ITALY IN THE WHITE HOUSE: A CONVERSATION ON HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
On Wednesday, March 2, 2016, I took a day off from work to attend the symposium “Italy in the White House: A Conversation on Historical Perspectives.” The symposium was sponsored by The White House Historical Association (WHHA) in partnership with The Embassy of Italy, the Italian Cultural Institute, and the National Italian American Foundation. The day-long educational symposium was held at the WHHA’s historic property adjacent to the White House on Lafayette Square.
The purpose of the symposium was to showcase the close connection between the United States and Italy including influences on political philosophy, architecture, cuisine, and more through the lens of White House history. Professor Campbell Grey, Associate Professor, Department of Classical Studies, University of Pennsylvania, provided the keynote address, examining the many Italian influences present in the White House from early presidents to the objects in the White House Collection. Grey is a social historian of the Roman and post-Roman world, and is a residential Faculty Fellow of the King’s Court English College House.
Speakers throughout the day engaged in panel discussions about the cultural connections between the U.S. and Italy as they relate to the White House, including a luncheon that featured culinary offerings inspired by menus from past state dinners for visiting Italian leaders. Luncheon panelists included the Honorable Anita B. McBride, former Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush; the Honorable Lloyd N. Hand, former United States Chief of Protocol for President Lyndon Johnson; and the Honorable Catherine S. Fenton, former Social Secretary for First Lady Laura Bush and Deputy Social Secretary for First Lady Nancy Reagan and First Lady Barbara Bush.
Perhaps the greatest highlight of the day was the appearance by the Honorable Armando Varricchio, the new Ambassador of Italy to the United States, who came to the symposium after presenting his credentials to President Obama. The afternoon panel continued the discussion with leading scholars including Professor Barbara Faedda, Associate Director of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies at Columbia University; Professor Mortimer Sellers, Regents Professor of the University System of Maryland and President of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy; Professor Richard Guy Wilson, Commonwealth Professor’s Chair in Architectural History at the University of Virginia; and Meredith Levin, Western European Humanities Librarian, Columbia University Libraries.
Topics for discussion included tracing U.S. origins to classical antiquity and Italian philosophical thought; exploring the ancient Roman and Italian roots of White House architecture; illustrating the impact of Italy and Italian culture on life in the Executive Mansion and Washington, DC; and an Italian perspective on the U.S.-Italy relationship. The symposium concluded with a live performance by Ricardo Herrera and Tatiana Loisha, representing the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program based in Greve in Chianti, Italy, of historic Italian music previously performed at the White House. Other AMHS members in attendance were Lucio and Edvige D’Andrea; Monica Palenski-Reed; Lourdes Tinajero; and Francesco Isgro. At lunch, I had the great privilege to sit with several new members of NIAF’s Italian American Leadership Council, including Valentina Vezza, NIAF Regional Vice President of New England; Jeanne Allen, senior fellow emeritus of the Center for Education Reform; and Dr. Anthony Tamburri, dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute at Queens College, CUNY. This provided me with a very good opportunity to have a frank and honest discussion about how we can work to help grow the IALC, for the benefit of our collective Italian American community.
This day-long symposium is the first of a series of internationally-themed symposia planned through 2018. Visit the WHHA to learn more about its events, activities, etc. Of note, the WHHA unveiled decoupage glass plates of two of Constantino Brumidi’s paintings which hang in the Palm Room of the White House, “Liberty” and “Union”, available for sale at the WHHA (to learn more about these plates, visit http://shop.whitehousehistory.org/catalogsearch/result/?q=brumi di (As you may know, due to extensive research and activism by AMHS member Joe Grano, who passed away in November 2013, a larger population know and appreciate who Brumidi was and his important contributions to historical paintings and his fresco work in the U.S. Capitol).
