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“Growing up in Los Angeles, there were few mirrors for Italian Americans,” recalls Gatto. Italian Americans are typically assumed to be from the East Coast or Chicago. My family arrived in Los Angeles after settling in Colorado. As a kid I couldn’t understand how I fit in the Southern California mosaic, let alone the Italian American mosaic.” In th...

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The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles has officially opened a new exhibition, Woven Lives: Exploring Women’s Needlework from the Italian Diaspora, which examines the significance of needlework in the lives of Italian-American women, their families, and communities from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The exhibition, which is open to...

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The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA) is pleased to present a new exhibition, Woven Lives: Exploring Women’s Needlework from the Italian Diaspora, which examines the significance of needlework in the lives of Italian American women, their families, and communities from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. On View: January 29 – Oc...

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My Roots, My Heritage is an interactive webinar led by Marianna Gatto, historian and executive director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles. This webinar is designed for those interested in discovering their family’s origins. Whether you are curious about your family’s early years, wish to identify your ancestors, locate familial villages...

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If you're an LA history nerd, you won't want to miss "La Cucina Italiana in Los Angeles: An Italian & American Story." This new documentary traces the emergence and evolution of Italian-American cuisine in the City of Angels from the late 19th century to 2021. Interviews with culinary figureheads including Nancy Silverton, Piero Selvaggio, Gino Ang...

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Imagine a place where you could go and spend the day surrounded by the art and artifacts of the Italian American experience, where you can immerse yourself in our story, and learn new and surprising facts about the history of Italians in America… all free of charge! Well, if you’re lucky enough to live near or visit Los Angeles, California, this It...

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The IAMLA was delighted to join Councilmember Gilbert Cedillo for the inauguration of Annette Cardona Square in the Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Cypress Park earlier this week. Cardona, who was known later in life as Annette Charles, was born in Los Angeles to Italian and Mexican parents. She is best remembered for playing the role of Char...

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IAMLA executive director and cofounder Marianna Gatto has been awarded the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy) by the Italian republic. Hon. Silvia Chiave, Italian Consul General in Los Angeles, knighted Gatto in a small ceremony on May 26 in Los Angeles on behalf of Sergio Mattarella, president of...

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It is said that every family heirloom holds a unique and deeply personal history. The story of my heirloom—a late Victorian golden oak dresser—begins with a flood: the 1921 Pueblo, Colorado flood. Although the dresser figures in my earliest memories and, more than any other piece of furniture, has remained a fixture in my life, it was not until rec...

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What is Italian American cuisine? How do we define traditional dishes transformed by Italian immigrants? Is the food we eat today the same as our mothers and grandmothers prepared? Italian American food traditions are often misunderstood and defined only in comparison to the “true” Italian canon. In reality, Italian American food is its own unique...

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