Casa Italia has launched Sabato Culturale, a series of Saturday morning presentations on Italian and Italian-American history, culture and thought. The series is the brainchild of Dominic Candeloro, curator of the library in the Italian Cultural Center at the Casa. The sessions in April and May are as follows: April 11 — Casa Italia board member Frank Di Piero will present “Saving Our Stories: From Cenetta to Podcasts to Children’s Books.” The host of the podcast “Italian American Life with Frankie D,” Di Piero has written five children’s books promoting Italian culture. April 18 — “Remembering Padre Feccia” will celebrate …

In Section 18 at the Queen of Heaven cemetery there is a statue of another iteration of the Virgin Mary. It stands with the arms extended downward with the palms up toward the flat gravestones that are before and behind. The inscription reads, “Our Lady of the Angels Pray for Us.” The 42 gravestones have various birthdates in 1947, ’48 and ’49 but they all have one ending date: December 1, 1958. On one of the gravestones viewed on a crisp fall day, there were pictures of the lost daughter, and bright miniature Christmas trees, lovingly arranged 67 years later. …

On Oct. 11, the Florentine Room in the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia was packed to capacity to hear Enrico Benedetti M.D., FACS give his first-ever public presentation about his work and life. The lecture was titled “Reflections of an Italian Medical Immigrant in the U.S.” and it was received with rapt attention. Dr. Benedetti grew up in the countryside near Gubbio, first studying at the University of Florence from 1979-85 graduating cum laude with his medical degree and then continuing his residency into 1989. He desired to practice medicine in the United States so he applied to 110 …

In 2020, the graffiti-marred statue of Christopher Columbus in Arrigo Park was unceremoniously yanked from its pedestal and stored on its back in a Chicago Park District warehouse. After a protracted legal battle, the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans was finally able to win its release earlier this year, but only on the condition that it be showcased indoors in a museum that’s currently being created on Taylor Street. So, who will now occupy the position of honor that Columbus once held in that storied public park just a stone’s throw away from the Shrine of Our Lady of …

The “Italians in Chicago” traveling exhibit may be appearing at a public library near you in the not-too-distant future, thanks to the efforts of the volunteers at the Italian Cultural Center at Casa Italia. The idea for an exhibit documenting the Italian-American immigrant experience in Chicago was hatched in 1978 by Dominic Candeloro, who taught Italian-American studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus at the time. The display moved from concept to reality when a grant to create the exhibit was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The permanent exhibit was first displayed at the Chicago …

I am writing this the morning after Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees hit his 62nd home run of the season, breaking Roger Maris’ American League record of 61, which he set 61 years ago. I immediately thought of my dad, his youth, my life as his son and our relationship with the American pastime. Anthony Quilico was born in 1901 in the coal mining Italian enclave of Seatonville in Bureau County, Illinois. His dad worked the mines until 1909, when the mine fire in nearby Cherry, Illinois, convinced him to take a job with the railroads. Many miners …

Fred Bilotto has only been mayor of Blue Island since April, but his involvement in public service began when he began volunteering at the Feast of St. Donatus at St. Donatus Church. Both he and his wife, Stephanie, were born in the city, and both graduated from nearby St. Xavier University. They and their three children are now involved in the feast, which has been celebrated for 116 years. Bilotto ran for mayor because he wanted to create a more open and transparent government while addressing infrastructure issues in the aging city. “The problems weren’t created in a day, and …

Attorney John J. Lag was enjoying the atmosphere at the Festa Pasta Vino at 24th & Oakley when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. “It was a remarkably beautiful stained-glass window with vibrant colors that caught my eye. It was an image of Bishop John Scalabrini and I just had to buy it,” Lag says. “It was being sold without provenance, without any information as to its origin or the artisan who created it, but I couldn’t pass it up. “Clearly, I couldn’t keep it at the family home and then it dawned on me. This magnificent …

“Reconstructing Italians in Chicago — Thirty Authors in Search of Roots and Branches” was released in 2011 as “a sampler of the best writing on the subject of Italians in Chicago,” according to Dominic Candeloro, who spearheaded the book’s publication by Casa Italia. The first edition has sold out, and a 10th anniversary edition has now been published by Amazon at a much lower price, both in print and on Kindle. The new edition includes an introduction by Candeloro and Fred Gardaphe, an associate editor at Fra Noi and professor at Queens College. References have been updated, some of which …

Joe Gallo has never shied away from voicing his opinion when something seems amiss. In the case of Rolling Meadows, where he has lived his entire life, he felt that change was needed and decided to do more than just talk about it. The now-38-year-old business strategist campaigned successfully for Fourth Ward Alderman in 2017, then won a four-way race for mayor in 2019. His goals for Rolling Meadows are to “promote a culture of accountability, ownership and proactive behavior, and incorporate more innovation and technology to improve the quality of life, leading to a more efficient, sustainable community.” He …