Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Like so many other Chicago-area Italian Americans, Ron Onesti traces his stateside roots to the legendary Taylor Street Little Italy on the city’s Near West Side.
His father’s parents settled there when they arrived from Italy, his father grew up and made lasting memories there, and Onesti was born in the neighborhood and went to school at St. Callistus until the third grade.
As a result, Onesti has long harbored a dream to create a museum celebrating the countless Italian immigrants who risked so much to start a new life in America, and to locate that museum within the epicenter of their arrival in the Windy City.
That dream will soon be a reality as Onesti gears up to open the Chicago Museum of Italian Immigration at 1501 W. Taylor St.
“I really want to focus on the individuals who came over and the legacies they created,” Onesti explains. “As their families expand and those histories become more diluted, I want to give those origin stories a place to live while telling the larger story of Italian migration to the Chicago area from 1850 to 1950.”
With so many stories to tell, there will be a strong multimedia component to the museum along with traditional displays of memorabilia. “We’ll be calling on families to donate their ancestors’ suitcases, passports, medallions and other precious items,” Onesti says.
Architect Cristina Allegrini, wife of National Italian American Foundation President Robert Allegrini, will spearhead the design of the project.
