If Earl Weaver was night, Joe Altobelli was day. Two managers could not have been more different, and that’s the first thing members of the 1983 Orioles recall about Altobelli, the man who led them to a World Series championship. “With Earl, if you made a mistake on the field, he would be waiting in the dugout to scream at you in front of everybo...

Angela Bambace, first woman elected Vice President of the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) - previously an all-male leadership Executive Board for #WomensHistoryMonth. Angela Bambace defied social expectations to lead a labor union—organizing women’s marches, strikes, and protests to improve working conditions, rights and pay in...

Mario Scilipoti left his newly wed and, unbeknownst to him, pregnant wife behind in their mountainside Sicilian village when he departed for the United States. The 23-year-old did not speak English. He did not have, or need, a visa when his ship, the Patria, sailed past the Statue of Liberty and landed at Ellis Island. He did not have a lucrative j...

I am pleased to announce the 2021 Italian Week organized by myself and the Italian division at Loyola University Maryland that will be held virtually on ZOOM from February 21 to 25. The topic this year is Little Italies: the Impact and Importance of Italian Language, Heritage, and Culture in the U.S.  Our own Dr. Marc De Simone from Baltimore will...

The Little Italy Lodge Foundation (of Little Italy Lodge OSIA 2286) will award $32,000 in educational scholarships for the 2021-2022 academic year: two $6,000 and five $5,000 awards will assist students of Italian descent in furthering their education. Eligible Little Italy Lodge members, spouses and specific family members may apply. Applications...

Nearly five months after Baltimore’s Christopher Columbus statue was dumped into Baltimore’s harbor, a local group is working to recreate it—using funds from the Trump administration. In one of its last acts before the 2020 elections, the Trump administration awarded $30,000 to repair or recreate the seven-foot-tall statue that was ripped from its...

Suzanna Rosa Molina has done it again! She authored another very entertaining book about the Italians in Baltimore. As expected, the celebrated “Little Italy” neighborhood, just east of Harborplace, is at its centerpiece. The book features plenty of terrific photographs, along with detailed family and historical notes. Its title is: “Images of Amer...

Baltimore's mayor has vetoed a bill that would have rededicated a Christopher Columbus monument to victims of police violence, sharing concerns with the city's police commissioner that the two-story-tall obelisk is too close to a separate monument honoring fallen officers. Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, a Democrat, expressed reservations about the...

At the north corner of Little Italy, Baltimore, stands a proud brick building with a long and interesting history. The 1793 Star-Spangled Banner Flag House is a National Historic Landmark and one of the oldest houses in Baltimore. It has housed Italian residents and businesses, including a pharmacy, a steamship ticket office, Banco di Napoli, and a...

Congratulations to NIAF Member Suzanna Rosa Molino for her new book, Italians in Baltimore. Molino’s book showcases almost 200 captivating vintage photos with captions of Italian immigrants and their descendants in the Baltimore area, both in and out of Little Italy. These captivating photographs offer a brief yet fascinating insight into some of t...