Vandalized Monument Rededicated to Providence WWI Soldier Killed in Action
On Friday, the Providence City Council and City Archives dedicated a new monument to U.S. Army Infantry soldier, Private 1st Class Carlo Lafazia, killed in action during World War I. Lafazia was born in 1897 to Italian immigrants who settled on Admiral Street in Providence’s Elmhurst/Wanskuck neighborhood. Lafazia enlisted in the U.S. Army’s 16th I...
City remembers Joe Giancola
Joseph Giancola was one the most important figures in Rutland’s modern history, according to city leaders who remembered the local businessman this week. “Without Joe Giancola and his wife, there’s no Paramount Theatre,” said Paul Gallo, who worked with Giancola on the effort to restore the theater. “It never would have happened.” Giancola, who die...
A Voice for Change: The Story of the Unstoppable Ann Uccello
“Could the daughter of a Sicilian shoemaker brought up in New England go on to lead a major capital city — even if she was a little square, and a Republican?” “Absolutely,” was the overwhelming answer from the voters. Antonina “Ann” Uccello turned 100 years old on May 19, 2022. Fifty-five years ago, she achieved the most impossible of political vic...
Ann Uccello, First Woman Mayor in Connecticut, Celebrates 100th Birthday
It’s a birthday party for the history books - Ann Uccello turns 100 Thursday. She is being celebrated for her role in shaping Connecticut history. When Uccello was elected mayor of Hartford in 1967, she became the first woman mayor in the state. Today at the State Capitol, there was a celebration of a century. “Very good, and happy!” Uccello said,...
East Haven Hosts Italian American Heritage Parade, 1st Time Since 2015
It's been seven years since East Haven hosted the parade that honors Italian-American heritage. That changes on Oct. 9. Since 2003, the parade became a regional event hosted on a rotating basis among six area communities, which include East Haven, Hamden, West Haven, Branford, New Haven and North Haven. Now, the town of East Haven and Greater New H...
Italian American Alliance To Host 'Festa Italiana' In Waltham
The Italian American Alliance of Massachusetts will host its annual "Festa Italiana" on Saturday, June 11 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Waltham Common, located at 610 Main Street. The Italian style festival will feature fun events aimed at celebrating and promoting Italian culture and heritage. There will be live entertainment, food, crafters, children...
Sistine Chapel Masterpiece on Display in Providence
From 1982 through 1994, the Sistine Chapel ceiling was being restored and a Japanese team received permission from the Vatican to photograph the works. Those detailed, high-resolution photos have been transferred to special fabric webs and are now the traveling art exhibition, Michelangelo: A Different View, stopping in Providence for the next mont...
Milford artist details two years living in Italy in new book
One of the themes of Rosemary and Bob Connelly’s married life was to “live cheap and make art.” The couple always enjoyed traveling and knew that when they did retire, they would want to visit many exotic places, leading them to live frugally while living and working in Phoenix in order to be able to spend their retirement years making art and trav...
Forgotten Neighborhood’s History Springs To Life
“Anybody have a guess?” Laura Parisi asked, brandishing a a metal artifiact of the old Grand Avenue. Parisi, president of the Italian-American Historical Society, brandished the artifact — a “cutter” — and challenged members of the crowd to identify its use as she joined heads of four other local historical societies in Lenzi Park on Jefferson Stre...
Bernard Zambrano, Wooster Square’s Vietnam hero, finally honored in bronze
The only surviving son of Anne and Anthony Zambrano, Bernard Zambrano was a model of a young man, according to his relatives. On Monday, a plaque was installed on the Little Italy arch on Wooster Street, honoring the only known casualty of the Vietnam War from the Wooster Square neighborhood. But a gap in his college education — he was studying to...
‘Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition’ gives Michelangelo’s masterpiece a fresh angle at Connecticut Convention Center
God, saints, angels — and the most famous outstretched hands in world history — are reaching out to you, larger than life in “Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition” at the Connecticut Convention Center. The art exhibit, billed as “a life-size, up close, never before seen perspective,” opened Thursday night and will be in Hartford through June 26. Created...
10 Awesome Things To Do in Little Italy Boston
One of the hidden gems of Boston is a waterfront community on the North End of the city. Little Italy sits in a historic part of the city where some of the oldest buildings in the city are still standing and in use. It’s a sensory experience in an area that has a lot to offer for the locals and visitors. There’s so much to do that we’ve prepared a...