration, Antenna Italia Russian/Soviet culture, opera workshop, and scenes is now on the AMICO website. Get presentations, and serves as advisor to undergraduate voice performance majors. She has news from Italy and information on been a member of the Benjamin T. Rome School of Italian and Italian-American events as Music faculty since 1963, assistant dean from 1982 to well as music & commentary in 1981, and dean from 1982 to 2001. She is Founder and former general manager of the Summer Opera streaming audio. Tune in any time Theater Company, a professional and national theater at Pino Cicala’s web site company independent from , but in residence at the www.italianamericancommunications.org Catholic University of America. The title of her talk is “Italian Opera and Mozart”. ___________________________________________ “ITALIAN COOKING HERITAGE”, a cookbook published by the Italian Cultural Society is now available in its sixth printing. It was compiled by members of the Society, who met and tested the recipes before selecting them for the cookbook. The first edition was presented to the First Lady in a 1979 White House ceremony. Its 110 pqges contain over 200 recipes in chapters each devoted to the cuisine of a different region of Italy. Copies will be on sale at the next Sunday social meeting for $20, or you may order one from the ICS for $20 plus $5 for shipping and handling. ►►►►►►►►►► _________________________________________ ___________________________________________ “PATIHI, PATAHÉ!” THE CAMUNI OF BRESCIA IN “PATIHI, PATAHÉ!” I CAMUNI DI BRESCIA IN MONONGAHELA CITY MONONGAHELA CITY by Terry Necciai di Terry Necciai the second of two articles il secondo di due articoli (traduzione) Railroad construction went at a furious pace through Nel periodo attorno al Panico del 1873, la costruzione the region, both before and after the Panic of 1873, delle linee ferroviarie procedeva a gran velocita’ in and gangs of temporary workers were recruited to tutta la zona e squadre di lavoratori vennero reclutate level the grade and lay the ties and tracks. It is per spianare la strada e posare traversine e rotaie. E’ particularly difficult to determine who the workers were particolarmente difficile determinare chi fossero i and where they came from because of the short term lavoratori e da dove venissero a causa della breve nature of the work and lack of records. However, it durata del loro impiego e la mancanza di documenti. appears that the Italian workers found other jobs as a Tuttavia, sembra che i lavoratori italiani abbiano 2 result of the new lines. Railroad development was trovato lavori diversi grazie alle nuove linee ferroviarie. often justified by the expectation that each line would Sovente la costruzione delle ferrovie fu giustificata dal open up a new area for coal mining. Industrial villages fatto che ogni linea avrebbe aperto una nuova area cropped up almost instantaneously as each line was per estrarre il carbone. Nuovi villaggi industriali completed. Meanwhile, other Pittsburgh area apparvero quasi istantaneamente, non appena una industries, such as steel, specifically avoided hiring linea veniva completata Nel frattempo altre industrie Italians because they thought they were less suited nella zona di Pittsburgh, come quella dell’acciaio, than the Slovaks and other Eastern Europeans for the evitavano di impiegare italiani perche’ si pensava che heavy work required at the larger industrial plants, a fossero meno adatti degli slovacchi e degli altri prejudice that is on record in some of the surviving immigrati dell’Europa orientale al lavoro pesante dei trade literature. Because the Italians had an easier grandi stabilimenti industriali, un pregiudizio time finding jobs in coal mines, they ended up documentato negli scritti professionali dell’epoca. scattered all over the region, in the 500 or more Poiche’ gli italiani trovavano piu’ facilmente lavoro mining villages found within a 100 mile radius of nelle miniere di carbone, finirono sparpagliati in tutta Pittsburgh. Those who brought trade skills with them la regione nei piu’ di 500 paesi di minatori che si eventually struck off as entrepreneurs, serving as trovavano nel raggio di 100 miglia da Pittsburgh. carpenters, blacksmiths, barbers, tailors, and Quelli che avevano gia’ un mestiere, diventarono grocers/fruit handlers, and also sometimes as imprenditori come falegnami, maniscalchi, barbieri, musicians, writers, or bankers in the new villages. sarti, commercianti di frutta e verdura, e come pure musicisti, scrittori e banchieri. The Bresciani who came to Monongahela City helped to set off a chain reaction that brought Italians from I bresciani che vennero a Monongahela City diedero almost every other part of Italy, boosting the origine ad una reazione a catena che vi porto’ italiani population within and surrounding a very small city da quasi ogni altra parte d’ Italia, aumentando la that is still 25% Italian-American today. A small group popolazione di una piccolissima citta’ e dei suoi of Calabresi who came in the 1870s may have been dintorni che ancora oggi e’ al 25% italo-americana. the first, followed in the 1890s to 1910s by other Forse il primo ad arrivare fu un piccolo gruppo di Italians from north of Rome, a large group of families calabresi che venne tra il 1870 e il 1880, seguito tra il from Tuscany, and smaller groups from Umbria, 1890 ed il 1920 da altri italiani dalla zona al nord di Piemonte, and Venice, and then by large groups from Roma, da un grande gruppo di famiglie toscane e da Naples, Calabria, and Sicily, with smaller groups from gruppi piu’ piccoli dall’ Umbria, Piemonte e Venezia, e Abruzzi and Molise.