Close

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...

988

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...

1037

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...

662

The Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA) opened its doors in 2016 to tell the story of Italian immigrants in Southern California: their history now housed in the renovated Italian Hall, built in 1908. The Italian presence in California dates back to 1683 when Eusebio Francisco Chini (known as Eusebio Kino), a Jesuit priest born in norther...

1276

In 1934, Joseph Gatto was born to an Italian immigrant father and an Italian American mother, Maria Antonia “Mary” Cortese, whose family had settled in Pueblo in 1898, three years before her birth. The families lived alongside many others from their native villages in Sicily and Calabria, happily and gratefully calling one of the tiny, non-descript...

949

In celebration of Italian American Heritage Month, the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles (IAMLA) and Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) present: My Roots, My Heritage, a free and interactive genealogy webinar designed to help you discover your family’s origins and unique story. Whether you are curious about your family’s early years,...

1033

Over 26 million Americans of Italian descent currently reside in the United States, making Italian Americans the seventh largest ethnic group. Every October, the Italian-American Heritage Month aims at recognizing the contributions and achievements of these people and their ancestors by celebrating the distinguished cultural contributions of Americ...

1258

October 12 2020 Roma, Italy / The United States

2168

This article was supposed to be about Italian American Easter traditions; however, the world has changed dramatically since I began writing the story a little over a month ago. Many of us face spending Easter separated from our loved ones—or even alone—as economic uncertainty grips the nation and the world, and as an invisible pathogen continues to...

838

This exhibition explores the cultural-religious tradition of St. Joseph’s Tables, which are among the richest expressions of Italian American cultural identity and embody a living tradition that has transcended ethnic lines. St. Joseph is among the most venerated saints in Christianity; he is the patron saint of immigrants, workers, unborn children...

878