FRANCESCO AND ANNA ISGRÒ HONORED BY LIDO CIVIC CLUB
Francesco and Anna Isgrò were recently honored at the Lido Civic Club Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill. Since Francesco and Anna are long-time AMHS members, quite a few of the Society’s members attended the event on September 14, 2017, at the Rayburn House Office Building.
Before the ceremony got underway, the attendees enjoyed a delicious buffet and had a chance to chat with their friends. Then Father Ezio Marchetto delivered the invocation, after which the current president of the Lido Civic Club, Thomas F. Regnante, introduced the two recipients of the club’s Community Service Award. Francesco Isgrò was introduced as the Senior Litigation Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, who is an expert on immigration law and policy.
He was an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where years earlier he earned a law degree. Probably most everyone who knows Francesco knows his family is Sicilian, but even some of his friends may not have known previously that he once served in the Peace Corps in the Central African Republic. Francesco’s many accomplishments are too numerous to list all of them, but he is a past president of the Lido Civic Club, past president of the Sons of Italy International Lodge, a council member of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for many years, a board member of the National Christopher Columbus Association, and a board member of the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center. Somehow Francesco has found the time to also serve as the Executive Editor of the Voce Italiana. Anna Isgrò was introduced next, and it was noted that she has a most impressive resume herself. She is a financial journalist and author of several books on personal finance.
She was an associate editor and writer at Fortune magazine for many years and has also written for U.S. News, Forbes and WashingtonPost.com. She holds a master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University, and besides her journalism career, she has worked at the United Nations in New York. For several years, she was the Washington director for an international human rights fellowship program on Capitol Hill. She is on the Editorial Board of Voce Italiana and is a volunteer adviser for the planned Italian American Museum of Washington, D.C. at Casa Italiana.
And we should note that Anna said she came here from Molise with her family at the age of 5. No doubt it was a great pleasure for all who attended to see these two wonderful people honored for their impressive roles in our Italian American community. AMHS congratulates Francesco and Anna on their well-deserved award. (submitted by Nancy DeSanti).
ARRIVEDERCI DICK DiBUONO
We wish to express our best wishes to Immediate Past President Dick DiBuono, who recently returned to his home state of Massachusetts (MA). He will reside in Hudson, MA, where he will be close to family and friends. Dick, we will miss you! (submitted by Maria D’Andrea-Yothers).
OMERO SABATINI SHARES HISTORICAL PHOTO OF GARIBALDI’S DAUGHTER
We thought AMHS members might be interested to know that AMHS Past President Omero Sabatini has an interesting historical photo taken back in 1952. As you can see from the photo, it is a picture of an older woman between two young men. As Omero explains: “Truth to tell, I do cherish the photo as a souvenir of my distant youth, because the lady is none other than Giuseppe Garibaldi's daughter Clelia, and the two young men are my brother, left, and me, right. In a way, given Giuseppe Garibaldi's preeminent role in the unification of Italy, being in a picture with one of his children is somewhat like having the honor of being in a picture with President Lincoln's son.” Omero wondered if this information would be of interest, but after some urging, agreed to tell us “how I happened to be photographed with Donna Clelia, as she was affectionately known.
The picture was taken at Caprera, an island which is off the northeast coast of Sardinia and was owned by Garibaldi. I was there with some other 200 college students to attend a summer camp organized by the Italian government to expose the participants to a bit of Italian history and teach them to do some manual work, as Garibaldi himself used to do. (In those days, in Italy, it was still considered ungentlemanly for a high school graduate to do any kind of manual work. I am digressing, but among my fellow college students there was a widespread belief that working during college was not good for one's resume.) Omero further explains: “Donna Clelia was born at Caprera in 1867, when her father was 60 years old, and spent virtually her entire life there, devoting herself primarily to the care of her father's house/museum and greeting visitors.
Anyway, perhaps the main reason I am showing the photo is that by looking at the image of then 85-year-old Donna Clelia, i.e., the daughter of one the founders of unified Italy, you may be reminded once more of how relatively young the country still is. Enjoy, I hope.” By the way, many people may not be aware of the role Garibaldi played right here in America. In fact, at the outbreak of the American Civil War, Giuseppe Garibaldi was a very popular figure. The 39th New York Infantry Regiment was also named Garibaldi Guard. In 1861, Garibaldi himself volunteered his services to President Abraham Lincoln and he was offered a major general's commission in the U. S. Army.
According to Italian historian Arrigo Petacco, "Garibaldi was ready to accept Lincoln's 1862 offer but on one condition: that the war's objective be declared as the abolition of slavery. But at that stage Lincoln was unwilling to make such a statement lest he worsen an agricultural crisis." Although the aging Garibaldi respectfully declined Lincoln's offer, many of Garibaldi's former officers were recruited. On August 6, 1863, after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, Garibaldi wrote to Lincoln: "Posterity will call you the great emancipator, a more enviable title than any crown could be, and greater than any merely mundane treasure." (submitted by Nancy DeSanti).