Columns

Fans of the Italian poliziotteschi cinematic movement of the 1960s and 1970s should not miss a compelling documentary currently available on Amazon Prime, which chronicles this influential subgenre of Italian cinema that has achieved cult status worldwide. “Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s” offers an in-depth look at films that may initially appear to be Italian versions of French noir or American crime classics like “Dirty Harry” and “The Godfather,” but in reality, provide a lens into the social issues that plagued Italy during the decade — such as the rise of the Cosa Nostra …

  Our friends at FamilySearch have come up with something new. This new search method looks like it’s temporary, but I plan to get what I can from it while it’s around. On the search menu, there is a relatively new item called “Full Text”. (See screenshot above.) You may recall that I mentioned this was in beta testing a couple of years ago, and they ran a bunch of Illinois Wills through it.  A lot of people who were looking for relatives as beneficiaries were excited that they didn’t have to drive to the archive and read books page …

The headline of this month’s column is a common term today. We all grasp its meaning: currently popular or widely discussed. It’s often used in our hi-tech world to show how relevant something is. It still applies to life in the Roseland of our youth, even if we didn’t use the term back then. We were always asking “What are you doing?” … “Where are you going?” … “Did you hear about …?” That was our “trending.” Our friends were our contacts and the rotary dial telephone with extension cord was our hi-tech device that connected us. The longer the …

As discussed in a previous blog, “Italian Language Friends,” many Italian words are similar to English. This is because most words used today in modern Italian, and many words in English, have their roots in the Latin language spoken long ago by the Romans.*   In linguistic terms, words in two different languages that have a common origin and a similar meaning are called “cognates.” In general, when two words are cognates, the stem of each word will provide a clue to the actual meaning. The ending of each word in both languages will also follow a common pattern. Memorizing …

I last wrote about how, aboard the Italian Line’s Saturnia on my family’s way to Italy when I was 9, I found myself attracted to one of the girls who was (at the very least) 13. Tall and shapely, with a bronze complexion, she had a braid of thick black hair resting on her shoulders. She wore a ladylike wristwatch but, in an attempt to shake off the torpor of being cooped up on the ship, she ran wild with the rest of us kids on deck like a feverish Amazon until her cheeks bloomed kiss-me red. She seemed to …

For many Italian Americans with personal, family or investment ties to Italy, opening an Italian bank account is a necessary step, but it’s often one of the most complex obstacles they encounter. What appears, from the outside, to be an inefficient or overly rigid banking system is in fact the result of a precise regulatory choice driven by anti-money laundering rules, tax transparency obligations, and an increasingly cautious approach by Italian financial institutions. Italian banks operate within a strict national and European framework, particularly under legislation implementing the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives, which impose extensive Know Your Customer and Customer …

The Italian verb  chiudere  is often used to describe physically closing a thing, most often a door or a window, and can be translated as “to close” or “to shut.” When the reference is to fastening a lock, the translation changes, and is “to lock,” or “to bolt.” When a shop physically “closes” or “shuts its doors” and stops offering services for the day, this act can be described with chiudere. As far as other physical endeavors go, chiudere is often used when an English speaker would describe “turning off” or “shutting off” an appliance or an electrical switch. Stretching the …

There are normal, obvious places we can go, to improve our genealogy skills and to find information to advance our research. We have the many websitess that I talk about all the time, and you don’t even have to leave your house! Those same sites may have additional data if you travel to a FamilySearch Center. (formerly known as a Family History Center. Don’t ask me why they changed the name!) You can try to find other researchers on FamilySearch in the Tree who are working on your town(s) or families. You can try to find researchers on social media …

Recently, as often happens among Roselandites from the Pullman/Kensington neighborhoods, the topic of Sherwin Williams came up. Everyone recognizes first that SW was a major employer of neighborhood residents and second that it had specific impact upon the community. One visual impact SW had was in the testing of exterior paints in the SW lot east of 115th and Cottage Grove. There were rows and rows of slanted metal sheets on stands, all facing southeast to catch the sun’s rays at their highest point. These exposed paint samples provided data for SW and helped them determine the right chemical composure …

Gianfranco Rosi’s acclaimed documentary “Sotto le nuvole” (Below the Clouds) is set to open at Film at Lincoln Center on March 6. The film, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and was featured in the New York Film Festival’s Main Slate, explores life in an area of Naples situated between Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields (Campe Flegree), an active volcanic caldera. Rosi, known for his immersive portraits of communities in crisis, turns his lens on archaeologists uncovering ancient artifacts and dealing with the aftermath of tomb raiders, emergency responders strained by constant threats, and …