A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear members and friend,
I first want to wish everyone a Happy Spring. Tis the season of “fun in the sun” and the beautiful cherry blossoms. We had another very successful general Society meeting on March 29: 69 members, friends and guests were treated to a wonderful family-style meal, with good conversation and laughter, followed by an informative presentation of footage from “The Italian Americans”, the discussion of which was moderated by John Viola, President, The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). We were truly honored to have with us four representatives of the Foundation - John, Stephanie Gordon, Matthew DiMenna, and Gabriella Mileti, Director of Programs who runs the NIAF Scholarship Program. The discussion of the film was insightful and courteous, and, despite some differing views on the film and its content, we kept the discourse on-topic.
The meeting also provided the Scholarship Committee the opportunity to deliver our $4,000 check to NIAF for this year’s’ scholarship awards. (Please be sure to read Nancy DeSanti’s report on the March 29 meeting on page 3 of the Notiziario). Having NIAF with us was one of the highlights of our meeting, given the invaluable relationship that we have with the Foundation. Many of you may not know that, at our Gala/Festa di Natale in December 2006, our Guest of Honor, John Salamone, who was then the Executive Director of NIAF, surprised us by gifting us with matching funds for our scholarship program. From 2007 through 2011, due to the joint funding with NIAF, AMHS was able to award two $2,500 scholarships. In 2012, we were able to increase the awards to $4,000 each, due to the generous contribution of our members.
NIAF generously agreed to match this increased amount, thus making the two larger scholarships possible. And I am happy to report that through the current academic year, we have been able to sustain the award of two $4,000 scholarships. We are incredibly grateful to NIAF for its continued support of our Scholarship program. While we are on the topic of NIAF, I would like to remind you of their Affiliate program that allows members of other Italian American organizations to leverage the benefits of a national organization while still being affiliated with and involved with their respective organizations. For the price of $25.00 per person, AMHS members will be affiliated with NIAF and will be given all of the benefits of a NIAF Associate Member, the cost of which - outside of this program - is $50.00!.
Twenty AMHS members have signed up for this program – we do hope to grow this number in the future. If you are an AMHS member interested in this opportunity, please see the membership form on page 15. We will once again touch on the subject of Italian immigration at our May 31 meeting. Dr. Tyler Anbinder, a Professor of History at George Washington University, will talk to us about the history of Italian immigration to the United States, focusing on the period from 1880 to 1924, when more than 3 million Italians immigrated to the U.S. We will also vote on three (3) amendments to the AMHS bylaws, which were reported to you in the March issue of the Notiziario, and which have been reprinted in this issue – see below. Be sure to read Nancy’s article on the program on page 3, and be sure to make your reservations early. Plans are well underway for our 15th anniversary, which will be held on Sunday, June 28, 2015, from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm in Casa Italiana.
This event, for AMHS members only and a few invited guests, is to honor our members, officers, and supporters within the Italian American community. This promises to be a wonderful event. We hope each of you, through your invitation, will join us as we celebrate our accomplishments and our vision for the future. In closing, I mentioned in the March issue of the Notiziario that we raised $4,175 through our fundraising campaign for the Scholarship Endowment Fund. In the course of review of donors, we realized that we have not publicly recognized the donors to the Scholarship Endowment Fund and/or the AMHS Annual Scholarship Fund since 2007, the last time we printed the donor names in the Notiziario.
So on page 11 of this issue, we express our thanks to every person who has given to either of these Funds, through our formal fundraising campaigns, in 2008 through February 2015. I look forward to seeing you at our next events, the general Society meeting on Sunday, May 31, and the 15th anniversary celebration on June 28.
Cordiali saluti,
Maria D’Andrea