Dear Readers,
More January jottings with an Italian Connection: Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) our 3rd president had repeatedly expressed his displeasure at the low caliber of the U.S. Marine Band.
And so, in 1805, John Hall, a Marine Corps Captain, was sent to Catania, Sicily to recruit a group of musicians who would help improve the musical standard of the celebrations taking place at the Presidential Home, later the White House. Captain Hall, Jefferson’s musical emissary hired Gaetano Carusi, a local Catania orchestra leader and convinced him to convince his 17 musicians to move to America.
Six of the 17 musicians were boys, between the age of 9 and 12. Each was followed by most of his individual family and was given $50 and lots of promises: fame and wealth. They sailed to America aboard the Navy’s Frigate Chesapeake. The ship went straight to Tripoli harbor (Libya) first, to take part in war actions, to the discomfort of the musicians!
The U.S. had been paying “protection money” to the pasha after attacks on U.S. Merchant shipping. The musicians’ arrival in America wasn’t auspicious. The city of Washington was in reality a quite deserted community, with two or three taverns and some shacks, according to orchestra leader Carusi, in letters he wrote to Italy. Furthermore, there was the unhealthy sight of pigs roaming freely in the streets! The new musicians were mobilized into the Marines.
They were forced to do all kinds of unpleasant duties, including the unglamorous KP, plus playing the instruments! Some in the group quit and went back to Sicily. One of those who decided to stay, Venerando Pulizzi, who was 12 when he arrived, continued in the Military (Marines) for 22 years.
He even became the band leader, a position he held for 9 years. Five other Italians eventually became U.S. Marine Band leaders. They started a great Italian tradition that is just another example of how Italian contributions have enriched life in the U.S.A.
***
Frank Sinatra fans may want to have a meal at an Italian restaurant themed on “Old Blue Eyes”, the next time they visit Las Vegas. Steve Wynn recently opened a $2.3 billion resort and casino called Encore in Las Vegas. The 2,034 suites Encore Hotel is located right next door to Wynn’s, his flagship Las Vegas property “on the strip.”
The Italian restaurant, inside the Encore Hotel, which is named for the singer, has Sinatra memorabilia and photos of him on display. Sinatra’s daughter Tina said the family had rejected similar plans from 12 restaurants. She said they agreed to Wynn’s proposal because “he was his friend.”
Wynn and Sinatra worked together and were friends in the early 80’s, when Sinatra sang for Wynn at the Golden Nugget hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J. The public caught glimpses of the pair’s relationship through a series of humorous commercials promoting the Nugget casinos.
Wynn was usually the butt of jokes, treated as a bellhop or other low-level employee by Sinatra. For more information visit www.encorelasvegas.com
***
Italian Americans and families planning to visit the “Big Apple” during the new year, please take note: “Grazie” to Josephine Barbera and her husband Robert, publisher of our “giornale” L’Italo-Americano, I received a lovely new 2009 Italian American Museum calendar, along with a note that said they had visited I. A. M. while in New York because of a mention in an “Italian Connection” column, shortly before their departure.
In case you missed it, here is a brief re-run: Americans with Italian “roots” now have a place to call home in the heart of the neighborhood where their ancestors first set foot, if they arrived and settled in old New York.
A museum dedicated to telling the experiences of the immigrants who arrived in Little Italy opened its doors on the corner of Mulberry and Grand Sts., across from 193 Grand Street E. Rossi Company. The museum is located inside the community’s former bank, operated from the 1880s to 1932 and was known as Banca Stabile.
It will display exhibits and documents found in the building’s storage basement and safe deposit boxes, including old passports, deeds and bankbooks. The Italian American Museum opened at its permanent location at 155 Mulberry Street in October 2008 in the former Banca Stabile building.
During its heyday, the bank offered newly arrived immigrants from Italy, not only financial services, but also served as a travel agency, wine shop, import-export business, notary public, theater ticket outlet, cigar store and community center. The museum curator, Nancy Cataldi said “the museum is very important because Little Italy has changed so much and the museum will give people the history of what it was like down here for the new Italian arrivals.”
The Italian American museum began after a 1999 exhibition on Italian Americans at the New York Historical Society drew 50,000 visitors, five times what had been expected. The museum received its charter in 2001 and became a CUNY affiliate in 2003. The Italian American Museum had been leasing space from CUNY (City University of New York) prior to the purchase of three historic buildings near the corner of Grand and Mulberry Streets.
The spruced up Banca Stabile portion of the property that opened its doors on Columbus Day, is only the beginning. The museum purchased the building for $9 million and will begin raising money toward $19 million worth of renovations. Joseph Scelsa, Ph.D., a professor at Queens College and president of the museum, said the three buildings are at the “epicenter of the Italian American community.”
Despite the fact the fewer than 1,000 Italian Americans now live in the area. “Little Italy has become Littler Italy,” said Scelsa, “but this is the symbolic place.” He said tourists will help make the site viable. Total square footage for the three-story buildings is just under 10,000 square feet. Plans call for a two-story addition on top, raising total square footage to 20,000.
The buildings were once a bank founded in 1880s by Francesco Rosario Stabile. His great grandson Dr. Jerome Stabile III, a retired surgeon, sold the buildings to the museum. By collecting, preserving and interpreting tangible objects and reminiscences, the Italian American Museum displays notable contributions of Italians and Italian Americans to educate Americans on the heritage of Italian Americans and their European roots, values, language and traditions.
The Italian American Museum sponsors exhibitions, festivals, lectures, symposia and educational travel programs in Europe with a focus on Italy and its contributions to the world.
10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410
