Los Angeles celebrates the 6th Italian Heritage Month

Over 5.4 million Italians immigrated to the United States between 1820 and 1992, which has resulted in over 26 million Americans of Italian descent in the United States. Today more than 100,000 Italians live in the City of Los Angeles and more than 300.000 in its metropolitan area. Italians and Italian-Americans have made great contributions to America's and California’s society economically, artistically, culturally, scientifically and politically.

Still today they enrich cultural diversity of the Golden State. For this reason, for the sixth consecutive year, the Los Angeles City Council declared October “Italian Heritage Month”.
On October 21 the Los Angeles City Hall hosted a celebration to commemorate this special occasion. Present were Consul General of Italy Giuseppe Perrone and Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich. Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti led the presentation, which was coordinated by the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles.

Key Italian organizations co-sponsored the festivities, including the San Gennaro Foundation, the Federated Italo Americans of Southern California, the National Italian American Foundation and the Italian Catholic Federation. Even if the celebration took place during the heart of a working day, more than 100 people attended the event. "Italian Heritage Month high-lights the contributions of Italian-Americans and Italians in the creation of Los Angeles, which are vast, but largely unknown” says Marianna Gatto, Executive Director of the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles.

“The event, like the mission of the Italian-American Museum of Los Angeles, aims to encourage a deeper understanding of our heritage and the diversity of the Italian-American Diaspora. By bringing this history to the forefront, we hope encourage discovery of the many people and voices, including Italian, that shaped this city, one of the world's greatest metropolises. We hope the event continues to grow and that the Italian community of Los Angeles recognizes its potential for facilitating understanding amongst Italians and non-Italians alike."
To learn more about the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles and its educational endeavors, please visit www.italianhall.org.

Alessandra Mastroianni
Contributor