Norwich's Italian heritage celebrated in new book
NORWICH – Italian Americans who trace their roots to the Aeolian Islands will have a chance to celebrate their heritage tomorrow night, with the launch of a book detailing their ancestors’ emigration to the Norwich area.
“Home From Home: The Aeolian Community of Norwich, New York” was penned by Margaret Allen. The work marks the culmination of more than a decade of research by the former London Times journalist into the Aeolian Diaspora – the spread of people from the Aeolian archipelago around the world. For Allen, the extensive research was a labor of love, prompted by her “love affair” with the picturesque cluster of islands off the Sicilian coast.
The book, a work of nonfiction, was published by Centro Studi of Lipari as part of the Aeolian Emigration Series.
“This book is the product of my visits to Norwich and my conversations and research into the lives of Aeolian people there, and their history since the beginning of the Twentieth Century,” Allen explained in the introduction to “Home From Home.”
She will sign copies of the work during a reception at 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. Bartholomew’s Rev. Guy Festa Parish Center on East Main Street.
“It is exciting,” said JoAnn Testani, the church’s historian, who helped the author organize her first trip to Norwich in February of 2009.
The visit was Allen’s first opportunity to meet members of the community which she believes to have the largest concentration of Aeolians in the United States. Many of those she met with were eager to regale her with stories of their families’ past.
“I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and generous gift of their time from the people I met, who without exception, shared their family histories in the city with me,” Allen wrote in her acknowledgments. “My thanks are due to all of them.”
The finished work contains information Allen gleaned from these stories, as well as from a history of Norwich’s Italian American community compiled by John Elia. The former proprietor of Grande Pizza conducted some 300 interviews in the 1990s. Transcripts of those interviews are housed at the Chenango County Historical Museum in Norwich.
Copies of “Home from Home” will be available at the reception for $20 each. The 113-page book is written in English, and accompanied by an Italian translation courtesy of Federico Melzi. The work is peppered with photos, including many provided by The Evening Sun’s Frank Speziale, who was born on the Aeolian Island of Lipari.
“Home From Home: The Aeolian Community of Norwich, New York” was penned by Margaret Allen. The work marks the culmination of more than a decade of research by the former London Times journalist into the Aeolian Diaspora – the spread of people from the Aeolian archipelago around the world. For Allen, the extensive research was a labor of love, prompted by her “love affair” with the picturesque cluster of islands off the Sicilian coast.
The book, a work of nonfiction, was published by Centro Studi of Lipari as part of the Aeolian Emigration Series.
“This book is the product of my visits to Norwich and my conversations and research into the lives of Aeolian people there, and their history since the beginning of the Twentieth Century,” Allen explained in the introduction to “Home From Home.”
She will sign copies of the work during a reception at 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. Bartholomew’s Rev. Guy Festa Parish Center on East Main Street.
“It is exciting,” said JoAnn Testani, the church’s historian, who helped the author organize her first trip to Norwich in February of 2009.
The visit was Allen’s first opportunity to meet members of the community which she believes to have the largest concentration of Aeolians in the United States. Many of those she met with were eager to regale her with stories of their families’ past.
“I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and generous gift of their time from the people I met, who without exception, shared their family histories in the city with me,” Allen wrote in her acknowledgments. “My thanks are due to all of them.”
The finished work contains information Allen gleaned from these stories, as well as from a history of Norwich’s Italian American community compiled by John Elia. The former proprietor of Grande Pizza conducted some 300 interviews in the 1990s. Transcripts of those interviews are housed at the Chenango County Historical Museum in Norwich.
Copies of “Home from Home” will be available at the reception for $20 each. The 113-page book is written in English, and accompanied by an Italian translation courtesy of Federico Melzi. The work is peppered with photos, including many provided by The Evening Sun’s Frank Speziale, who was born on the Aeolian Island of Lipari.
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